A brand new Seattle startup referred to as Hedgehog needs to make it simpler for firms to make use of the SONiC working system for his or her networking wants.
SONiC, which stands for Software program for Open Networking within the Cloud, was open-sourced by Microsoft in 2016. The tech big initially developed the expertise for its Azure information facilities.
SONiC is described as “an open supply community working system (NOS) based mostly on Linux that runs on over 100 totally different switches from a number of distributors and ASICs.” The thought is to make cloud networking extra versatile.
Hedgehog is focusing on cloud-native firms that wish to transfer workloads off the general public cloud. It’s a possible development for rising firms that must handle rising cloud computing prices, as detailed in a weblog publish by Andreessen Horowitz buyers final 12 months.
Right here’s the corporate’s mission, by way of its web site:
“Hedgehog is an open supply software program firm devoted to giving Cloud Native software homeowners the power to deploy workloads on edge compute and distributed cloud infrastructure with the identical procurement energy and automatic operations that energy the general public cloud. Hedgehog helps clients escape vendor lock, automate mass-scale infrastructure operations, and scale back their price of service.“
Hedgehog needs to assist firms be certain that their networking nonetheless runs easily as they transition workloads. It goals to be the “Purple Hat for SONiC,” giving enterprises a strategy to extra simply use the open-source software program.
The corporate is led by CEO and co-founder Marc Austin, a veteran entrepreneur who was most just lately spent 4 years at Cisco. Austin additionally helps run a small Seattle agency referred to as IoT Capital and was a director at Amazon from 2010 to 2012, engaged on the Kindle Enterprise workforce.
“A fox is aware of many issues, however a hedgehog is aware of one large factor,” Austin wrote on LinkedIn. “Hundreds of thousands of cloud native workloads will deploy on distributed cloud infrastructure with open community materials.”
Different co-founders embody Mike Dvorkin, a networking knowledgeable who helped launch Insieme Networks, which Cisco acquired in 2020. Josh Saul, a former advertising and marketing chief at Apstra and Netris, is the corporate’s different co-founder.
Hedgehog has raised a pre-seed funding spherical however didn’t disclose buyers or quantity raised. It doesn’t have paying clients and is at the moment working with “design companions.”