The document discusses how future networking is being impacted by cloud/hybrid IT, software-defined networking, and network functions virtualization. Specifically:
1) The emergence of public cloud and hybrid IT models is driving more traffic to data centers and changing expectations around network flexibility and costs.
2) Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) solutions allow businesses more control over their networks by using overlays to connect sites over multiple networks like broadband internet and MPLS.
3) Network functions virtualization (NFV) enables network functions to be deployed as software, increasing flexibility and reducing costs compared to hardware appliances.
Practical active network services within content-aware gatewaysTal Lavian Ph.D.
The Internet has seen an increase in complexity due to the introduction of new types of networking devices and services, particularly at points of discontinuity known as network edges. As the networking industry continues to add revenue generating services at network edges, there is an increasing need to provide a systematic method for dynamically introducing and providing these new services in lieu of the ad-hoc approach that is in use today. To this end we support a phased approach to "activating" the Internet and suggest that there exists an immediate need for realizing Active Networks concepts at the network edges. In this context, we present our efforts towards the development of a Content-aware Active Gateway (CAG) architecture. With the help of two practical services running on our initial prototype, built from commercial networking devices, we give a qualitative and quantitative view of the CAG potential.
Network service providers—those with access networks like DSL, cable, or mobile—continue
to face a dual threat: rising operating expenses associated with explosive bandwidth growth
and declining revenues driven by commoditization. A true Telco cloud, featuring automation
and dynamic scalability, becomes a comprehensive delivery platform enabling network service
providers to offer differentiated services that solve their customer’s business demands.
CONTAINERIZED SERVICES ORCHESTRATION FOR EDGE COMPUTING IN SOFTWARE-DEFINED W...IJCNCJournal
As SD-WAN disrupts legacy WAN technologies and becomes the preferred WAN technology adopted by corporations, and Kubernetes becomes the de-facto container orchestration tool, the opportunities for deploying edge-computing containerized applications running over SD-WAN are vast. Service orchestration in SD-WAN has not been provided with enough attention, resulting in the lack of research focused on service discovery in these scenarios. In this article, an in-house service discovery solution that works alongside Kubernetes’ master node for allowing improved traffic handling and better user experience when running micro-services is developed. The service discovery solution was conceived following a design science research approach. Our research includes the implementation of a proof-ofconcept SD-WAN topology alongside a Kubernetes cluster that allows us to deploy custom services and delimit the necessary characteristics of our in-house solution. Also, the implementation's performance is tested based on the required times for updating the discovery solution according to service updates. Finally, some conclusions and modifications are pointed out based on the results, while also discussing possible enhancements.
SDN and NFV Value in Business Services: Innovations in Network Monetization a...Alan Sardella
White paper submitted to the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) by Mazen Khaddem of Cox Communications and Dr. Loukas Paraschis of Cisco Systems. Paper covers technical reference design in SDN including the role of open source, orchestration and control, and the importance of a hybrid control plane for legacy, multivendor networks.
Practical active network services within content-aware gatewaysTal Lavian Ph.D.
The Internet has seen an increase in complexity due to the introduction of new types of networking devices and services, particularly at points of discontinuity known as network edges. As the networking industry continues to add revenue generating services at network edges, there is an increasing need to provide a systematic method for dynamically introducing and providing these new services in lieu of the ad-hoc approach that is in use today. To this end we support a phased approach to "activating" the Internet and suggest that there exists an immediate need for realizing Active Networks concepts at the network edges. In this context, we present our efforts towards the development of a Content-aware Active Gateway (CAG) architecture. With the help of two practical services running on our initial prototype, built from commercial networking devices, we give a qualitative and quantitative view of the CAG potential.
Network service providers—those with access networks like DSL, cable, or mobile—continue
to face a dual threat: rising operating expenses associated with explosive bandwidth growth
and declining revenues driven by commoditization. A true Telco cloud, featuring automation
and dynamic scalability, becomes a comprehensive delivery platform enabling network service
providers to offer differentiated services that solve their customer’s business demands.
CONTAINERIZED SERVICES ORCHESTRATION FOR EDGE COMPUTING IN SOFTWARE-DEFINED W...IJCNCJournal
As SD-WAN disrupts legacy WAN technologies and becomes the preferred WAN technology adopted by corporations, and Kubernetes becomes the de-facto container orchestration tool, the opportunities for deploying edge-computing containerized applications running over SD-WAN are vast. Service orchestration in SD-WAN has not been provided with enough attention, resulting in the lack of research focused on service discovery in these scenarios. In this article, an in-house service discovery solution that works alongside Kubernetes’ master node for allowing improved traffic handling and better user experience when running micro-services is developed. The service discovery solution was conceived following a design science research approach. Our research includes the implementation of a proof-ofconcept SD-WAN topology alongside a Kubernetes cluster that allows us to deploy custom services and delimit the necessary characteristics of our in-house solution. Also, the implementation's performance is tested based on the required times for updating the discovery solution according to service updates. Finally, some conclusions and modifications are pointed out based on the results, while also discussing possible enhancements.
SDN and NFV Value in Business Services: Innovations in Network Monetization a...Alan Sardella
White paper submitted to the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) by Mazen Khaddem of Cox Communications and Dr. Loukas Paraschis of Cisco Systems. Paper covers technical reference design in SDN including the role of open source, orchestration and control, and the importance of a hybrid control plane for legacy, multivendor networks.
IT Brand Pulse industry brief describing a new approach to configuring virtual networks for virtual machines...layering hypervisor-based virtual networking services on top of hardware based virtual networking services. The result is more efficient management and lower costs.
Slovakian Internet Exchange improves platform to make customer experience potent differentiator by leveraging on Cisco Cloud architecture and the Fabric Path solution
Avaya Fabric Connect: The Right Foundation for the Software-Defined Data CenterAvaya Inc.
This paper focuses on a specific real-world use case for SDN - the Software-Defined Data Center. It provides Avaya’s perspective on the characteristics of the Software-Defined Data Center and the value of its Fabric Connect technology as the foundation for this solution. It also talks about how combining Avaya Fabric Connect with open-source cloud orchestration capabilities (that are being defined by OpenStack) can enable a graceful migration to the Software-Defined Data Center.
Do you run an MPLS network to some or all of your branches? If so, you are likely wasting MPLS capacity backhauling Internet traffic.
