It’s done. Mellanox just released its Ethernet Switch API. The Software Development Kit (SDK), with full support for Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality, can now be downloaded for free on GitHub.

For Mellanox, this move represents a contribution to the Open Ethernet initiative and an additional commitment to the Open Compute Project. The release is intended to enable the community to develop Open Source network applications, optimize application communication protocols and establish a solid foundation for the development of a standardized switching interface.

Now, let’s put things in context. Customer needs – public or private – regarding networking are changing, especially with the emergence of SDN (software-defined networking) and the rise in power of OpenFlow. The fact that Mellanox, uniquely positioned in distributed and I/O-intensive high performance communications, is actively involved in the establishment of an open standard for Ethernet can only strengthen its legitimacy as a provider of more demanding solutions. Down the road, the winner may very well spell “InfiniBand”.