computer science

Pica8

Pica8 is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pica8 rather than just read about it. In short: Pica8 Software Inc. is a computer networking company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. Pica8 is a provider of SDN software solutions, delivering advanced software-defined networking (SDN) solutions for datacenter, cloud computing environments and large enterprise customers.

Key takeaways

Pica8 belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pica8 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pica8 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pica8 Software Inc. is a computer networking company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. Pica8 is a provider of SDN software solutions, delivering advanced software-defined networking (SDN) solutions for datacenter, cloud computing environments and large enterprise customers. The company's products include a Linux-based L2/L3 and OpenFlow-supporting network operating system, PicOS, which is shipped as standalone software that can be loaded onto a range of 1/10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet switches based on commoditized switches purchased from original design manufacturers (ODMs). The company's approach is to combine commodity network hardware (from manufacturers like Accton, Foxconn, Quanta) with Debian Linux, L2/L3 protocol stacks, a full enterprise feature set, OpenFlow controller and Open vSwitch (OVS) to create both a more "democratic" SDN solutions with competitive price compared to conventional embedded switches as well as more flexible and scalable disaggregated enterprise networking solutions.

History The company was founded in 2009. It launched a family of OpenFlow-enabled Ethernet switches in August 2009 and has been selling products ever since. In October 2012 Pica8 raised $6.6m in Series A funding from VantagePoint Capital Partners to support its sales and product development. On 10 December 2012 the company exited stealth mode with the introduction of SDN reference architecture aimed at cloud providers. By 2013, among about 100 Pica8's customers, including large service providers and hosting companies, were such companies as Baidu, Yahoo! Japan and NTT Communications. In December 2013, the company launched the Pica8 SDN Starter Kit, an "out-of-the-box" kit that includes an open-source network controller, a programmable network tap, an open-source network intrusion detection system, and other components meant to give customers a complete SDN solution, which would be quick to implement. In April 2014 Pica8 claimed to be the first vendor to support the latest version 1.4 of OpenFlow and to have over 300 customers globally.

Products

PicOS PicOS (formerly known as XorPlus) is a network operating system (NOS) that Pica8 has developed based on XORP, an eXtensible Open Router Platform. The operating system works on an unmodified Linux kernel and is extended with a range of network and switching services. PicOS includes a traditional Layer-2 / Layer-3 switching mode (L2/L3 Mode) and has support for OpenFlow protocol, standardized by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), through Open vSwitch (OVS). OVS runs as a process on the Debian Linux distribution.

PicaPilot In addition to PicOS, Pica8 offers a second core technology solution called PicaPilot, which was announced in May 2018. PicaPilot is an automated switch configuration and management application that runs on Pica8-enabled switches alongside PicOS. Designed as a replacement for legacy Ethernet switch stacks and chassis switches, PicaPilot compresses dozens of access- and aggregation-layer leaf-spine topology switches into a single layer and allows them to be managed as a single logical switch with a single consolidated IP address.

CrossFlow On 10 November 2014 Pica8 announced CrossFlow, a new feature in the PicOS NOS that enables network managers to integrate OpenFlow applications and business policies with existing layer 2/layer 3 networks. Users can run layer 2/layer 3 protocols and OpenFlow protocols on all the switch ports in a network at the same time. OpenFlow can be used for policy-driven applications to bring business logic to the network. The traditional network can optimize packet transport and performance with protocols, such as OSPF, Spanning Tree, and BGP.

Awards and recognitions The 10 Coolest Networking Startups Of 2013 according to CRN (2013). AlwaysOn OnDemand Companies to Watch (2013). AlwaysOn OnDemand 100 Top Private Companies (2014). AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies (2014, along with companies like Acquia, Couchbase, Dropbox, MongoDB).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pica8

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pica8 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pica8 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pica8 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pica8

In research: Pica8 appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pica8 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pica8 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Palo Alto, California, Computer companies of the United States, Computer hardware companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pica8 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pica8 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pica8 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pica8 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pica8 in simple terms?

Why does Pica8 matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pica8?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pica8.