NetPilot

Open Networking & FRR Research Lab

Six FRR protocols in a single plain-English prompt.

BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, Babel, EVPN, and SRv6 in one prompt — plus SONiC multi-vendor integration and commercial-NOS interop. No Docker install, no YAML scaffolding, no local container wrangling. Complementary to netlab for cloud-native FRR research.

All 6 FRR protocols in one prompt
SONiC + Cisco + Arista in one fabric
vtysh access on every node

FRR and open-networking lab tools compared

Honest positioning. NetPilot does not try to replace netlab or ContainerLab — they remain the canonical lab-as-code tools for FRR research. NetPilot is the cloud self-serve complement for teams who want prompt-driven iteration + multi-vendor integration without local infrastructure.

Dimensionnetlab (ipSpace.net)Self-hosted FRR + DockerContainerLab FRR templatesNVIDIA AirNetPilot
AI-built from plain-English prompt❌❌❌❌✅
Cloud self-serve (no local setup)❌ self-hosted❌ local❌ self-hosted✅✅
Multi-vendor with commercial NOS✅ BYOI⚠️ DIY✅ BYOI❌ Cumulus/SONiC only✅
6-protocol FRR stack (BGP/OSPF/IS-IS/Babel/EVPN/SRv6)✅⚠️ DIY✅ template-dependent⚠️ Cumulus-focused✅ one prompt
Setup time (first-time user)Hours (install + provider)Hours (Docker + FRR)Hours (ContainerLab + images)~1 hour~2 minutes
Lab-as-code (YAML-based)✅ strong⚠️ compose files✅ YAML topo⚠️ simulation filesPrompt-based
Authoritative content / thought leadership✅ ipSpace.net⚠️ scattered✅ srl-labs✅ NVIDIA docsPrompt library on GitHub
Anchor experiment

FRR Babel vs OSPF in a 12-node mesh under 15% packet loss

A canonical open-networking research scenario: two routing protocols, same topology, same loss profile, different convergence and stability characteristics. Describe it in plain English — "12-node mesh, FRR on each node. Experiment A runs Babel; experiment B runs OSPF (single-area). tc netem injects correlated 15% packet loss on 20% of the links. Capture convergence time, route table churn, and adjacency flap frequency per protocol."

NetPilot builds both experiments in ~2 minutes each, wires the impairment, and hands you vtysh access on every node for show babel neighbor, show ip ospf neighbor, and the route tables. The prompt + configs + impairment script become a reusable artifact — share the prompt and another researcher reproduces the exact experiment.

→ FRRouting cloud lab guide (all 6 protocols)→ OSPF vs Babel under link failure

Cloud complement to self-hosted FRR and netlab

netlab / ipSpace.net wins

  • • Deep lab-as-code — YAML topologies, git-versioned labs
  • • Broadest protocol module library for FRR research
  • • Thought leadership via Ivan Pepelnjak — canonical FRR content
  • • Multi-provider (ContainerLab, Vagrant, libvirt)

NetPilot wins

  • • Zero local setup — cloud-hosted, browser-accessible
  • • AI-built from plain-English prompts, not YAML authoring
  • • Multi-vendor with commercial NOS integration in one lab
  • • Minutes from idea to running lab

Use both. netlab for infrastructure-as-code workflows and the deep content library at blog.ipspace.net. NetPilot for quick multi-node iteration without git-cloning templates or configuring a local provider. The two target different moments in the research workflow.

Use cases for open-networking teams

Four workflows where cloud self-serve + multi-vendor integration matter.

FRR protocol development and testing

Six-protocol FRR stack — BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, Babel, EVPN, SRv6 — in one plain-English prompt. Describe multi-protocol experiments, SSH in via vtysh to inspect bgpd/ospfd/babeld/isisd state, iterate in the cloud. For FRR main-branch or patched FRR research, use BYOI.

FRR cloud lab guide →

SONiC multi-vendor integration

SONiC + Cisco NX-OS + Arista EOS + Nokia SR Linux in one fabric. Reproduce the cross-vendor integration bugs that surface at vendor boundaries — route-target auto-derivation mismatches, BUM replication divergence, anycast MAC handling.

Multi-vendor SONiC walkthrough →

Multi-NOS open-networking labs

FRR interoperating with commercial NOSes, Nokia SR Linux, and community SONiC. Real protocol behavior across implementations — useful for research on cross-implementation edge cases, adjacency behavior, and route exchange semantics that single-NOS labs can't surface.

Network security research on FRR

BGP parser robustness, malformed UPDATE injection via Linux-with-Scapy, public CVE reproduction against FRR and commercial NOSes. The DUT topology is multi-vendor; the fuzzer is your choice.

BGP fuzzing with Scapy →

The six-protocol FRR stack — in one prompt

Most FRR content talks about one protocol at a time. The reality of open-networking research is multi-protocol — a route reflector running BGP, Babel for the mesh, IS-IS for the underlay, EVPN for the overlay, SRv6 for the traffic engineering. Nobody else talks about the full stack in one place.

BGPOSPFIS-ISBabelEVPNSRv6

Describe a mesh. Specify which protocols run where. NetPilot generates the FRR configurations and deploys in ~2 minutes. Real vtysh on every node.

