The short version of this post is that DreamHost is spinning out a new entity to commercialize a networking tool it built for its own use.
The longer version is more interesting and speaks to some big changes
in the networking world as customers and vendors start to see the
parallels between what server virtualization did for compute, and what Software Defined Networking (SDN) can deliver for the networking world. If you’re a traditional networking vendor like Cisco
or Juniper, this scares you to your core. Your once cozy view of the
world, full of tightly coupled and proprietary software/hardware stacks,
is no longer. If you’re a new startup, an organization with a big
networking requirement, or someone who simply likes to watch disruption
happen, this is a cool time to be in the industry.
DreamHost falls into the middle category. The company built its own
networking virtualization platform to run thousands of compute
instances, and has decided to spin that product out into its own entity,
Akanda. The team behind Akanda know a thing or two about software
disrupting legacy industries – they were also behind not only DreamHost
but also Inktank, a Software Defined Storage vendor now owned by Red Hat RHT +1.03%.
Akanda is coming out of stealth after a lengthy time delivering Layer 3+ networking virtualization for DreamHost’s, OpenStack-powered DreamCompute platform.
Henrik Rosendahl, a virtualization industry veteran, will lead Akanda as CEO. Simon Anderson,
DreamHost’s CEO, will Chair the Akanda Board, and Jonathan LaCour, VP
Cloud at DreamHost, will serve as a Director and technical advisor. A
high-caliber bunch indeed!
In terms of funding, DreamHost is seeding the company, but Akanda has flagged future outside investment.
As to the current state of the Akanda project, it provides Open Source L3+ NFV Functions supporting IPv6 on VMware
NSX. OpenDaylight Support and Linux Bridge will be announced in the
coming months. Akanda provides interfaces to OpenStack REST APIs,
Neutron, Nova and has an integrated NFV Management and Orchestration Platform.
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