For many organizations, a lot of the traffic is Internet-bound due to increased cloud-usage. Backhauling Internet traffic over an expensive MPLS service adds latency and puts pressure on limited and expensive MPLS capacity.
http://www.ericsson.com
Imagine what you could do with a full multi-access data management solution that can also provide you a 360 degrees view of your user’s data assets - all in just one “box”?
For more discussions and topics around Service Providers, please visit our SP Community: http://cisco.com/go/serviceprovidercommunity
Download the full PDF report here: https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-37834
Senza Fili Leveraging802.16e Wi Max 091111Monica Paolini
License-exempt spectrum bands make it possible for operators who do not have access to licensed spectrum to deploy wireless broadband networks. Traditionally vendors have developed specific solutions for license-exempt operators, often based on proprietary technology that limits the flexibility and upgradability of their networks.
With Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16e WiMAX, license-exempt operators have access to the most advanced wireless broadband technology on the market today and can take advantage of the same performance, ecosystem, and volume of scale that incumbent, nationwide wireless operators with licensed-spectrum can.
While often positioned as a mobile broadband technology that operates in licensed bands, 802.16e WiMAX can also support fixed and nomadic services, and vertical applications in a range of frequencies up to 6 GHz, including license-exempt bands such as the 5.x GHz band and, in the US, the lightly licensed 3.65 GHz band.
As 802.16e WiMAX products for license-exempt bands are introduced in the market, operators need to know what the value proposition of using 802.16e WiMAX compared to alternative solutions is. How do they stand to gain from a technology that was developed to support mobility? Do they need the extra features that 802.16e WiMAX offers?
We just finished a white paper that addresses these questions by looking at operators' requirements and how 802.16e WiMAX meets them.
Juniper Announces Availability of Its Contrail SDN Solution; Showcases Custom...Juniper Networks
This whitepaper dives in Juniper's recent Contrail SDN announcements highlighting key elements of the technology, partnerships and impact as a disruptor in the space.
Towards automated service-oriented lifecycle management for 5G networksEricsson
5G networks will be a key enabler for the Internet of Things by providing a platform for connecting a massive number of devices with heterogeneous sets of network quality requirements. In this environment, 5G network operators will have to solve the complex challenge of managing network services for diverse customer sectors (such as automotive, health or energy) with different requirements throughout their lifecycle.
HYBRID OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL NETWORK FLOWS SCHEDULING IN CLOUD DATA CENTRESijcsit
Hybrid intra-data centre networks, with optical and electrical capabilities, are attracting research interest
in recent years. This is attributed to the emergence of new bandwidth greedy applications and novel
computing paradigms. A key decision to make in networks of this type is the selection and placement of
suitable flows for switching in circuit network. Here, we propose an efficient strategy for flow selection and
placement suitable for hybrid Intra-cloud data centre networks. We further present techniques for
investigating bottlenecks in a packet networks and for the selection of flows to switch in circuit network.
The bottleneck technique is verified on a Software Defined Network (SDN) testbed. We also implemented
the techniques presented here in a scalable simulation experiment to investigate the impact of flow
selection on network performance. Results obtained from scalable simulation experiment indicate a
considerable improvement on average throughput, lower configuration delay, and stability of offloaded
flows..
PLANNING AND MANAGING VIRTUALIZED NEXT GENERATION NETWORKSIJCNCJournal
Service convergence, content digitization, rapid and flexible service delivery, reduction of capital and operating costs, economies of scale, changes in telecom policy and regulation, and ever increasing competition have been key factors in the evolution of virtualized Next Generation Networks (vNGN). IP-centric converged networks aim to provide a multitude of services over a single network infrastructure. Tremendous success and benefit of server virtualization in data centers is driving the adaption of network virtualization. Network virtualization is applicable to enterprise data center, and enterprise as well as wide area networks. The focus of this paper is network virtualization aspects of service providers’ next generation network. The key factors for moving to virtualized network is optimal use and sharing of network infrastructure even among competitive service providers, programmability of network and rapid introduction of new service and standard based on open platform rather than proprietary implementation. Evolving Software Defined Network (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) shall enable common network infrastructure sharing, control, and management at a higher layer thus making network devices more generic and less intelligent, thus enabling cost competitiveness and quick service delivery. Network virtualization shall enable key benefits such as lower cost, flexibility, efficiency, and security, However, the deployment of virtualized next generation networks has brought its unique challenges for network managers and planners, as the network has to be planned in a comprehensive way with effective management of virtual network elements, its correlation with physical infrastructure and monitoring of control functions and server platforms. This paper discusses generic next generation network, its virtualization, and addresses the challenges related to the planning and managing of virtualized next generation networks. This paper proposes a reference OSS model enabling effective management of vNGN, which is key contribution of this paper.
TECHNIQUES FOR OFFLOADING LTE EVOLVED PACKET CORE TRAFFIC USING OPENFLOW: A C...IJCNCJournal
Cellular users of today have an insatiable appetite for bandwidth and data. Data-intensive applications, such as video on demand, online gaming and video conferencing, have gained prominence. This, coupled with recent innovations in the mobile network such as LTE/4G, poses a unique challenge to network
operators in how to extract the most value from their deployments while reducing their Total Cost of Operations(TCO). To this end, a number of enhancements have been proposed to the “conventional” LTE mobile network. Most of these recognize the monolithic and non-elastic nature of the mobile backend and propose complimenting core functionality with concepts borrowed from Software Defined Networking
(SDN). In this paper, we will attempt to explore some existing options within the LTE standard to address traffic challenges. We then survey some SDN-enabled alternatives and comment on their merits and drawbacks.
IT Brand Pulse industry brief describing a new approach to configuring virtual networks for virtual machines...layering hypervisor-based virtual networking services on top of hardware based virtual networking services. The result is more efficient management and lower costs.
Slovakian Internet Exchange improves platform to make customer experience potent differentiator by leveraging on Cisco Cloud architecture and the Fabric Path solution
Avaya Fabric Connect: The Right Foundation for the Software-Defined Data CenterAvaya Inc.
This paper focuses on a specific real-world use case for SDN - the Software-Defined Data Center. It provides Avaya’s perspective on the characteristics of the Software-Defined Data Center and the value of its Fabric Connect technology as the foundation for this solution. It also talks about how combining Avaya Fabric Connect with open-source cloud orchestration capabilities (that are being defined by OpenStack) can enable a graceful migration to the Software-Defined Data Center.
Do you run an MPLS network to some or all of your branches? If so, you are likely wasting MPLS capacity backhauling Internet traffic.
