White Paper
How to Get NFV Solutions to Market
Faster and at Lower Risk
Executive Summary
The introduction of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software Defined Networking (SDN)
technologies in the telecommunications industry has shaken up traditional go-to-market strategies. NFV
and SDN will allow for a more flexible approach to network deployment, disrupting long-established
telecom equipment development and life cycles. The separation of the network into clearly differentiated
functional blocks opens up the market to new players, whilst creating new integration uncertainties and
gaps.
Interoperability plays a key role in this new multi-vendor scenario. As software separates from hardware,
well-defined open interfaces are required to set the foundation of the new NFV Infrastructure (NFVI). But
on-paper compatibility does not always mean a successful integration. Even when two elements work
together, a non-optimized integration may result in poor network performance and service interruptions,
creating a negative impact on subscriber experience.
Along with network transformation, comes a different way of thinking about next-generation services and
technology evaluation. This whitepaper presents the new network landscape, its integration challenges,
and describes an innovative approach to NFV and SDN solutions validation that enables collaboration
beyond basic ecosystem partnership. Advantech’s Remote Evaluation Service for NFVI minimizes
development risks and reduces development cycles by putting at developers’ fingertips a powerful test and
evaluation environment. One that is designed to help eliminate NFV uncertainties and support critical
decision making when designing high-performance, scalable and reliable NFV solutions.
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Table of Contents
The New Network Landscape .........................................................................................................................3
NFV & SDN .................................................................................................................................................3
The Telecom Cloud Architecture .................................................................................................................3
The NFV Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................4
The NFV Ecosystem ...................................................................................................................................5
NFV Challenges ..............................................................................................................................................6
Challenges across the Service Chain .........................................................................................................6
Physical Location ........................................................................................................................................7
Different Approaches at Different Stages ....................................................................................................9
Remote Evaluation Service for NFV Validation .............................................................................................10
Test Environment ......................................................................................................................................10
Benefits .....................................................................................................................................................11
Performance & Scalability .....................................................................................................................11
VNF Interoperability & Service Chaining ...............................................................................................12
Functionality ..........................................................................................................................................12
Use cases ..................................................................................................................................................13
6WIND Test-Drive Portal .......................................................................................................................13
vE-CPE Demonstrator ...........................................................................................................................14
Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................................15
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The New Network Landscape
NFV & SDN
Two major technology disruptions are behind the shift to virtual network architectures that is confronting the
networking industry. On one hand, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) abstracts and automates the
provisioning of services. This is achieved by separating the data and control planes into separate network
resources and functionality, all managed by an orchestrator through controllers. The result is a solution that
is both agile and scalable. On the other hand, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) abstracts the
infrastructure layer, defining a framework in which Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) have access to virtual
resources including compute, storage and networking elements. These virtual resources are matched
through a virtualization layer to multiple hardware platforms. The shift to virtual networks enables rapid
service provisioning and is expected to deliver lower capital and operating expenses.
The arrival of NFV and SDN is changing the way networking companies approach telecom and networking
solutions development. Up until now, most networks where built using fixed function systems that were
based on either proprietary hardware or commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) platforms such as ATCA. Virtual
functions can now run on generic server platforms or on a wider range of COTS platforms including
accelerated appliances and white boxes that deliver both flexibility and hardware acceleration where this is
beneficial. Networking software and hardware are no longer tied together which helps to de-correlate their
respective development cycles.
The Telecom Cloud Architecture
NFV and SDN enable a telecom cloud infrastructure which is a convergence of telecom and IT
technologies with virtual functions running in the mobile edge, mobile core and data center. The telecom
cloud infrastructure allows carriers to maximize the utilization of processing and networking resources.
* Source: Earlswood Marketing
Figure 1. The Telecom Cloud Infrastructure
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The flexible mobile edge consists of virtual baseband units (vBBU) and associated functions for mobile
services. The virtual base stations can be connected through Remote Radio Heads to form the Cloud RAN
(C-RAN) or virtual RAN (vRAN). In this virtual scenario, there is also a new requirement to provide local
application services that can deliver readily accessible data such as popular video content or accelerate
time-sensitive applications such as e-commerce or next-generation virtual reality. This approach of bringing
intelligence to the access layer of the mobile network is being standardized through ETSI as Mobile Edge
