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DENT Project announced DENT 3.2 “Cynthia” on 27 October 2023, alongside four new general members: BISDN, Bootlin, PLVision and Wistron. The release highlighted automated testing, a Debian 10 base, virtual-machine use, VRF support and the Delta TN48M2-SWDEV switch. This is a historical release announcement, not news of a newly launched version.
What DENT 3.2 “Cynthia” introduced
DENT is a Linux-based network operating system project built around the Linux kernel, Switchdev and related projects for disaggregated networks. Its 27 October 2023 announcement described several changes in version 3.2.
- Automated testing: Hardened regression testing and a CI/CD pipeline covering QoS, 802.1x, IPv6, IGMP, ECMP, LACP, LLDP, RSTP and VRRP.
- Debian 10: The announcement said DentOS was upgraded to Debian 10 LTS.
- Virtualization: DentOS could be run in a virtual machine without physical switch hardware.
- VRF: The release added Virtual Routing and Forwarding support.
- New platform support: Support was added for Delta Electronics’ TN48M2-SWDEV, described in the announcement as a 48-port 10G switch with six 40G uplinks.
The v3.2 release notes also list arm64 and amd64 support. Their known-issue disclosures include IPv6 traffic being trapped to the CPU, an LLDPd update for Debian 10, and inclusion of hostapd with wired support for Debian 10. These are notes associated with that release; they do not establish the current status of those issues.
What the testing claims mean
Keysight Senior Director Dean Lee said in the announcement that the DENT functional and system integration test framework, powered by Keysight IxNetwork, had expanded to “hundreds of test cases” and was integrated with the community CI/CD pipeline. The announcement does not provide an exact count or testing methodology, so “hundreds” should be understood as Lee’s attributed description rather than a separately documented measurement.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The listed test areas indicate the breadth of protocols and functions the pipeline was intended to cover. They do not, by themselves, establish that every feature passed every test, or provide a comparative performance result.
Who joined as general members
The October 2023 announcement named four new general members:
- BISDN
- Bootlin
- PLVision
- Wistron
At that time, the announcement described existing general members as Keysight Technologies, Micas Networks and Sartura, and premier members as Amazon.com, Delta Electronics, Edgecore Networks and Marvell. This is the membership picture reported in the 2023 announcement, not a verified current roster.
Bootlin CEO Thomas Petazzoni said the company shared DENT’s emphasis on standardizing drivers, APIs and technologies and working with upstream open-source projects. PLVision CEO Olena Kozlova said the company was joining as a general member and that a PLVision expert had been elected as a Governing Board representative. These are statements from the project’s press announcement, not independent assessments.
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Trying DentOS in a VM or deploying it on a switch
DENT 3.2’s virtualization support made it possible to run the operating system without buying or installing a physical switch, according to the announcement. That makes a VM a practical way to explore the software. The announcement does not specify VM sizing, setup commands or a supported hypervisor, so consult the project’s documentation and release materials for deployment instructions.
Physical deployment is a separate decision: switch support is model-specific. DENT’s hardware compatibility page distinguishes two labels:
- Qualified: The vendor claims support and the DENT community has tested the device.
- Supported: The vendor claims support; this label alone does not mean the DENT community tested it.
The compatibility page lists Delta and Edgecore models, including TN48M2-related hardware under Delta. Check the exact model and the release you plan to run before choosing hardware; the announcement’s support statement for TN48M2-SWDEV should not be generalized to every related model.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is DENT 3.2 still the latest release?
DENT’s homepage continues to present 3.2 “Cynthia,” and the repository’s displayed release list shows v3.2 as its latest listed release. Those pages do not establish the project’s overall maintenance status or prove that no later releases exist elsewhere. DENT’s roadmap also cautions that its entries are neither complete nor guaranteed, so roadmap items should not be treated as shipped features without a corresponding release or project source.
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