For many organizations, a lot of the traffic is Internet-bound due to increased cloud-usage. Backhauling Internet traffic over an expensive MPLS service adds latency and puts pressure on limited and expensive MPLS capacity.
http://www.ericsson.com
Imagine what you could do with a full multi-access data management solution that can also provide you a 360 degrees view of your user’s data assets - all in just one “box”?
For more discussions and topics around Service Providers, please visit our SP Community: http://cisco.com/go/serviceprovidercommunity
Download the full PDF report here: https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-37834
Senza Fili Leveraging802.16e Wi Max 091111Monica Paolini
License-exempt spectrum bands make it possible for operators who do not have access to licensed spectrum to deploy wireless broadband networks. Traditionally vendors have developed specific solutions for license-exempt operators, often based on proprietary technology that limits the flexibility and upgradability of their networks.
With Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16e WiMAX, license-exempt operators have access to the most advanced wireless broadband technology on the market today and can take advantage of the same performance, ecosystem, and volume of scale that incumbent, nationwide wireless operators with licensed-spectrum can.
While often positioned as a mobile broadband technology that operates in licensed bands, 802.16e WiMAX can also support fixed and nomadic services, and vertical applications in a range of frequencies up to 6 GHz, including license-exempt bands such as the 5.x GHz band and, in the US, the lightly licensed 3.65 GHz band.
As 802.16e WiMAX products for license-exempt bands are introduced in the market, operators need to know what the value proposition of using 802.16e WiMAX compared to alternative solutions is. How do they stand to gain from a technology that was developed to support mobility? Do they need the extra features that 802.16e WiMAX offers?
We just finished a white paper that addresses these questions by looking at operators' requirements and how 802.16e WiMAX meets them.
Juniper Announces Availability of Its Contrail SDN Solution; Showcases Custom...Juniper Networks
This whitepaper dives in Juniper's recent Contrail SDN announcements highlighting key elements of the technology, partnerships and impact as a disruptor in the space.
Towards automated service-oriented lifecycle management for 5G networksEricsson
5G networks will be a key enabler for the Internet of Things by providing a platform for connecting a massive number of devices with heterogeneous sets of network quality requirements. In this environment, 5G network operators will have to solve the complex challenge of managing network services for diverse customer sectors (such as automotive, health or energy) with different requirements throughout their lifecycle.
HYBRID OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL NETWORK FLOWS SCHEDULING IN CLOUD DATA CENTRESijcsit
Hybrid intra-data centre networks, with optical and electrical capabilities, are attracting research interest
in recent years. This is attributed to the emergence of new bandwidth greedy applications and novel
computing paradigms. A key decision to make in networks of this type is the selection and placement of
suitable flows for switching in circuit network. Here, we propose an efficient strategy for flow selection and
placement suitable for hybrid Intra-cloud data centre networks. We further present techniques for
investigating bottlenecks in a packet networks and for the selection of flows to switch in circuit network.
The bottleneck technique is verified on a Software Defined Network (SDN) testbed. We also implemented
the techniques presented here in a scalable simulation experiment to investigate the impact of flow
selection on network performance. Results obtained from scalable simulation experiment indicate a
considerable improvement on average throughput, lower configuration delay, and stability of offloaded
flows..
PLANNING AND MANAGING VIRTUALIZED NEXT GENERATION NETWORKSIJCNCJournal
Service convergence, content digitization, rapid and flexible service delivery, reduction of capital and operating costs, economies of scale, changes in telecom policy and regulation, and ever increasing competition have been key factors in the evolution of virtualized Next Generation Networks (vNGN). IP-centric converged networks aim to provide a multitude of services over a single network infrastructure. Tremendous success and benefit of server virtualization in data centers is driving the adaption of network virtualization. Network virtualization is applicable to enterprise data center, and enterprise as well as wide area networks. The focus of this paper is network virtualization aspects of service providers’ next generation network. The key factors for moving to virtualized network is optimal use and sharing of network infrastructure even among competitive service providers, programmability of network and rapid introduction of new service and standard based on open platform rather than proprietary implementation. Evolving Software Defined Network (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) shall enable common network infrastructure sharing, control, and management at a higher layer thus making network devices more generic and less intelligent, thus enabling cost competitiveness and quick service delivery. Network virtualization shall enable key benefits such as lower cost, flexibility, efficiency, and security, However, the deployment of virtualized next generation networks has brought its unique challenges for network managers and planners, as the network has to be planned in a comprehensive way with effective management of virtual network elements, its correlation with physical infrastructure and monitoring of control functions and server platforms. This paper discusses generic next generation network, its virtualization, and addresses the challenges related to the planning and managing of virtualized next generation networks. This paper proposes a reference OSS model enabling effective management of vNGN, which is key contribution of this paper.
TECHNIQUES FOR OFFLOADING LTE EVOLVED PACKET CORE TRAFFIC USING OPENFLOW: A C...IJCNCJournal
Cellular users of today have an insatiable appetite for bandwidth and data. Data-intensive applications, such as video on demand, online gaming and video conferencing, have gained prominence. This, coupled with recent innovations in the mobile network such as LTE/4G, poses a unique challenge to network
operators in how to extract the most value from their deployments while reducing their Total Cost of Operations(TCO). To this end, a number of enhancements have been proposed to the “conventional” LTE mobile network. Most of these recognize the monolithic and non-elastic nature of the mobile backend and propose complimenting core functionality with concepts borrowed from Software Defined Networking
(SDN). In this paper, we will attempt to explore some existing options within the LTE standard to address traffic challenges. We then survey some SDN-enabled alternatives and comment on their merits and drawbacks.
Présentation de STORIES FOR HUMANITY
Présentation de la mission de Stories for humanity et de son nouveau projet sur la santé : NO2 #santéQChealth Invitation à contribution au prochain numéro dédié à la santé avec un volet international.
Presentation doudou care 30 novembre 2016.iPocrate
Presentation de doudoucare.com le 30 novembre 2016 au Paris Innovation HealthCare Meet-up.
https://www.meetup.com/fr-FR/Paris-Healthcare-Innovation-Meetup/events/228785762/
Le staff.com Le patient au coeur des échanges entre médecins staffs cohortes ...iPocrate
"Le patient au coeur des échanges entre médecins" - LeStaff.com une approche collaborative des échanges entre professionnel de santé. Présentée par Morgan Angove - COO www.lestaff.com cohortes patients avis confrères médecins
SDN and NFV Value in Business Services: Innovations in Network Monetization a...Cisco Service Provider
White paper submitted to the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) by Mazen Khaddem of Cox Communications and Dr. Loukas Paraschis of Cisco Systems. Paper covers technical reference design in SDN including the role of open source, orchestration and control, and the importance of a hybrid control plane for legacy, multivendor networks.
