SONiC Architecture and Deployment Deep Dive - BRKMSI-2004#
Cisco Live US 2025 (San Diego) digest Program Core pick San Diego · 8–12 June 2025
Jiri Chaloupka (Cisco)
- Why: SONiC is where open-source NOS momentum actually is, and a Cisco deep dive covering SONiC on their own Silicon One dataplane is a strong signal about where the disaggregation story is heading — including AI back-end networks as a deployment driver.
- What: Part one covers SONiC's OS architecture in detail with examples of SONiC running on Cisco Silicon One NPU/data plane; part two covers deployment examples and when SONiC should be considered, including AI frontend and back-end networks (from abstract only).
- How: Architecture decomposition of SONiC's componentized design, followed by deployment-decision guidance.
- Where applicable: SONiC on Cisco hardware specifically, but the architecture content and the "when to choose SONiC" framing apply to any disaggregated-NOS evaluation.