Microsoft , the undisputed leader on the desktop operating system now developed its own Linux distribution – Azure Cloud Switch (ACS).Last year, Nadella announced support for container-friendly CoreOS distro, one of the five Linux distros Microsoft has embraced in the recent past. Now the company is taking one step further in its alliance with Linux by developing this OS.
Kamala Subramaniam, Principal Architect, Azure Networking, on Thursday wrote in a blog post that Microsoft has built Azure Cloud Switch (ACS), a cross-platform modular operating system for data center networking. This will power network components such as switches. The interesting thing about this operating system is that it is built on top of Linux.
According to blog post, Azure Cloud Switch will make debugging, testing, and fixing bugs much faster. “It also allows us the flexibility to scale down the software and develop features that are required for our data centre and our networking needs,” she wrote. She further noted that the move has already been getting overwhelming response from partnered vendors.ACS allows to use and extend Open Source, Microsoft, and Third Party applications.And it is designed to use the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), an OpenCompute effort that offers an API to program ASICs inside network devices.
Subramaniam’s post ends by letting us know: “We’re talking about ACS publicly as we believe this approach of disaggregating the switch software from the switch hardware will continue to be a growing trend in the networking industry and we would like to contribute our insights and experiences of this journey starting here.”
Under Satya Nadella’s rule, Microsoft is moving forward through a way where they are unafraid to use any technology if it gets the job done.Now we see why Microsoft Loves Linux for its next technology.
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