The success of today’s organizations and enterprises highly depends on reliable and secure connectivity. Enterprise connectivity exists between different branches, between a central offi ce and geographically widespread points of activity and between an enterprise and the public internet. The connectivity enables faster, more secure transactions and improved productivity by sharing information between entities,
no matter where they are.
This paper focuses on the evolutionary stages for cloudification then covers the key software building blocks that will be needed to enable NFV, and ultimately ICT transformation to 5G. It describes how Intel® Open Networking Platform (Intel® ONP) Server running on innovative new networking platforms based on Intel® silicon can help reduce the cost and effort required for service providers and vendors alike to adopt and deploy SDN and NFV architectures.
According to a new Gartner report1, “Around 10% of enterprise-generated data is created and processed outside a traditional centralized data center or cloud. By 2022, Gartner predicts this
figure will reach 75%”. In addition to hosting new 5G era services, the other major network operator driver for edge compute and edge clouds is deploying virtualized network infrastructure, replacing many dedicated hardware-based elements with virtual network functions (VNFs) running on general purpose edge compute. Even portions of access networks are being virtualized, and many of these functions need to be deployed close to end users. The combination of these infrastructure and applications drivers is a major reason that so much of 5G era network transformation resolves around edge cloud distribution.
The digital transformation underway is accelerating, enabling new business opportunities both for telecom operators and for enterprises from other industries. The main drivers are the need for increased efficiency, flexibility and new business models enabled by the introduction of 5G and increased adoption of cloud technologies. New services can be expected to be deployed at an unprecedented pace.
Wide area networks (WANs) are used to interconnect multiple data centers, and are an important part of the overall network design strategy. While this document will not discuss backup/recovery...
Softwarization has been transforming industries like data center and communications businesses. The established hardware-based architectures are being replaced by fundamentally new approaches - software-based systems which are essentially more flexible, dynamic and powerful. In this paper we analyse the evolution in data centers and communications networks towards virtualized platforms and study how a similar type of evolution could impact and benefit power distribution. Following the softwarization process in other industry sectors, we consider that next a Software Defined Grid (SDG) will emerge.
Improvements for DMM in SDN and Virtualization-Based Mobile Network Architectureijmnct
The (r)evolution of wireless access infrastructure can be described as the convergence of the available radio communication systems towards a harmonized, more flexible and reconfigurable access system to match the current and upcoming demands. In recent years Softwarization and Virtualization technologies have moved from server and network domains to wireless domain and provides new perspectives of managing mobile networks functionalities. This paper provides evolution of the mobile network architecture in Software Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualization context and realizes it through the use of distribution of gateway function approach. Key improvements with proposed approach are to support efficient mobility management in heterogeneous access environments, remove the chains of IP preservation and optimal data path management according to application needs. A functional setup validates and assays the proposed evolution in terms of inter-system handover preparation, interruption and completion time relative to control plane delay requirements of the 5G networks.
IMPROVEMENTS FOR DMM IN SDN AND VIRTUALIZATION-BASED MOBILE NETWORK ARCHITECTUREijmnct
The (r)evolution of wireless access infrastructure can be described as the convergence of the available radio communication systems towards a harmonized, more flexible and reconfigurable access system to match the current and upcoming demands. In recent years Softwarization and Virtualization technologies have moved from server and network domains to wireless domain and provides new perspectives of
managing mobile networks functionalities. This paper provides evolution of the mobile network architecture in Software Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualization context and realizes it through the use of distribution of gateway function approach. Key improvements with proposed approach are to support efficient mobility management in heterogeneous access environments, remove the chains of IP preservation and optimal data path management according to application needs. A functional setup validates and assays the proposed evolution in terms of inter-system handover preparation, interruption
and completion time relative to control plane delay requirements of the 5G networks.
IMPROVEMENTS FOR DMM IN SDN AND VIRTUALIZATION-BASED MOBILE NETWORK ARCHITECTUREijmnct
The (r)evolution of wireless access infrastructure can be described as the convergence of the available radio communication systems towards a harmonized, more flexible and reconfigurable access system to match the current and upcoming demands. In recent years Softwarization and Virtualization technologies have moved from server and network domains to wireless domain and provides new perspectives of managing mobile networks functionalities. This paper provides evolution of the mobile network architecture in Software Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualization context and realizes it through the use of distribution of gateway function approach. Key improvements with proposed approach are to support efficient mobility management in heterogeneous access environments, remove the chains of IP
preservation and optimal data path management according to application needs. A functional setup
validates and assays the proposed evolution in terms of inter-system handover preparation, interruption and completion time relative to control plane delay requirements of the 5G networks.
Container ecosystem based PaaS solution for Telco Cloud Analysis and ProposalKrishna-Kumar
In our lab setup, we have derived a cluster
container orchestration mechanism to handle the
Telco specific (NFV) capabilities on top of the
traditional containers.
Original document @ http://dl6.globalstf.org/index.php/joc/article/view/1641/1667
1. White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
www.uk.fujitsu.com
Future networking and its
implications for businesses
After a long period of stability the network landscape is changing dramatically driven
by the emergence of public cloud and hybrid IT, the shift of network functions to
software running on commodity servers, and the move to network orchestration.
Executive summary 2
Networks today 3
The impact of Cloud and Hybrid IT on networking 4
The software defined WAN 6
Emerging network technologies in practice 8
Conclusions 12
References and glossary 13
Contents
2. www.uk.fujitsu.com2
White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
Executive summary
After a long period of stability the network landscape is
changing dramatically. This change is driven by the
emergence of public cloud and hybrid IT, the shift of
network functions to software running on commodity
servers, and the move to network orchestration.
The creation of Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) solutions
and the use of overlay networks to move the VPN out of
the domain of the operator and into the hands of the end
consumer provides a business with much more control of
its own network and frees it up from reliance on individual
network operators. In particular the ability to deploy the
SD-WAN over heterogeneous networks and to provide
connectivity between sites directly over the internet
provides a new level of flexibility.
The increasing maturity of Network Functions Virtualisation
(NFV) solutions that can be deployed directly to business
locations allow the same flexibility of networking in the
LAN and WAN edge that is available today in the Cloud.
