-Open vSwitch is a versatile software-based Ethernet switch with the
-following features:
-
- * NIC bonding with automatic fail-over and source MAC-based TX
- load balancing ("SLB").
-
- * 802.1Q VLAN support.
-
- * Port mirroring, with optional VLAN tagging.
-
- * NetFlow v5 flow logging.
-
- * Connectivity to an external OpenFlow controller, such as NOX.
-
-Open vSwitch supports Linux 2.6.15 and up, with testing focused on
-2.6.18 with Centos and Xen patches and version 2.6.26 from kernel.org.
-Open vSwitch also has special support for Citrix XenServer hosts.
+Open vSwitch is a multilayer software switch licensed under the open
+source Apache 2 license. Our goal is to implement a production
+quality switch platform that supports standard management interfaces
+and opens the forwarding functions to programmatic extension and
+control.
+
+Open vSwitch is well suited to function as a virtual switch in VM
+environments. In addition to exposing standard control and visibility
+interfaces to the virtual networking layer, it was designed to support
+distribution across multiple physical servers. Open vSwitch supports
+multiple Linux-based virtualization technologies including
+Xen/XenServer, KVM, and VirtualBox.
+
+The bulk of the code is written in platform-independent C and is
+easily ported to other environments. The current release of Open
+vSwitch supports the following features:
+
+ * Standard 802.1Q VLAN model with trunk and access ports
+ * NIC bonding with or without LACP on upstream switch
+ * NetFlow, sFlow(R), and mirroring for increased visibility
+ * QoS (Quality of Service) configuration, plus policing
+ * GRE, GRE over IPSEC, VXLAN, and LISP tunneling
+ * 802.1ag connectivity fault management
+ * OpenFlow 1.0 plus numerous extensions
+ * Transactional configuration database with C and Python bindings
+ * High-performance forwarding using a Linux kernel module
+
+The included Linux kernel module supports Linux 2.6.18 and up, with
+testing focused on 2.6.32 with Centos and Xen patches. Open vSwitch
+also has special support for Citrix XenServer and Red Hat Enterprise
+Linux hosts.
+
+Open vSwitch can also operate, at a cost in performance, entirely in
+userspace, without assistance from a kernel module. This userspace
+implementation should be easier to port than the kernel-based switch.
+It is considered experimental.