Barefoot Networks

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Barefoot Networks
Company typeDivision
IndustryNetworking software, cloud networking
FoundedMay 2013
FoundersNick McKeown, Pat Bosshart
Defunct2019
FateAcquired by Intel in 2019
Headquarters,
USA
ProductsProgrammable networking chips, systems and software
ParentIntel
Websitebarefootnetworks.com

Barefoot Networks is a computer networking company headquartered in Santa Clara, California.[1] The company designs and produces programmable network switch silicon, systems and software. The company was acquired by Intel in 2019.[2]

Background[edit]

Barefoot Networks was founded in 2013. The company is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. The company's co-founders are Nick McKeown, Martin Izzard, Pat Bosshart, and Stefanos Sidiropoulos. Dan Lenoski joined in 2014 and was also given co-founder status. The company came out of stealth mode on June 14, 2016.[3][4] The company also announced a third round led by Goldman Sachs, AT&T, Dell, and Google.[5] Later in 2016, the company announced additional funding from Alibaba Group and Tencent.[6] In 2017, Craig H. Barratt took over from Martin Izzard as CEO until May 2020.[7][8]

In June 2019, Intel announced it was acquiring Barefoot for an undisclosed price.[2][9]

In January 2023, Intel stated that it has halted production on its networking chips.[10]

Products[edit]

Barefoot Tofino[edit]

Barefoot Tofino is a P4-programmable switch chip that can run up to speeds of 12.8 Tbit/s.[11]

Programmability[edit]

P4 is a programming language designed to allow programming of packet forwarding dataplanes.

Barefoot Deep Insight[edit]

Barefoot Deep Insight is a network monitoring system that provides full visibility into every packet in a network. Running on commodity servers, Barefoot Deep Insight interprets, analyzes and pinpoints a myriad of conditions that can impede packet flow, and does so in real time and at line-rate.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lawson, Stephen. "Barefoot Networks may have built the world's fastest networking switch chip". Computerworld. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  2. ^ a b Larry Dignan (2019-06-11). "Intel acquires Barefoot Networks, plans to bolster networking, interconnect silicon". ZDNet. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  3. ^ Don Clarke (June 14, 2016). "Stanford Professor's Startup Plans Novel Networking Chips".
  4. ^ Cade Metz (June 14, 2016). "Barefoot Networks New Chips Will Transform the Tech Industry".
  5. ^ Timothy Prickett Morgan (June 14, 2016). "The walls come down on the last bastion of proprietary".
  6. ^ "Barefoot Networks' Ecosystem Attracts New Investors". Nov 22, 2016.
  7. ^ Levy, Ari (2017-02-07). "The former leader of Alphabet's fiber business has landed at a Google-backed startup". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  8. ^ Martin, Dylan. "Ex-Barefoot Networks CEO Leaves Intel Less Than Year After Acquisition | CRN". www.crn.com. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  9. ^ Weinberger, Matt. "Intel is buying Barefoot Networks, a challenger to Cisco that had raised over $150 million from giants like Google and Alibaba". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  10. ^ Cherney, Max (26 January 2023). "Intel is halting development of the networking chip it got from Barefoot Networks". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  11. ^ "Intel® Tofino™ 2". Intel. Retrieved 2023-11-29.

External links[edit]