Computing (MEC). The Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is at the heart of the mobile core and is connected to
the application servers that are hosted in the carrier data center.
The VNFs that support the many subscriber applications and the carriers themselves can run at any of
these network locations. From the VNFs perspective, the virtualized network infrastructure looks like a
single entity providing them with the needed virtual resources to flexibly deploy new services. However,
performance and environmental requirements for the physical nodes running these VNFs may vary
significantly between network locations, from cloud servers to edge platforms or virtual Customer Premises
Equipment (vCPE).
The NFV Infrastructure
ETSI defines the Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) as the totality of the hardware and
software components which build up the environment in which VNFs are deployed. The NFVI is deployed
as a distributed set of NFVI-Nodes in various locations to support the locality and low latency requirements
of the different NFV use cases. From a functional perspective, the NFVI provides the technology platform
with a common execution environment for all of the NFV use cases.
* Source: ETSI ISG NFV
Figure 2. NFV reference architectural framework
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The NFVI therefore consists of several building blocks that need to work together to actually form the
consistent network-wide virtual infrastructure that runs the VNFs. The NFVI can be divided in three main
domains:
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The compute domain: based on COTS computational and storage hardware. The replacement of
application specific compute nodes with COTS servers based on high volume general purpose
processors that can be dynamically re-purposed to run new services based on business demands
are key to the CAPEX savings pledge by NFV.
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The hypervisor domain: is the virtualization layer that builds up the Virtual Machines (VMs) which
host the VNFs. The hypervisor is a brand new component in the virtual network that has been
adopted from the IT industry where it has demonstrated significant savings by making best use of
the infrastructure. The possibility of consolidating services, re-allocating resources or shutting
down nodes during off-peak hours greatly contributes to the OPEX savings that NFV promises.
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The infrastructure network domain: includes the networking elements that provide the
intercommunication channels between the VNFs, the MANO, the NFVI, and the existing carrier
network. The networking function is part of the infrastructure network domain although it can be
implemented as part of the hypervisor domain (virtual switch) or compute domain (server
embedded switch). SDN is gaining momentum with white box switches that implement the
forwarding plane and can be easily re-programed by an SDN controller using OpenFlow.
Overseeing all these elements, the Network Functions Virtualisation Manager and Orchestrator (NFVMANO) administrates the NFVI and allocates the resources needed by the network services and VNFs
therefore interfacing with each of the NFVI domains. The tight relationship between all of these elements
makes collaboration a key element in NFV deployment success.
The NFV Ecosystem
The NFV ecosystem is the starting point for encouraging the required collaboration within the new network
landscape and is rapidly growing. Traditional and new players are positioning themselves into different
supplier categories that match the nature of the virtual network:
-
-
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The NFVI hardware provider: as hardware separates from software, embedded hardware
manufacturers that were previously hidden behind branded network appliances are now working in
partnership with their Network Equipment Provider (NEP) customers to offer white-box NFVI
hardware platforms to Communication Service Provider (CSPs). IT players are approaching the
networking industry but the possible lack of influence of telecom end-users in a market driven by
huge IT industry volumes is still a concern.
The NFVI software provider: different purpose low-level software runs on the NFVI-Nodes to build
a consistent NFVI that is ready to host the VNFs. From the operating system to the orchestrator,
NFVI software vendors are collaborating with the open community to develop standard solutions
that facilitate the integration of multi-vendor functional blocks via open interfaces. OpenStack is the
leading open cloud platform and so it has been the early adopted choice for managing the NFVI. It
is most commonly deployed on open source Linux-based operating systems.
The NFV software provider: with the definition of VNFs as an independent entity comes the newly
named Network Software Provider that removes the underlying hardware complexity from
networking solutions development, focusing on software differentiation, where they can bring more
value. This facilitates the proliferation of fast-moving start-ups that compete with traditional telecom
equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and NEPs who are also streamlining their operations by moving
to software-centric business models.
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Within this new scenario, the role of the user itself also changes. Service providers expect the new network
to bring more flexibility to their operations, avoid vendor lock-in and open up new revenue streams. But the
market transformation still leaves several unknowns, mainly on the integration and services side of things.
In order to build a consistent NFVI that supports porting of VNFs between NFVI-Nodes, ETSI encourages
the development of an NFV ecosystem that can also offer the integration services as well as maintenance
and third-party support. The industry is following this recommendation and addressing together a problem
that takes a whole ecosystem to solve, taking collaboration to the next level beyond the basic ecosystem
relationship.
NFV Challenges
The great challenge of bringing together all the different NFV building blocks while complying with carriergrade needs poses significant challenges both across the value chain and in the service chain itself. The
two main concerns addressed by ETSI in its literature are performance and interoperability but there are
other important aspects such as scalability and availability that need to be taken into account.
Challenges across the Service Chain
NFV interoperability and performance concerns start at the silicon level.
VNFs run on general purpose processors but these can still bring about
hardware dependencies due to enhanced instruction sets within x86
CPUs. The use of acceleration or virtualization features specific to a
version of processor can be beneficial to many software functions but
need to be planned for in order to evaluate real gains and ensure
compatibility. One level up in the value chain, a new class of the
Network Interface Controller (NIC) that performs tasks such as load
balancing or packet classification in more efficient architectures is being
used as a solution to improve performance of data plane VNFs. These
new smart NICs or
Flow NICs mask the
System Integrator or Operatorunderlying hardware
Integrator
or instruction set
Business Challenges
complexities and

