Juniper Opens Router OS to Third-Party Developers

In what some analysts are calling a bold move, Juniper Networks is opening its operating system, JUNOS, to select partners who want to develop third-party applications for its routers. The idea is to provide Juniper�s service provider and other customers with a platform over which to support new services and capabilities while leveraging their existing investment in router gear.

To enable that strategy, Juniper on Monday unveiled the Partner Solution Development Platform (PSDP), which includes a software development kit (SDK) with intelligent and secure interfaces to JUNOS routing and service functions. Juniper will make available the PSDP to partners through annual license.

Aricent and Avaya are the first two companies to publicly announce their intentions to use the PSDP, and IBM was quoted in the Juniper press release announcing the PSDP. Juniper�s Cathy Gadecki, senior product marketing manager for JUNOS, told xchange the companies are not ready to disclose details about the applications they�re building to run on the Juniper infrastructure. However, Juniper said among the potential applications that could result from any selected third-party are enhanced voice services, video monitoring, event-optimized routing, customized bandwidth management, extended operations toolsets and security services. Beyond just offering a platform for applications, Gadecki said Juniper routers can use their intelligence and tap into other network elements to increase the effectiveness of given applications.

Noting another benefit of Juniper�s strategy, research firm IDC wrote that this setup can allow service providers to easily introduce and, if needed, later eliminate, applications like security and intrusion detection on their networks rather than having to lock�themselves in to an application-specific blade or appliance.

Gadecki said unlike other router companies, Juniper can open its OS because of the modularity of its software and the fact that each release of JUNOS is a superset of what preceded it.

�The decision to open a router OS is a bold move that can be made only by a vendor with a long history of stability, security, and straightforward standardized releases,� concurred Tom Nolle, president and CEO of CIMI Corp., who Juniper quotes in its press release.

The first third-party applications on the Juniper routers are expected to become available some time in 2008, said Gadecki.

Juniper Networks www.juniper.net

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