Vyatta refuels for race against Cisco

Open-source router maker Vyatta has raised $10.1 million in its third round of venture funding, according to reports, as it continues to push its view of routing as a commodity.

Vyatta is just four years old and is leading the charge for an open-source approach to routing. It uses multicore, x86-based hardware and open-source code to address routing at the branch office and service provider edge. Its users can customize the routers by running applications on the platform.

The company had previously received $18.5 million in funding, from venture capitalists that included Comcast Interactive Capital, JPMorgan Partners, ComVentures, and ArrowPath Venture Partners. It was named one of our open source companies to watch last year. 

Vyatta had a seat on Jim Metzler's panel at the recent Interop trade show, "Is routing undergoing a mid-life crisis?" Vyatta challenged Cisco on price, while Cisco and Juniper argued that high-availability features were more important than price.

Vyatta has always gone after Cisco hard. A year ago, Vyatta commissioned the Tolly Group to pit its equipment against Cisco's, and published the results. On its Web site, Vyatta posts the "Vyatta vs. Cisco Challenge," a tongue-in-cheek quiz.  And the company recently ran a promotion based on Cisco's gross margins.

These tactics are somewhat amusing, but I wonder if they work. Certainly Vyatta has been promoting its customer wins as well. Maybe Vyatta is able to sell its story of commoditized, low-cost routing in a slow economy. Let me know what you think.

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.