Protocols and NOSes supported

Open-source FRR and Nokia SR Linux ship natively. Commercial NOSes and downstream FRR distributions run under BYOI.

  • FRR: BGP (including BGP-LU, MP-BGP, BGP-LS), OSPF (multi-area), IS-IS (multi-level), Babel, EVPN, SRv6, RIP, PIM
  • SONiC (Linux Foundation community SONiC-VS) — enterprise plan
  • Nokia SR Linux (free, built-in)
  • Cisco IOL / (enterprise) IOS-XR — BYOI
  • Juniper cRPD, Arista cEOS — BYOI
  • Cumulus Linux (NVIDIA), VyOS, DENT — BYOI
  • Linux endpoints with Scapy, tc netem, iperf3
  • Custom FRR builds — BYOI with your container
  • Full vtysh access on every FRR node

Project attribution

NetPilot is an independent commercial platform. FRR is an open-source project under the FRRouting foundation. SONiC is a Linux Foundation community distribution (DENT, similarly, is a Linux Foundation project). Cumulus Linux is owned by NVIDIA. VyOS is an open-source project. NetPilot is not affiliated with any of these projects or their trademark holders.

Open Networking & FRR FAQ

Scenario-phrased questions from FRR contributors and SONiC developers.

Describe the topology in plain English — for example, '8-node mesh, each node runs FRR with Babel on eth0, OSPF on eth1, and IS-IS on eth2. tc netem injects 5% packet loss on a subset of links.' NetPilot generates frr.conf fragments per node, deploys the containers in ~2 minutes, and gives you vtysh access to inspect bgpd/ospfd/babeld/isisd state. The six-protocol FRR stack (BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, Babel, EVPN, SRv6) runs out of the box.
No — complementary. netlab (from ipSpace.net) is the leading lab-as-code framework for FRR and multi-vendor topologies, with YAML-defined scenarios and deep protocol coverage. Use netlab when you want infrastructure-as-code workflows, git-versioned labs, and the broadest protocol module library. Use NetPilot when you want to iterate in the cloud without git-cloning templates or setting up a local provider. Different workflow shapes; both valuable.
Yes. SONiC + Cisco NX-OS + Arista EOS + Nokia SR Linux in one topology is supported. The three named cross-vendor integration bugs the multi-vendor SONiC blog documents (route-target auto-derivation mismatch, BUM replication divergence, anycast MAC handling) reproduce reliably in NetPilot labs. SONiC runs under the enterprise plan with Linux Foundation community SONiC-VS as the baseline; commercial NOSes via BYOI.
FRR SRv6 support (including uSID endpoint behaviors) depends on the FRR version in the default container image. NetPilot tracks FRR stable releases; check the current platform documentation for the exact FRR version and supported SRv6 features. For researchers building against the latest FRR main branch, BYOI is available for a custom FRR build.
Self-hosted FRR on Docker is zero-friction for senior engineers and a multi-hour first-run for beginners. NetPilot skips the Docker install, the FRR container version wrangling, the network-namespace plumbing, and the vtysh/config-file dance. Describe the lab in plain English and get a working topology in ~2 minutes. For reproducible local development, keep Docker. For quick multi-node experimentation and sharing, NetPilot is faster.
Yes. NetPilot's FRR image includes babeld. Describe the mesh — for example, '12-node mesh with FRR Babel, tc netem for progressive packet loss, capture convergence per loss rate' — and the lab deploys in minutes. No local server, no Docker, no containerlab install. Babel-specific vtysh commands (show babel neighbor, show babel route) work on every node.
Cumulus Linux (now owned by NVIDIA) is supported via BYOI with your NVIDIA licensing. VyOS is supported similarly for users with licensed images. For the open-source FRR-based distributions, FRR itself runs natively in every NetPilot lab — if your research is fundamentally about FRR protocol behavior, you don't need to BYOI a downstream distribution.
NetPilot tracks FRR stable releases in its default image; the exact version is documented in the platform reference. For researchers needing the latest FRR main branch, patched FRR builds, or custom FRR features not yet upstream, BYOI is available — upload your own FRR image and use it in any lab.
No. NetPilot is an independent commercial platform that uses FRR (open source) and SONiC (Linux Foundation community distribution) as two of its supported NOSes. NetPilot is not affiliated with the FRRouting project, the SONiC community, or the Linux Foundation. The project names FRR and SONiC are trademarks of their respective owners.

Related reading

Tutorial

FRRouting Cloud Labs — All 6 Protocols

BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, Babel, EVPN, SRv6 — the full FRR stack in one prompt.

Tutorial

Multi-Vendor SONiC Integration Lab

SONiC + Cisco NX-OS + Arista EOS in the same fabric.

Tutorial

OSPF vs Babel Under Link Failure

Protocol comparison under impairment — canonical mesh research scenario.

Tutorial

BGP Fuzzing with Scapy

Security research workflow — cross-vendor DUT topologies + structured fuzzing.

Comparison

Keysight vs VIAVI vs NetPilot: Research Lab Comparison

Honest comparison across research tooling categories.

Hub

Network Research Lab

The parent hub — all six research segments.

Ready to try six-protocol FRR in one prompt?

Dedicated environments, custom FRR builds via BYOI, SSO, audit, workflow integration — talk to us about an open-networking research plan. Or spin up a free lab and run a Babel mesh experiment yourself.