Can you purchase switch hardware without an OS?

dhahn writes: "I have a project where I'm building a large linux router (about 40 ports or so). At this point, my only hardware solution is to purchase a box with lots of PCI-ish slots and fill them multi-port ethernet cards. Does anyone know of where I could purchse a "naked switch"? Just the switch hardware with enough guts to allow me to customize a linux OS and load it up? Or any other ideas? I've looked into currently available solutions and haven't found anything that gives me the control I want."