<s>
FTOS	B-Protocol
or	O
Force10	B-Protocol
Operating	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
is	O
the	O
firmware	B-Application
family	O
used	O
on	O
Force10	O
Ethernet	B-Protocol
switches	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
a	O
similar	O
functionality	O
as	O
Cisco	O
's	O
NX-OS	B-Operating_System
or	O
Juniper	O
's	O
Junos	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
FTOS	B-Protocol
10	O
is	O
running	O
on	O
Debian	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
re-branding	O
strategy	O
of	O
Dell	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
will	O
be	O
renamed	O
to	O
Dell	B-Protocol
Networking	I-Protocol
Operating	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
DNOS	B-Protocol
)	O
9.x	O
or	O
above	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
legacy	O
PowerConnect	B-Operating_System
switches	O
will	O
use	O
DNOS	B-Protocol
6.x	O
:	O
see	O
the	O
separate	O
article	O
on	O
DNOS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
of	O
the	O
four	O
product	O
families	O
from	O
Dell	O
Force10	O
are	O
using	O
the	O
Broadcom	O
Trident+	O
ASIC	O
's	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
company	O
does	O
n't	O
use	O
the	O
API	B-General_Concept
's	O
from	O
Broadcom	O
:	O
the	O
developers	O
at	O
Force10	O
have	O
written	O
their	O
own	O
Hardware	B-Operating_System
Abstraction	I-Operating_System
Layer	I-Operating_System
so	O
that	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
can	O
run	O
on	O
different	O
hardware	O
platforms	O
with	O
minimal	O
impact	O
for	O
the	O
firmware	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
three	O
of	O
the	O
four	O
F10	O
switch	O
families	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Broadcom	O
Trident+	O
(	O
while	O
the	O
fourth	O
—	O
the	O
E-series	O
—	O
run	O
on	O
self-developed	O
ASIC	O
's	O
)	O
;	O
and	O
if	O
the	O
product	O
developers	O
want	O
or	O
need	O
to	O
use	O
different	O
hardware	O
for	O
new	O
products	O
they	O
only	O
need	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
HAL	O
for	O
that	O
new	O
hardware	O
and	O
the	O
same	O
firmware	B-Application
can	O
run	O
on	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
human	O
interface	O
in	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
,	O
that	O
is	O
the	O
way	O
network-administrators	O
can	O
configure	O
and	O
monitor	O
their	O
switches	O
,	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
an	O
implementation	O
which	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
embedded	O
networking-systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBSD	B-Device
is	O
a	O
very	O
stable	O
,	O
open	O
source	O
,	O
OS	O
running	O
on	O
many	O
different	O
hardware	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
choosing	O
for	O
a	O
proven	O
technology	O
with	O
extended	O
TCP	O
functionality	O
built	O
into	O
the	O
core	O
of	O
the	O
OS	O
it	O
reduces	O
time	O
during	O
development	O
of	O
new	O
products	O
or	O
extending	O
the	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
with	O
new	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FTOS	B-Protocol
is	O
also	O
modular	O
where	O
different	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
OS	O
run	O
independently	O
from	O
each	O
other	O
within	O
one	O
switch	O
:	O
if	O
one	O
process	O
would	O
fail	O
the	O
impact	O
on	O
other	O
processes	O
on	O
the	O
switch	O
are	O
limited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
same	O
approach	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
newer	O
firmware-families	O
from	O
Cisco	O
like	O
the	O
NX-OS	B-Operating_System
for	O
the	O
Nexus	B-Protocol
product-line	O
or	O
the	O
IOS	B-Device
XR	I-Device
for	O
the	O
high-end	O
routers	O
(	O
the	O
Carrier	B-Protocol
Routing	I-Protocol
Systems	I-Protocol
)	O
from	O
Cisco	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
and	O
unlike	O
the	O
original	O
IOS	B-Protocol
:	O
processes	O
under	O
IOS	B-Protocol
are	O
n't	O
isolated	O
from	O
each	O
other	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
based	O
switches	O
offer	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
layer2	O
and	O
layer3	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
interfaces	O
on	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
running	O
switches	O
are	O
configured	O
as	O
a	O
layer3	O
interface	O
and	O
by	O
default	O
shutdown	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
standardized	O
ethernet	O
standards	O
are	O