The ability to deploy network functions as software directly
to a site, without compromising performance and security,
will create a flexible and future proof network. In this
environment changes can be made quickly and without
the need for expensive site visits, the high degree of
automation such solutions provide also reduces the time
required to implement network changes.
These technology advances bring the potential for
significant cost savings. SD-WAN will allow a business to
reduce network spend by substituting expensive carrier
services with lower cost Internet services, where this is
practical. The multi-carrier capabilities of SD-WAN can be
exploited to improve the resilience of services by using
diverse infrastructure without paying a premium for
resilience. Additional benefits for a business will come
from reduced setup and support costs through use of zero
touch provisioning, and the ability to quickly restore
services after network outage or catastrophic failure.
The flexibility of NFV and the move from deploying
hardware to deploying software functions translates to a
reduction in Capex and Opex spending over the lifetime of
a network service. All of these benefits are further
amplified by the Opex reductions inherent in modern
orchestrated solutions.
Fujitsu believe that seen from the view of a network
consumer these technology developments are entirely
positive, and will herald a change in mind-set over the
next five years. In this new world the network will
increasingly be seen as an enabler for service delivery
rather than as a problematic barrier that has to be
overcome.
The final part of this paper shows how these various
capabilities may be blended together to provide a
business with a framework for network services that will
create a flexible and cost effective ICT platform on which to
deliver the vision for future networking. This includes a
solution for hybrid cloud networking, an SD-WAN with
global reach and a flexible NFV solution to enable network
enhancements to be rapidly and cost effectively deployed.
3. www.uk.fujitsu.com3
White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
The networks that carriers deploy today have an
architecture that has been refined over a number of years.
Some aspects of this architecture are to a degree fixed by
geography and topology, others are more variable and
subject to changing design views. A typical (fixed) carrier
network architecture is shown below.
Mobile infrastructure replaces the access network with a
Radio Access Network (RAN). The RAN connects to a
specialised aggregation network (which now must support
low latency transport, synchronisation and timing) for
transport to the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) function at the
boundary of the mobile network (which may be located
either at the Service Provider cloud or in the data centre in
the above architecture).
In today’s traditional networking the solution typically
used for corporate or government networks is to purchase
a Virtual Private Network (VPN) from the carrier (or from a
service provider managing the carrier) and use this service
to connect together the various customer locations. The
technology of choice for providing this solution has been
to use an MPLS BGP VPN which provides a scalable layer 3
service (i.e. IP routed) that allows for each different VPN to
operate independently of other VPNs supported by the
carrier, for example by supporting fully overlapping IP
address spaces. This is achieved by providing a Customer
Edge (CE) router at each customer site, which acts as their
dedicated router, and connecting this to a Provider Edge
(PE) router, which is typically the service edge router
shown in figure 1. The PE router supports a number of
Virtual Routing Functions (VRFs), one per VPN, and uses
the BGP protocol to distribute routes for each VPN and the
MPLS layer to forward the traffic over the core network.
The MPLS BGP VPN solution is mature, well understood
and scales reasonably well, supporting large complex
topologies. While optimisations of the technology have
been progressively delivered (for example Multicast BGP
VPNs and Segment Routing) the fundamental approach
has remained the same since around the year 2000.
Although MPLS BGP VPNs perform well they fall short in a
couple of areas. The first one is that they are really single
network provider solutions and adding a second network
requires a second VPN. The second issue with them is that
they are relatively complex to provision and carry a price
tag to match.
Networks today
Fig.1 Typical (fixed) carrier network architecture
4. www.uk.fujitsu.com4
White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
The advent of server virtualisation, cloud and Hybrid IT has
changed the way networks are used by end consumers.
Increasingly traffic flows are converging on data centres
and this centralisation of IT services means that the
network is now business and mission critical in
organisations where it might previously have been
considered a luxury. This widespread adoption of cloud
and its impact on the data centre and the network can be
seen in the projections made by the Cisco Global Cloud
Index study. Cisco predict that global IP data centre traffic
will triple between 2014 and 2019 and that 83% of this
traffic will be cloud traffic [Ref 1].
Hybrid IT is a major driver in the consumption of cloud
services and therefore of the networks providing cloud
connectivity. Hybrid IT enables organizations to achieve
higher levels of IT agility and cost efficiencies by effectively
presenting all public and private cloud networking and
compute resources as a single unified platform. Hybrid IT
provides cloud resource that are able to scale and flex at a
cost-efficient price point to meet current and future
business needs. This means an organisation can run
mission critical services on secure private cloud, whilst
using a cloud burst model to deploy resource intensive
short duration services on resilient public cloud platforms
that can scale on demand. Provided high quality network
connectivity is available it is now possible to deploy, and
indeed turn off, massively scalable compute resources
without incurring huge capital costs.
The cloud model has also changed customer expectations
as to network flexibility and cost models, with a move
towards consumption based charging and network on
demand. In this model connectivity between servers and
storage within a customer cloud is achieve using virtual
network components that run in software and are
deployed and deleted as part of the cloud service. This is
known as cloud networking.
The continual rate of change of network connectivity,
particularly in data centres, has forced the industry to
innovate and to automate network deployments. This in
turn has led to the development of overlay networking
within data centres with technologies such as VMWare’s
NSX, Openstack equivalents such as Midokura’s MidoNet
and Cisco’s hardware centric ACI. These overlay networks
deploy a set of logical connectivity over the top of the
physical servers and switches and provide a way to
programmatically change reachability within this virtual
layer, as required by the continual reserving and releasing
of compute and storage resources.
The impact of Cloud and Hybrid IT on networking
Data Centre Network
Orchestration
Controller
Top-of-Rack
Switches
Control Interface
Overlay Tunnels
e.g. VX-LAN, NVGRE, MPLS
vRouters
vSwitches
WAN Gateway
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
Fig.2 Overlay networking in a data centre
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
Overlay solutions typically provide micro-segmented layer
2 networks to the end applications but are delivered using
layer 3 transport solutions such as VXLAN, NVGRE and even
in some cases MPLS. These technologies also include
optimisations intended to scale layer 2 networks within a
data centre (for example both NSX and ACI have
mechanisms to remove the need to flood traffic and to
broadcast ARP messages).
