Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This talk highlights SONiC-VPP architecture improvements, new features, and validation results using standard SONiC-Mgmt test frameworks. SONiC-VPP, capable of functioning as a switch-router, has already been adopted by cloud providers for various gateway functions. We share enhancements in infrastructure, new features, and tools fostering faster development. New capabilities can now be validated in a platform-agnostic environment, reinforcing SONiC-VPP's alignment with the SONiC community.
Key topics include:
-New features like VxLAN, SRv6, LAG
-Infrastructure enhancements with combined lib-SAI support
-Improved tooling for build processes and VPP upgrades
-SONiC-Mgmt T1/T0 test suites with results dashboards
-Azure CI integration for Nightly Builds/PR checkers
-Enabling new use cases for SONiC-VPP
Additionally, we introduce a Virtual SmartSwitch combining SONiC-VPP with DASH-enabled BMV2 (representing DPU), facilitating the creation of advanced DPU functions. Enhancements to SONiC test topologies and suites for the Virtual SmartSwitch will also be discussed.
Murali Venkat: Murali is a Systems Architect and Principal Engineer at Cisco, leading the engineering architecture and product development for Cisco’s SONiC SmartSwitch. He also chairs the SONiC Virtual Dataplane Workgroup, advancing innovation in open networking software. Murali brings expertise across IP Host Services, Carrier Ethernet, and Data Center Networking technologies. He has worked on multiple generations of NPU ASICs and platforms for Data Center and Service Provider Access/PreAgg markets. His background also includes software dataplanes for Mobility and Broadband Network Gateway (BnG) domains, with contributions to 3GPP/SA3LI standards.
This talk highlights SONiC-VPP architecture improvements, new features, and validation results using standard SONiC-Mgmt test frameworks. SONiC-VPP, capable of functioning as a switch-router, has already been adopted by cloud providers for various gateway functions. We share enhancements in infrastructure, new features, and tools fostering faster development. New capabilities can now be validated in a platform-agnostic environment, reinforcing SONiC-VPP's alignment with the SONiC community.
Key topics include:
-New features like VxLAN, SRv6, LAG
-Infrastructure enhancements with combined lib-SAI support
-Improved tooling for build processes and VPP upgrades
-SONiC-Mgmt T1/T0 test suites with results dashboards
-Azure CI integration for Nightly Builds/PR checkers
-Enabling new use cases for SONiC-VPP
Additionally, we introduce a Virtual SmartSwitch combining SONiC-VPP with DASH-enabled BMV2 (representing DPU), facilitating the creation of advanced DPU functions. Enhancements to SONiC test topologies and suites for the Virtual SmartSwitch will also be discussed.
Murali Venkat: Murali is a Systems Architect and Principal Engineer at Cisco, leading the engineering architecture and product development for Cisco’s SONiC SmartSwitch. He also chairs the SONiC Virtual Dataplane Workgroup, advancing innovation in open networking software. Murali brings expertise across IP Host Services, Carrier Ethernet, and Data Center Networking technologies. He has worked on multiple generations of NPU ASICs and platforms for Data Center and Service Provider Access/PreAgg markets. His background also includes software dataplanes for Mobility and Broadband Network Gateway (BnG) domains, with contributions to 3GPP/SA3LI standards.