supported	O
by	O
switches	O
running	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
including	O
:	O
Spanning	B-Protocol
Tree	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
and	O
RSTP	O
,	O
VLAN	B-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
IEEE	O
802.1Q	O
standards	O
,	O
QinQ	O
or	O
IEEE	O
802.1ad	O
,	O
Link	B-Protocol
Layer	I-Protocol
Discovery	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
and	O
LLDP	B-Protocol
MED	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
S-series	O
switches	O
ending	O
with	O
a	O
V	O
and	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
E-series	O
line-cards	O
support	O
Power	B-Device
over	I-Device
Ethernet	I-Device
or	O
PoE	B-Device
with	O
the	O
standards	O
for	O
this	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
mentioned	O
above	O
,	O
by	O
default	O
an	O
interface	O
on	O
a	O
switch	O
running	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
are	O
configured	O
as	O
a	O
layer3	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
switches	O
are	O
thus	O
routers	O
with	O
many	O
interfaces	O
that	O
can	O
(	O
and	O
most	O
often	O
are	O
)	O
reconfigured	O
into	O
a	O
layer2	O
ethernet	B-Protocol
switch	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
switches	O
run	O
at	O
least	O
the	O
following	O
routing	O
protocols	O
:	O
Routing	B-Protocol
Information	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
and	O
RIP	O
version	O
2	O
,	O
OSPF	B-Protocol
,	O
IS-IS	B-Protocol
and	O
Border	B-Protocol
Gateway	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
version	O
4	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Switches	O
running	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
can	O
only	O
be	O
configured	O
using	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
interface	I-Application
or	O
CLI	O
:	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
does	O
n't	O
offer	O
a	O
web-based	O
Graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
switches	O
have	O
a	O
standard	O
serial	O
port	O
or	O
offer	O
a	O
USB-B	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
initial	O
configuration	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
cli	O
is	O
possible	O
via	O
telnet	B-Protocol
and/or	O
SSH	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
switches	O
running	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
offer	O
a	O
dedicated	O
management	O
interface	O
where	O
the	O
IP	O
routing	O
to/from	O
the	O
management	O
system	O
is	O
not	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
internal	O
switching	O
or	O
routing	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
S-series	O
switches	O
only	O
offer	O
in-band	O
management	O
using	O
a	O
physical	O
router	O
interface	O
or	O
a	O
VLAN	B-General_Concept
interface	O
in	O
layer-3	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
the	O
name	O
OpenAutomation	O
2.0	O
Dell	O
Networking	B-Protocol
switches	I-Protocol
running	O
DNOS	B-Protocol
9.x	O
(	O
the	O
new	O
brand-name	O
for	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
)	O
offers	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
features	O
under	O
this	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
develop	O
scripts	O
that	O
run	O
on	O
the	O
switches	O
running	O
FTOS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Perl	B-Language
and	O
Python	B-Language
are	O
supported	O
as	O
scripting	O
languages	O
to	O
automate	O
environment	O
specific	O
repetitive	O
tasks	O
or	O
to	O
build	O
in	O
custom	O
behavior	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
who	O
write	O
such	O
scripts	O
are	O
promoted	O
to	O
share	O
these	O
scripts	O
with	O
the	O
user-community	O
and	O
make	O
them	O
available	O
to	O
other	O
Force10/DNOS	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Force10	O
switches	O
support	O
a	O
bare	O
metal	O
provisioning	O
option	O
:	O
if	O
you	O
need	O
to	O
deploy	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
similar	O
switches	O
you	O
can	O
put	O
both	O
(	O
desired/latest	O
)	O
firmware	B-Application
release	O
and	O
standard	O
user-specific	O
configuration	O
on	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
key	O
:	O
when	O
deploying	O
the	O
switches	O
you	O
can	O
insert	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
key	O
,	O
power-up	O
the	O
switch	O
and	O
it	O
will	O
automatically	O
load	O
the	O
correct	O
firmware	B-Application
and	O
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