The dynamic approaches to networking that first appeared
in the data centre have started to migrate to the WAN and
in some cases to the LAN. The ability to deploy cloud
networking as a virtual function led to the development of
Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) which was
launched as an industry initiative by ETSI with their NFV
white paper [Ref 2]. NFV took the concept of cloud
networking and applied it to carrier and enterprise grade
infrastructure networking. NFV made it possible to deploy
wire speed networking at significant scale on commodity
Intel x86 hardware from the Ivy Bridge generation of Intel
Xeon processors and later. The initial applications of NFV
were primarily targeted within the carrier network, over
time this has broadened in scope to include a number of
other networking environments including the enterprise
and public sector domains.
These changes have had a significant impact on network
operators, and in assessing future network technologies it
is useful to consider what these are and how the operators
may react. In theory the future for network operators
should be bright as the network becomes an intrinsic part
of any business and increasing volumes of traffic are
terminating in data centres (in fact the large traffic
growths predicted by Cisco’s Visual Networking Index are to
a degree driven by video traffic [Ref 3]). In addition to the
business and cloud services operators are also reaping the
benefits of deploying mobile data on 4G networks and the
increasing adoption of high speed internet using copper
and fibre access links, both of which drive traffic volumes
[Ref 4]. The emergence of the Internet of Things with its
need for ubiquitous connectivity is also a potential upside
for mobile operators, and NFV offers them both
operational savings and operational flexibility.
However the reality is that network operators are not
finding the new world easy to live in. In the new world
services are created by the so called Over The Top (OTT)
providers, who retain the majority of the income for their
new generation of services. They are able to leverage
hyper scale technologies such as Cloud to strictly limit their
costs and they simply use the carrier network as a
fulfilment channel. Just how tough it is for network
operators can be seen by looking at their Return on Capital
Investment which is historically very poor, and a trend that
appears to be continuing (possibly accelerating) today.
Between 2004 and 2013 the industry average ROI was
below 8% [Ref 5]. A recent report on the big four European
operators showed that they all suffered a decline in return
on capital in 2015, averaging only 5% [Ref 6]. This
disconnect between the demands on the network and the
revenue it can provide to the network operator suggests
that there may be a degree of caution in future network
investments, with an eye on sweating assets as much as
providing high quality service. In such an environment end
users should consider what technologies they can employ
to maximise their Quality of Experience over networks that
may to a degree be capacity constrained.
One way for the end users of the network to reduce this
risk is to copy the OTT providers and treat the network
more as a commodity. This is now possible because of an
emerging technology called the Software Defined WAN
(SD-WAN). The SD-WAN takes the on demand nature of
cloud networking into the WAN and utilises overlay
networking to allow the end user to treat the WAN as
commodity, in the same way a data centre treats
infrastructure switches. Unlike MPLS this technology is
multi-network capable and can utilise Internet connectivity
to the cloud to provide near instant ubiquitous
connectivity.
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
Corporate or
Government Site
SD-WAN
Controllers
Centralised Policy Management
Zero touch configuration,
Overlay management,
Corporate or
Government Site
Corporate or
Government Site
Corporate or
Government Site
Access TailSP Router SD-WAN RouterKey:
Internet
with SD-WAN
Overlay
The software defined WAN
SD-WAN allows an end user to build an overlay network on top of any number of heterogeneous networks, including
mobile networks, satellite networks, general internet services and existing MPLS leased line services. This approach is
shown in the following diagram:
A typical SD-WAN solution deploys an SD-WAN router at
each end user site, this can be a physical device or a VNF
(depending on SD-WAN vendor options). The SD-WAN
configuration is managed by a centralised controller
function (which is scalable) and each SD-WAN router on
initial deployment uses a set of credentials to connect to
the SD-WAN controller.
The controller holds the central policies that apply to the
SD-WAN and also provides a mechanism to push per site
specific configuration to each SD-WAN router as it
connects. The SD-WAN router learns the topology of the
VPN that it is part of and connects to its peer SD-WAN
routers using a secure tunnelling protocol, for example
IPsec. Where the SD-WAN router has connections to
multiple different access tails then it will build tunnels
over both access tails (subject to policy). The effect of this
is to create a self-building, overlay network that provides
secure connectivity over multiple potentially insecure
physical networks. This means that the end user can
utilise low cost solutions, such as business grade internet
broadband services, just as well as expensive MPLS
services (although latency, bandwidth, availability and
contention must always be considered on any physical
network).
While a full mesh of IPsec tunnels would present a
significant scalability and administration challenge a good
SD-WAN solution has a number of features that overcome
these traditional problems.
■■ The status of tunnels can be monitored in real time,
using technologies such as Bidirectional Forwarding
Detection (BFD) for status. This can include capabilities
to measure delay, jitter and packet loss and apply a
quality rating to the tunnel.
■■ Policy can be applied to control how tunnels are routed,
allowing a full mesh solution to be replaced with
architectures such as dual star or edge, core models.
This reduces the total number of tunnels and allows
for traffic aggregation and potentially the use of high
quality core network links over a smaller MPLS footprint
or alternatively a Carrier Ethernet transport network.
■■ Because link quality can be monitored in real time, a
capable SD-WAN solution can identify which links are
performing well and adjust traffic routing to account
for that. For example some links may be suitable for
delay sensitive traffic having low latency and loss,
while others may be suffering packet loss, have high
latency and or significant jitter. In this case critical delay
sensitive traffic would be switched to the low latency
low loss links and lower priority web browsing or non
real time video switched to the other links.
Fig.3 A Software Defined WAN Architecture
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
The use of easily managed centralised policy also permits
reactive behaviour, so if for example a key network access
fails the traffic priorities and routing policies can react
accordingly, this ensures that in network degradation
cases mission critical traffic can be prioritised over all
others. A good SD-WAN solution will support both a
comprehensive Quality of Service (QoS) model and also
Deep Packet Inspection based application identification
and classification (which can be configured and tailored
for particular networks).
One benefit of SD-WAN is that it permits diverse
connectivity that can provide cost effective solutions for
access tail resilience that might not be available for a
traditional leased line network. For example in the UK
(within the on-net Virgin Media footprint) it is possible to
purchase a cable Internet service from Virgin Media, a
VDSL Internet Service from a company that uses the BT
Openreach network, and Mobile Internet services from
multiple mobile networks. This can then be SD-WAN
enabled by deploying one or more SD-WAN routers (for
resilience multiple routers meshed on-site). While this
service is less resilient than two diversely routed fibre
connections (there is always a risk of shared ducts or a
shared backhaul link somewhere) it is far more resilient
than a single leased line MPLS service.
SD-WAN solutions can also be blended with existing MPLS
services to supplement the bandwidth (perhaps using
VDSL for lower priority services) thus avoiding re-grades, or
providing a low cost burst solution for visiting conferences
Wi-Fi access.
