The Future of the SONiC NOS: A CCIE’s Perspective
The Next 12 Months: SONiC > 4.5 and Feature Expansion
SONiC 4.5 was released in mid-2025 with key enhancements to stability, telemetry, and multi-ASIC scaling. Looking forward to the next release beyond 4.5, the SONiC community is working on closing several long-standing feature gaps that have traditionally kept SONiC out of more conservative enterprise environments. Based on roadmap discussions and pull request activity, we can expect the following features in the next 12 months:
Projected Features in the Next Release:
- Segment Routing (SRv6): Further support for SRv6 as a more scalable and flexible path control mechanism compared to traditional MPLS and other routing architectures.
- MPLS L3VPN Enhancements: Greater robustness in label handling and route distinguishers, particularly for interop with traditional routers.
- Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) over Secure Channels: Improvements to ZTP/ONIE with added security using certificate-based bootstrapping. This is important to create a Source-of-Trust for secured boot chains.
- Expanded PFC Watchdog and ECN Support: Enhancements to lossless Ethernet capabilities, especially important in AI/ML and storage networks.
- Additional Flow Mechanisms – More nerd-knobs to dial in QoS-like functionality for lossless, in-order, low latency requirements (ALB, DLB, ARS, flowlets, ECMP enhancements)
- gNMI Enhancements and OpenConfig Schema Support: Accelerated progress toward vendor-agnostic telemetry using standard models.
- Improved Upgrade Orchestration: In-service software upgrades (ISSU) and rollback mechanisms that allow for safer continuous operation.
- New Platform Drivers: Expanded support for merchant silicon (Broadcom, Nvidia, Marvell) and ASIC-level abstraction improvements.
These features collectively signal that سونيك is graduating from hyperscale-centric to a much broader production-ready NOS suitable for service providers and enterprises alike. Furth
The Next 24 Months: Operational Paradigm Shifts
Key Developments Expected:
- SONiC Management Framework (SMF) Maturity: A new initiative consolidating the fragmented CLI, REST, and gNMI interfaces into a unified, intent-driven model.
- Plug-and-Play Observability Pipelines: Telemetry agents that natively publish data into popular backends such as Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, and Loki with minimal configuration.
- Operational Abstractions: Introduction of logical grouping for network elements (e.g., fabrics, pods, racks) which can be managed as single objects using declarative configuration tools.
- SONiC-in-a-Container for CI/CD: Fully emulated SONiC environments packaged in containers to allow complete pre-deployment validation of config changes and upgrades.
- Redfish and YANG Integration: Bridging the hardware-software boundary through more standard models, bringing server-style manageability to switches.
- AI-Augmented Ops: Integration with anomaly detection engines that use telemetry patterns to recommend or trigger recovery actions.
- Multi-Vendor Abstraction Tools: Emergence of commercial and open-source platforms abstract multiple NOS vendors including SONiC under a unified interface.
Operational tooling is what will bring سونيك to the feet of NetOps teams that demand turnkey lifecycle controls. Expect the rise of “سونيك automation bundles” that include infrastructure-as-code examples, telemetry pipelines, and upgrade workflows out of the box.
The Next 5 Years: SONiC as a Cloud Network Platform
Emerging Architectural Trends:
- Composable Control Planes with Kubernetes:
Projects like Crossplane, which allow infrastructure to be declared and managed through Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), will intersect with SONiC’s modular architecture. In five years, it is entirely plausible that a leaf-spine fabric can be instantiated through a GitOps workflow inside a Kubernetes control plane, with SONiC switches acting as dynamic data plane endpoints. Operators will declare network intent using YAML files and tools like FluxCD will drive their deployment across SONiC switches. - DASH and the Service Network Transformation:
SONiC DASH (Datacenter Accelerated Switching and Host networking) is a game-changer. It decouples the traditional route lookup process by offloading service functions such as load balancing, NAT, and telemetry into smart NICs and merchant silicon switches. DASH will redefine how microservices communicate across L3 boundaries, effectively removing the need for overlay tunnels like VXLAN in many use cases. Within five years, expect DASH-enabled SONiC to provide built-in service chaining, telemetry tap-points, and deep integration with CNIs (Container Network Interfaces) in Kubernetes. - Universal Fabric Architecture:
SONiC will extend its support to non-DC environments, including telco RAN edge, industrial Ethernet, and smart campus networks. By unifying different environments under a consistent operational and configuration model, SONiC will position itself as the backbone of decentralized infrastructure. - Security as a First-Class Citizen:
In the next five years, SONiC will likely adopt secure-by-default postures, including runtime integrity checks, signed configuration bundles, encrypted telemetry, and identity-based policy enforcement. - Ecosystem Integration:
SONiC will not be a siloed NOS. Expect native integration with platforms like HashiCorp Consul, Open Policy Agent, and even cloud-native APIs such as AWS Outposts or Azure Arc. These integrations will allow SONiC to become a fabric component in hybrid-cloud and edge-cloud scenarios.
Final Thoughts, for now…
SONiC has come a long way from its origins in hyperscale environments. Over the next five years, SONiC will no longer just be an operating system; it will be a platform that transforms how we build, manage, and scale networks across clouds, edges, and data centers.
If you’re a network engineer, now is the time to get familiar with SONiC’s unique architecture and roadmap. The next wave of infrastructure evolution will not be CLI-driven but API-defined, service-aware, and cloud-integrated. SONiC is already leading that wave.
شكراً لك!
جوش سول
نائب رئيس تسويق المنتجات
كان جوش سول رائداً في مجال حلول الشبكات مفتوحة المصدر لأكثر من 25 عاماً. كمهندس معماري، قام ببناء شبكات أساسية لشركات جنرال إلكتريك، وفايزر، وإن بي سي يونيفرسال. كمهندس في شركة Cisco، قدم جوش المشورة للعملاء في القطاع المالي المدرجة في قائمة Fortune 100، وبشّر بالتقنيات الجديدة للعملاء. وفي الآونة الأخيرة، قاد جوش فرق التسويق والمنتجات في VMware (استحوذت عليها Broadcom)، وCumulus Networks (استحوذت عليها Nvidia)، وApstra (استحوذت عليها Juniper).
