Modular architecture. Cisco foundation. Flexible operations.
Run programmable software across your environment. Cut TCO, simplify provisioning, and speed automation with open APIs and telemetry—alongside Cisco expertise and professional services.
Open choice, your way
Adopt community open-source, build custom, or use Cisco-validated NOS. Benefit from Cisco’s upstream-first contributions and SONiC Premier membership to advance interoperability and innovation. Choose the right balance of control, customization, management, and support that matches your priorities, operations, and team skills.
Production-ready, Cisco-backed
Deploy precompiled, security-hardened, Cisco-validated SONiC images with defined upgrade paths and zero build overhead. Rely on Cisco expertise, 24/7 Cisco TAC, and Cisco CX services for production operations.
Keep every workload moving
Move traffic with lossless RoCEv2, adaptive routing, quantum-ready MACsec, EVPN/VXLAN, and SRv6 at 400G–1.6T. Manage through on-premises Cisco Nexus Dashboard, cloud-managed Nexus Hyperfabric, or a controller of your choice.
Open networking platforms. One place. Your choice.
Cisco 8000: Open and customizable
Maximize architectural flexibility with Cisco 8000 Series Switches powered by Cisco Silicon One. Deploy community SONiC, Cisco-validated SONiC, FBOSS, or a third-party operating system; create custom containerized packages; and build on Cisco-validated SAI and BSP. Tailor the network to your needs by connecting your own or a third-party controller while retaining Cisco support for the underlying platform.
Cisco N9000: Turnkey, Cisco-validated
Deploy faster and cut overhead with a fully compiled, Cisco-validated SONiC image on Cisco N9000 Series. A defined upgrade path and Cisco or NVIDIA silicon options balance hardware consistency with flexibility. Cisco Nexus One unifies silicon-to-workload experience and management across on-premises and cloud-managed environments, backed by Cisco expertise and lifecycle support.
Open networking use cases at every scale
One NOS across every environment
Connect Cisco 8000 WAN and core to N9000 data center platforms with shared FRR tools, one supply chain, and one support point of contact across the network.
Build AI-class fabrics
Support distributed training and inference with deterministic, lossless Ethernet, RoCEv2, congestion management, adaptive routing, and AI observability.
Connect across diverse domains
Extend SONiC across data centers and sites with BGP, EVPN/VXLAN, SRv6, telemetry, and high-speed interconnects for scale-across, including MRC-aligned architectures.
Modernize at your pace
Introduce SONiC alongside existing environments to modernize specialized fabrics, preserve operating choice, and balance modern and legacy workloads.
Run multitenant cloud fabrics
Build scalable IP/BGP and EVPN/VXLAN fabrics with multihoming, host mobility, automation, and visibility for cloud, service provider, and enterprise networks.
Secure open networks at scale
Protect traffic with line-rate MACsec, strengthen routing with FRR, and gain real-time visibility through gRPC, gNMI, OpenConfig, REST APIs, network-as-code patterns, and hardware telemetry.
Your trusted partner. Serving every industry. Proven at scale.
SONiC on Cisco runs at production scale across some of the largest hyperscaler AI clusters, cloud providers, enterprises, and service providers.
Cirrascale Cloud Services
"As a leader in high-performance computing solutions, Cirrascale is thrilled by the introduction of new NVIDIA Spectrum-6 based Cisco's N9100 Series Switches, extending Cisco's NCP reference architecture-compliant portfolio with an impressive 102.4T capacity and a unified management plane through Cisco Nexus One. These innovations, combined with the flexibility of NX-OS and SONiC, enable us to scale our AI infrastructure seamlessly while maintaining operational simplicity. The availability of the 51.2T Spectrum-4 switch further enhances our ability to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions to our clients with unmatched performance and reliability."
– Alex Nataros, CTO
Cirrascale Cloud Services
GMI Cloud
“Cisco’s N9100 series powered by NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet switch silicon, provides a solution for high-performance, open infrastructure to meet our AI cloud demands. The capability to run NX-OS or SONiC under a unified operating model on Nexus Dashboard delivers more flexibility to our customers with operational simplicity. Its enterprise-grade networking with the scale and agility of the cloud — [is] exactly what the next generation of AI workloads require.”
– Yih Leong Sun, Head of Infra
GMI Cloud
World Wide Technology
"World Wide Technology's clients trust Cisco for enterprise networking. Their robust AI networking portfolio extends that trust to AI workloads. Cisco's portfolio offers choice and flexibility to clients to build tailored AI infrastructure using Cisco Silicon One and NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet switch silicon-based switches with stellar performance up to 102.4Tbps running NX-OS or SONiC and unified by the Cisco Nexus One management plane. We're excited about these advancements to deliver the scalability and performance required for the agentic era.”
– Jeff Fonke, Practice Director - Global Solutions & Architecture
World Wide Technology
Analyst quote (650 Group)
"Cisco is taking a complete approach to scale-across, from systems, software, and optics. SONiC contributions, FRR work, Silicon One P-series integration, MACsec, telemetry, EVPN/VXLAN, SRv6, and deployment models play a key role in offering a complete solution for all customers. Customers can then approach their offering from a build-your-own approach to a fully validated Cisco-supported design."
– Alan Weckel, Technology Analyst, 650 Group
Explore SONiC on Cisco
Cisco 8100 Series Switches
Open, scalable fixed switches for data center and AI/ML fabrics.
Cisco 8200 Series Routers
Open, scalable routers built for scale-across networking and data center interconnect.
Cisco N9000 Series Switches
Run AI/ML fabrics on Cisco silicon with efficient scale-out enterprise-ready designs.
Cisco N9100 Series Switches
Power Giga-scale AI with NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet—NCP-compliant for sovereign and neoclouds.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard
Unified on-premises visibility for inventory, provisioning, health, telemetry, and full lifecycle.
Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric
Cloud-managed simplicity with zero-touch provisioning, telemetry, upgrades, and API-first operations—anywhere.
Get started with SONiC
Use these guides, sessions, and resources to evaluate, choose, and operate SONiC on Cisco.
One open NOS, any workload: SONiC on Cisco
See how Cisco advances SONiC from open source to production scale across Cisco 8000 and N9000 Series — for real-world use cases, at any scale.
SONiC on Cisco 8000: open networking for AI at scale
Build data-center, AI, and WAN networks with SONiC on Cisco 8000 Series Switches—combining Silicon One performance, open architecture, fabric diversity, and disaggregated OS agility.
SRv6 in SONiC for Scalable AI Infrastructure
Cisco and Microsoft co-present how SRv6 in SONiC can support scalable AI infrastructure, exploring protocol-stack demands across scale-out, and scale-across networks.
SONiC on Cisco: open networking for the enterprise
See why SONiC is moving from hyperscale to enterprise. Cisco lets you shift software strategies without replacing hardware, with management choice, and 24/7 Cisco TAC support.
Cisco 8000 and SONiC: powering neocloud AI at scale
Build open, programmable AI fabrics for neoclouds with Cisco 8000 and SONiC—deterministic, lossless, deeply observable, and ready to scale out and across.
SONiC: Open Networking Choice, Enterprise Operations
Cisco’s Tom Gillis and Murali Gandluru discuss running SONiC alongside NX-OS and ACI, unified management with Nexus One, and automated operations for hybrid AI.
Intelligent support. Faster outcomes. A trusted partner
Explore Cisco professional services, support, and Cisco IQ to accelerate outcomes with expert guidance, AI-powered insights, proactive support, and IT optimization.