In summary then SD-WAN solutions move the network
control out of the hands of the network operator into the
end consumer, they enable zero touch configuration and
connectivity over multiple access technologies and core
networks including Internet only solutions. In many cases
they can be made more resilient than single access MPLS
networks, and network providers can be added or removed
as needed. All that is needed for an SD-WAN solution to
work is a viable commercial Internet connection, and on a
world-wide basis these are increasingly becoming
commodity,
The Cisco Global Cloud Index, 2014–2019 [Ref 7], surveys
Internet speeds throughout the world and shows that the
mean speeds range from 28 Mbps download, 21 Mbps
upload in Central and Eastern Europe, to 7.0 Mbps
download, 2.2 Mbps upload in the Middle East and Africa.
These speeds will clearly be better in the cities than rural
regions and of course the situation is highly variable even
within a country. For an initial view of practical Internet
speeds in individual countries, Cisco provide Cloud
Readiness tool [Ref 8].
The increasing availability of Internet services, and the
operational benefits SD-WAN brings means that it is
growing rapidly as a solution for VPN connectivity on a
global basis. Over time it seems likely that MPLS will
largely return to its original role of high quality core packet
networking rather than as a delivery solution for layer 3
VPNs. Because SD-WAN is a relatively new innovation
(although built on long established technologies), care is
required in looking at market forecasts. However IDC
suggest that the worldwide SD-WAN market will exceed $6
Billion in 2020 with a CAGR of more than 90% between
2015 and 2020 [Ref 9].
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
Emerging network technologies in practice
There are a number of key trends and technologies that
could be exploited by a business in considering the
options for future networking solutions. In particular:
■■ The emergence of ubiquitous fixed and mobile high
speed Internet Connectivity, in many countries.
■■ The development of SD-WAN technology for future VPN
solutions.
■■ The availability of NFV to enable flexible network
functions delivery to remote locations.
This section provides a conceptual architecture that
leverages these technologies and drills down into some of
the possible ways they may be implemented to bring
value to a public or private business.
Reference Architecture
The reference architecture is shown at a high level in figure
4 below.
Fig.4 Reference architecture
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
Within an individual site the proposed reference architecture breaks down as follows.
The key points of this architecture are as follows.
■■ Each location may have access to a leased line MPLS
service, a broadband Internet service and a mobile
Internet service, plus satellite options as required.
■■ The reference architecture assumes an SD-WAN that
operates as an overlay on top of the various access and
core networks that transport the traffic. This allows
a business far more control of their VPN than would
be the case in a traditional network architecture (as
described on page 10).
■■ Within the individual site there are a number of options
that allow for one or more SD-WAN routers to be used to
connect to the various access types available at the site
(depending on availability and security requirements).
In order to accommodate a varied and possibly
continually evolving set of site networking capability
Fujitsu recommend the use of an x86 compute complex
running NFV (as described on page 11).
■■ Within the core network traffic may be carried over
the Internet or over a traditional global WAN. SD-WAN
would allow both approaches to be used simultaneously
in the case where access to a site was by an MPLS link
and by a broadband Internet service.
Fig.5 Site reference architecture
■■ The core networks provide access to the various public
and private clouds that a business is using for hybrid
IT. Fujitsu would recommend that where the business
is using a global WAN for high priority traffic that WAN
also provides high speed dedicated access links to
the various public and private clouds being used (for
example Azure, Amazon or Fujitsu’s K5 public and
private clouds).
■■ Above the network layer Fujitsu would recommend the
use of a cloud services manager to efficiently control
the cloud resources being consumed and costs incurred
in what is likely to be a dynamic environment in the
future.
■■ The SD-WAN and other network resources are managed
by a single network management platform that is able
to push configurations, monitor performance and report
faults over the whole estate. This single pane of glass
approach to management also enables the automation
of configuration and software updates, ensures
compliance with policy, and up to date patching of
security vulnerabilities.
■■ The NFV manager holds a catalogue of service chains of
VNFs that can be ordered by a business and controls the
deployment of these service chains to site as required.
This supports consumption model charging allowing
for the insertion and removal of specialised network
devices as required (see page 11).
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
SD-WAN Considerations
By deploying SD-WAN as an overlay solution a business
can run a single logical network over multiple physical
networks and multiple network providers. Within each site
a blend of access types and services can be selected
(including traditional MPLS networks) to meet the
requirements and budget of each location. However where
this differs from a traditional MPLS approach is that all of
the addressing, policy, and site specific routing, remains
solely within domain of the business (or their managed
service provider). The various carriers simply provide
connectivity between the WAN IP addresses they assign to
each site.
The SD-WAN allows a business to classify traffic by
application, prioritise it and map it to preferred links or
individual VPNs. The performance and availability of each
end to end path through the SD-WAN is monitored and
permits delay sensitive traffic to be routed on low-latency
paths even if the latency of each path changes over time.
The SD-WAN management solution will greatly simplify
configuration of the network and will permit real time
monitoring and reporting as well as a simple mechanism
for pushing configuration and policy updates. This should
provide a business with a high degree of control over the
network and removes the carrier as the bottleneck in
configuration changes.
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
NFV Considerations
The use of NFV within a branch or site would permit a
business to deploy individual network functions from a
central repository in an automated way, and to
subsequently configure the network functions using
traditional network management techniques. The
architecture for premises based NFV is shown in the
following diagram.
Fig.6 Premises based NFV architecture
This shows a KVM/Openstack based solution utilising a
centralised NFV orchestrator and Openstack controller with
the Openstack compute node running in the premises. It is
possible to refine this architecture (if necessary) to run an
Openstack controller per site which provides benefits in
some usage scenarios. The overall operation of NFV is
similar in each case.
The x86 compute complex deployed on site provides a
blank canvas for the NFV orchestrator to deploy VNFs to. A
business selects an appropriate service chain for a site and
the VNFs will be deployed to the compute complex as
required. This solution can scale down to small servers
such as the Intel Atom, or up to larger servers such as
Fujitsu’s RX 2540 and above. One aspect of this
architecture that is noteworthy and differs from cloud
computing solutions, is that although the management of
VNFs is achieved via traditional Openstack networking, the
actual traffic plane is software accelerated and outside of
the scope of Openstack. This decouples the IP addressing
of the traffic plane from the NFV Virtual Infrastructure and
keeps it entirely within the traditional network
configuration space. It also ensures far more efficient use
of compute resources than an Openstack based traffic
plane, and permits the blending of layer 2 and layer 3
services within a given compute complex.
