Opensaf
Encyclopedia
OpenSAF is an Open Source
Project established to develop High Availability
middleware consistent with Service AvailabilityTM Forum (SA Forum) specifications, under the LGPLv2.1 license. The OpenSAF Foundation was established by leading Communications and Enterprise Computing Companies to facilitate the OpenSAF Project and to accelerate the adoption of the OpenSAF code base in commercial products. In March 2010 the OpenSAF software became the de-facto standard for high availability middle-ware when Ericsson AB, the market share leading NEP, announced commercial deployment of OpenSAF in carrier networks and GoAhead Software the leading provider of COTS HA middleware announced that "...it is shifting its business model and technology strategy from its proprietary SAFfire product to an open source software model..." (based on OpenSAF).
The OpenSAF project was launched in mid 2007 and has been under development by an informal group of supporters of the OpenSAF initiative. The OpenSAF Foundations was founded on January 22nd 2008 with Emerson Network Power, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, HP and SUN Microsystems as founding members. Since its launch Wind River, Huawei IP Infusion, Tail-f, Aricent, GoAhead Software and Rancore Technologies have joined the foundation. Day to day operations of the foundation are managed by VTM, Inc.
Following the release of each major version of the OpenSAF software the OpenSAF Project community hold a developer conference (Developer Days). The first conference was hosted by Nokia Siemens Networks
in Munich (Germany), second conference was hosted by Huawei in Shenzhen (China), and third conference was hosted by HP in Palo Alto (USA). In 2011, the OpenSAF Conference expanded to include materials for adopters and academics in addition to developers. The event was held in May, 2011 at MIT University in Boston, MA and was sponsored by Ericsson
, GoAhead Software, HP and Wind River Systems
. Based on the success of the conference and positive feedback from the open source community, Ericsson
hosted an OpenSAF European Symposium in September, 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Many network equipment providers have demonstrated their support for OpenSAF by joining the Foundation and/or contributing to the Open Source project. Current Foundation Members include:
Emerson Network Power, Ericsson, HP, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Sun Microsystems have contributed significant resources to enhance the open source product and accelerate the development and deployment of SA Forum specifications based on industry requirements. Emerson Network Power has made the initial code base contribution based on NetPlane Core Service (NCS) software to the OpenSAF project. NCS is a complete operating environment that includes SA Forum services and a complementary set of required services necessary for a deployable implementation.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
Project established to develop High Availability
High availability
High availability is a system design approach and associated service implementation that ensures a prearranged level of operational performance will be met during a contractual measurement period....
middleware consistent with Service AvailabilityTM Forum (SA Forum) specifications, under the LGPLv2.1 license. The OpenSAF Foundation was established by leading Communications and Enterprise Computing Companies to facilitate the OpenSAF Project and to accelerate the adoption of the OpenSAF code base in commercial products. In March 2010 the OpenSAF software became the de-facto standard for high availability middle-ware when Ericsson AB, the market share leading NEP, announced commercial deployment of OpenSAF in carrier networks and GoAhead Software the leading provider of COTS HA middleware announced that "...it is shifting its business model and technology strategy from its proprietary SAFfire product to an open source software model..." (based on OpenSAF).
The OpenSAF project was launched in mid 2007 and has been under development by an informal group of supporters of the OpenSAF initiative. The OpenSAF Foundations was founded on January 22nd 2008 with Emerson Network Power, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, HP and SUN Microsystems as founding members. Since its launch Wind River, Huawei IP Infusion, Tail-f, Aricent, GoAhead Software and Rancore Technologies have joined the foundation. Day to day operations of the foundation are managed by VTM, Inc.
Following the release of each major version of the OpenSAF software the OpenSAF Project community hold a developer conference (Developer Days). The first conference was hosted by Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a global data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland. It is a joint venture between Nokia of Finland and Siemens of Germany...
in Munich (Germany), second conference was hosted by Huawei in Shenzhen (China), and third conference was hosted by HP in Palo Alto (USA). In 2011, the OpenSAF Conference expanded to include materials for adopters and academics in addition to developers. The event was held in May, 2011 at MIT University in Boston, MA and was sponsored by Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
, GoAhead Software, HP and Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems, Inc. is a company providing embedded systems, development tools for embedded systems, middleware, and other types of software. The company was founded in Berkeley, California in 1981 by Jerry Fiddler and David Wilner. On June 4, 2009, Wind River announced that Intel had bought...
. Based on the success of the conference and positive feedback from the open source community, Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
hosted an OpenSAF European Symposium in September, 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Goals
The goals of the OpenSAF project are to:- Create an open source reference implementation of a high availability operating environment which includes the SA Forum Application Interface Specification (AIS)
- Develop necessary additional complementary services necessary to deploy and manage the software
- Accelerate the development of SA Forum specifications by proposing enhancements implemented in the OpenSAF project
- Establish a broadly adopted high availability operating environment that can be leveraged by computing technology companies, network equipment providers, and other industries requiring high availability, and independent software vendorIndependent software vendorIndependent software vendor is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing or for niche markets...
s - Utilize an open source licensing model not tied to any commercial implementation
Network equipment providers
Network Equipment Providers will be the primary users of products based on the OpenSAF code base, integrating them into their products for network service providers, carriers and operators.Many network equipment providers have demonstrated their support for OpenSAF by joining the Foundation and/or contributing to the Open Source project. Current Foundation Members include:
Technology providers
Several providers of computing and communications technology also have indicated support for the OpenSAF initiative including:- Emerson Network Power Embedded Computing
- Continuous Computing
- Wind River
- IP Infusion
- Tail-f
- Aricent
- Rancore Technologies
- GoAhead Software
- MontaVista Software
History
The OpenSAF project was initiated by Motorola's Embedded Communications and Computing (ECC) business with widespread support from the telecommunications industry. Motorola Embedded Communications and Computing is now a part of Emerson Network PowerEmerson Network Power, Ericsson, HP, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Sun Microsystems have contributed significant resources to enhance the open source product and accelerate the development and deployment of SA Forum specifications based on industry requirements. Emerson Network Power has made the initial code base contribution based on NetPlane Core Service (NCS) software to the OpenSAF project. NCS is a complete operating environment that includes SA Forum services and a complementary set of required services necessary for a deployable implementation.