Travel tech giant Amadeus has been moving toward a fully software-defined data center strategy over the past few years — one based on open source and software-defined networking (SDN).
Jethi leads the teams responsible for developing and maintaining distribution software and airline passenger support systems at Amadeus — a multi-billion dollar technology company that connects and enables the entire travel industry – as well as travel — around the world.
On Tuesday, April 4 he will speak at Open Networking Summit in Santa Clara about how software-defined networking and data centers are redefining the travel industry and moving millions of people every day. Here, he discusses how Amadeus uses open source software and SDN, the best way for companies to get involved in the SDN revolution, and how networking affects adjacent industries such as IoT, cloud, and big data.
Want to learn more? Register now for Open Networking Summit 2017! Linux.com readers can use code LINUXRD5 for 5% off the attendee registration.
Linux.com: Which open source networking projects does your organization use and contribute to? Why do you participate? How are you contributing?
Jethi: Amadeus primarily uses OpenStack. Other open source projects we use that indirectly contribute to SDN include Github, Jenkins, Ansible, Puppet, and Chef. Amadeus is an active member in the open source community and regularly contributes code to open source libraries.
Linux.com: What’s your advice to individuals and companies getting started in SDN?
Jethi: SDN should be viewed as a means to an end. What’s important is to first understand why you want to embrace SDN and how you will get the organizational buy-in and technical talent behind the project.
Talk to other individuals and companies who have gone through it. Don’t readily believe the hype from equipment manufacturers or the promised positive outcomes at large from the community. It’s important to set realistic goals and be pragmatic along the way!
Linux.com: How can companies and individuals best participate in the ‘Open Revolution’ in networking?
Jethi: The best participation comes from three things: learning, contributing and getting started – even if in a small way – rather than endless debates and analysis.
Linux.com: How has networking had a profound impact on adjacent “hot” industries like Cloud, Big Data, IoT, Analytics, Security, Intelligence, and others?
Jethi: They are all very interconnected in some ways. The growth of hyperscale computing platforms – whether public clouds or private clouds – would not be possible without the enabling software-defined infrastructure provisioning, deployment, and automation capabilities. (The cost and complexity in legacy models is too high). The availability of these hyperscale computing platforms has, in turn, facilitated the development of data, analytics and IoT solutions.