Fujitsu would expect a wide range of VNFs could be of
interest, and the mix of these could change over time
simply by downloading alternative service chains (thus
avoiding site visits or shipping of physical hardware).
Typical VNFs include:
■■ Traditional CPE routers or integrated CPE routers/
firewalls.
■■ Load balancers.
■■ SD-WAN vRouters (where supported by the SD-WAN
provider).
■■ Advanced firewalls.
■■ Session Border Gateways, for securing UC services.
■■ LAN accelerators where the access link requires them.
■■ Specialist network functions such as DDoS detection
functions.
Fujitsu believe that by adopting an NFV solution a
business will not only gain flexibility in their networking,
and avoid unnecessary site visits, but they also have the
opportunity to take advantage of the emerging
consumption based pricing within the VNF market place.
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
Conclusions
This paper has shown that the growth of cloud and hybrid
IT is increasingly changing assumptions about networking
that had been unchallenged for approximately 15 years.
This is likely to have a number of implications for future
network design and represents a mixed bag of opportunity
for network operators. For network consumers it provides
an opportunity for them to transform their customers’
experience of networking.
This revolution started in the data centre, with the
introduction of overlay networking and Software Defined
Networking (SDN) solutions like VMWare’s NSX, and
Openstack centric offerings such as Midokura’s MidoNet.
However, increasingly overlay networking is moving out of
the data centre with the emergence of the Software Defined
WAN (SD-WAN) which allows overlay networks, defined
using software, to be built within the WAN. This technology
enables the end user to control their own traffic and
liberates them from the carrier network. This allows them to
treat the carrier network as commodity transport for their
own network, and opens the door to substituting lower cost
accesses (such as utility internet connections) for expensive
dedicated carrier services.
SD-WAN technology improves service velocity and flexibility,
it is now possible to get a corporate network up and running
simply by plugging in an SD-WAN router into an Internet
connection and turning it on. This new flexibility in
networking is further enhanced by the availability of
Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV), which allows
networking to be run as software on x86 servers. This NFV
network can be scaled and new functions deployed to NFV
locations by an automated process without the need for a
site visit. This reduces the deployment time for a new
network capability (e.g. a firewall) from weeks to days, and
with advanced automation to minutes. Because NFV is
changing hardware deployments to software deployments it
is allowing new consumption pricing models to be adopted,
where network functions are provided as needed and
charged on a usage or time basis.
While SD-WAN and NFV have changed the network
landscape there is still a place for traditional high speed
optical networking in the core, and increasingly these
network architectures are changing to reflect the fact that
services are being delivered from the Cloud. This means that
a flexible SD-WAN must be complemented in the core with
high speed access to public and private clouds in order to
provide an acceptable Quality of Experience. In the new
network world it must be possible for an end user to
distribute workloads between public and private clouds as
they see fit, including support for so called Cloud Burst
capabilities, possibly assisted by the services of a Cloud
Manager. All of this capability requires a comprehensive
management and monitoring capability that provides an
end to end service view of how their network is performing.
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White paper | Future networking and its implications for businesses
References and glossary
References
[Ref 1] Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2014–2019 White Paper, updated 2016 – Trend 1.
[Ref 2] Network Functions Virtualisation - Introductory White Paper https://portal.etsi.org/nfv/nfv_white_paper.pdf
[Ref 3] Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology 2015-2020 White Paper– table 6 and table 7. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/
solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html
[Ref 4] Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update 2015-20 – White Paper page 16 http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/
solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/mobile-white-paper-c11-520862.pdf
[Ref 5] pwc “Capex is king: A new playbook for telecoms execs” December 2014 – Figure 4
https://www.pwc.co.uk/communications/assets/capex-is-king-a-new-playbook-for-telecom-execs.pdf
[Ref 6] Pringle Media report 2016, see http://www.tellingtechtales.com/2016/04/europes-top-telcos-financial-weakness.html
[Ref 7] Source: Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology 2014–2019 White Paper Figure 28 http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/
collateral/service-provider/global-cloud-index-gci/Cloud_Index_White_Paper.html
[Ref 8] http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/service-provider/cloud-readiness-tool/index.html
[Ref 9] IDC Forecasts Strong Growth for Software-Defined WAN As Enterprises Seek to Optimize Their Cloud Strategies – IDC 24th March 2016
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41139716
[Ref 10] Carrier Software Defined Networking (SDN) http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/telecoms-research/software-
defined-networking
Glossary
ACI Application Centric Infrastructure, Cisco’s product name for their software
defined data centre overlay networking technology
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
BFD Bidirectional Forwarding Detection, protocol for detecting connectivity
failures as defined by the IETF
BGP Border Gateway Protocol, as defined by the IETF
CAGR Compound Annual Growth Rate
CE Customer Edge
CPE Customer Premises Equipment
DDoS Distributed Denial of Service
EPC Evolved Packet Core
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force (see ietf.org)
IPsec Internet Protocol Security, a solution for secure connections over IP networks
as defined by the IETF
KVM Kernel-based Virtual Machine. A server virtualisation solution for Linux. See
www.linux-kvm.org
LAN Local Area Network
MPLS Multi Protocol Label Switching, layer 2.5 transport technology as defined by
the IETF
NAT Network Address Translation
NFV Network Functions Virtualisation
NICC Network Interconnect Consultative Committee, see niccstandards.org.uk
NOC Network Operations Centre
NSX VMWare’s product name for their software defined data centre overlay
networking technology
NVGRE Network Virtualisation using Generic Routing Encapsulation. An overlay
networking encapsulation allowing the scalable transport of layer 2
networks over IP
Openstack Open Source Cloud Computing project, see Openstack.org
OTT Over The Top
PE Provider Edge
Provider A generic term for a network operator providing a (usually wholesale)
network service
QoS Quality of Service
RAN Radio Access Network
SBG Session Border Gateway, a very specialised firewall and NAT traversal
solution for UC networks
SDN Software Defined Networking
SD-WAN Software Defined WAN
UC Unified Communications
VDSL Very high bit rate Digital Subscriber Line. A transport technology for high
speed data over legacy copper access tails
VNF Virtual Network Function
VPN Virtual Private Network
VXLAN Virtual Extensible LAN. An overlay networking encapsulation allowing the
scalable transport of layer 2 networks over IP
WAN Wide Area Network