Press Release: NetBSD hires Andrew Doran for full-time SMP development

NEW YORK CITY, July 25, 2007: The NetBSD Foundation announces that it has hired Andrew Doran to work full-time on improving symmetrical multi-processing (SMP) in NetBSD. This work is made possible through a generous donation by Force10 Networks and internal funding by The NetBSD Foundation.

Andrew Doran is an independent, Dublin based Unix systems consultant with special interest in building scalable systems. He has been a NetBSD developer since 1999 and is currently working on the transition from a big-lock SMP implementation to a fine-grained model, which allows multiple CPUs to execute code in kernel context simultaneously. Hiring Andrew full-time will boost work in this area, with the final result of a SMP implementation that is ready for tomorrow's multi-core-CPUs.

Force10 Networks is a pioneer in building and securing reliable networks. The Force10 TeraScale E-Series family of switch/routers and the recently introduced C300 resilient switch rely on the NetBSD-based FTOS to deliver the reliability, network control and scalability required to build application ready networks.

The funding will be for two months initially, and The NetBSD Foundation would like to extend this period. As a non-profit organization with no fixed financial backing, this is not possible without donations from individuals and companies. To realize our plans, $10k would be needed short term, with a goal of raising $15k or more eventually.

If you would like to donate to the ongoing effort of keeping NetBSD the most portable Open Source operating system, please consider supporting us! Donations via Paypal can be sent to <paypal@NetBSD.org>, or visit our donations page at http://www.NetBSD.org/donations/ for more details. Donations are tax deductible in the United States.

More information about the NetBSD operating system is available at http://www.NetBSD.org, information about The NetBSD Foundation is at http://www.NetBSD.org/foundation/. More information about Andrew Doran's SMP work is available on his webpage at http://www.NetBSD.org/~ad/.

Information about Force10 Networks can be found at http://www.force10networks.com/.