The Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) consortium unwrapped its OSDL Carrier Grade Linux Requirements Definition version 2.0 (CGL 2.0) Thursday, in an effort to standardize the telecommunications industry’s needs when it comes to Linux.
The CGL Requirements Definition is a public reference blueprint for Linux distributions, large end users and Linux kernel developers for building Linux kernel features and associated libraries that are required by telecommunications carriers in their infrastructure.
In the new release OSDL said it focused on security, high availability and clustering. The consortium said the new requirements define more than 40 new and enhanced features to support Linux as a carrier-grade platform.
“The next breakthrough market for Linux is in the telecommunications industry,” said Stuart Cohen, CEO of OSDL. “The OSDL Carrier Grade Working Group continues to work closely with network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers and network equipment manufacturers to define requirements that will make Linux the standard operating system for telecommunications carriers. The OSDL CGL 2.0 definition puts Linux in the top tier of preferred operating platforms.”
Many of the top Linux distributors are members of the OSDL — including Red Hat, SuSE (and the other members of the UnitedLinux group), and MontaVista — and have been supporting the CGL requirements through their own Linux distributions and through development efforts.
On Thursday, a number of leading network equipment providers — including Alcatel, Cisco, Ericsson, NEC and Nokia (all members of OSDL as well) — announced support for the new definitions.
OSDL has divided the new requirements definition into three sections: clustering, security and general systems.
The clustering section covers early fault detection, failure confinement, fault localization, failure notification and logical model descriptions for distributed data access. The security section covers requirements for minimized performance degradation and availability of Quality of Protection
(QoP) options. The General systems section includes requirements for hardware support, compatibility with other specifications (such as Linux Standard Base, or LSB), POSIX, Service Availability Forum (SAForum), HPI, tools like kernel debuggers, and layered support for SNMP over IPv6.