I read recently that the OVS will have Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality in its code base. OVS stands for Open vSwitch, and is an alternative to using something proprietary like VMware’s standard or distributed vSwitch or something like the Nexus 1000v. I also recently heard this podcast on the OVS project and how it’s achieving speeds never thought possible before.
I haven’t worked much with OVS, but the idea of it is quite compelling. It’s probably not for everyone, but for those diving into more of a DevOps strategy of doing things, the OVS could be really great for integrating with 3rd party software as well as enabling automation. It may even end up saving you some money by not having to purchase bigger licensing by getting you DVS funcitonality essentially for free.