Vyatta, which is Sanskrit for "open," isn't alone. ImageStream Internet Solutions Inc. in Plymouth, Ind., is a competitor, Machowinski said. There are probably many pieces of open-source routing code being widely shared in the user community, he added. But its usage is hard to measure because they are not a part of a recognized company like Vyatta, Machowinski said.

"I think we'll see that in five to 10 years, open-source will be much more prevalent in routing and networking generally," said Rob Whiteley, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.

Forrester conducted a survey of 608 large businesses in the U.S. last November, finding that 39% were using or piloting open-source software in their companies. Of that group, 47 percent were using open-source software in the network for firewall, router, e-mail or related areas.

However, Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group Research Inc. in Boston, said there is little push by businesses for cheap router systems. "If people wanted a cheaper router, wouldn't the low-cost router companies have more market share?" he said.

People are willing to pay for a Cisco router, the clear leader in the market, for solid engineering and the third-party support that Cisco adds, Kerravala added. "I always say with open-source that you don't get what you don't pay for."