Bringing together all the right parts
Figure 3. NFV Value Chain
present themselves to

Loan agreements & evaluation
the hardware platform

Licensing fees

Integration – license brokering –
as a standard NIC. Nevertheless these adapters
security
continue to expand the list of ecosystem products upon

Purchasing
which interoperability needs to be thoroughly tested and
Technical Challenges
evaluated. On the hardware platform level, particular

HW, SW interoperability
care has to be taken when integrating with various

Resource scaling
Virtual Infrastructure Managers (VIMs).







Service awareness
Virtualization transparency to services
Virtualization transparency to network
control and management
State maintenance
Monitoring/fault
detection/diagnosis/recovery
Service availability
Traffic control separation mechanisms
As we move up in the service chain to the NFVI Software
providers, the challenges evolve and dependency issues
concerning OpenStack versions of the Cloud OS being
used have been seen to arise. Data plane workload
acceleration can be software implemented as well as
accelerated by hardware. The latter provides essential
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performance advantages and is transparent to the VNF but can add to interoperability testing complexity.
As the NFVI is comprised of several components from different vendors one ultimately arrives at an
interesting point in the value chain where an NFVI integrator is required. In a common scenario with a
consortium of partners responding to an RFI, it's not always evident who is or should be the NFVI integrator.
This role traditionally owned by the TEM could be filled by one of the hardware or software providers but in
most cases an independent system integrator, services partner or even the CSP themselves is often best
suited for the job.
From a VNF developer perspective, there are many software design aspects that are still hardware
dependant. A non-optimized integration may have a negative impact on performance which is especially
relevant in data plane VNFs. Which is the best way to interconnect VNFs? Which software architecture is
more appropriate for a specific workload? How does the infrastructure perform for a certain service chain?
These are all essential question with specific scenarios to be tested in order to avoid an unpredictable
performance toll on NFV.
Finally, on top of the value chain, bringing the complete solution together presents a whole new set of
challenges and often depends on the number of ecosystem partners and third-party elements involved.
This is where the system integrator comes in to play, but as mentioned before, because of evolving
business models prompted by the NFV era, we are beginning to see the systems integrator role being
taken on by numerous Tier-1 CSPs.
In view of the multiple complexities at all levels of the service and value chain, it is clear that for the industry
to be able to fully embrace the benefits of open systems, collaboration is essential. The challenge is then to
find ways to speed up multi-vendor NFV use cases and service chain validation to get solutions providers
and CSPs on the fast track to NFV deployment.
Physical Location
Although VNFs run on a common execution environment, critical physical and business requirements such
as getting the availability, size, price/performance points right at a particular network location also need to
be considered when deploying distributed NFVI hardware nodes. These considerations make it difficult to
follow a “one-size fits all” approach when looking at the inherent differences between the telco data center,
the carrier-grade mobile edge and the cost-efficient customer premises.
Starting at the core, the telco datacenter is often pictured as a greenfield environment. Hyperscale
datacenters have shown the benefits of high-volume commodity hardware such as the Open Compute
Project (OCP). However, these benefits come at the cost of building a cloud-style facility from scratch in
terms of real-estate, time and conditioning. On the other hand, CSPs already have a network infrastructure
in place hosted in buildings that they themselves own. This brownfield environment presents different
challenges and, although the sites are readily available and interconnected, they are not always suitable for
the installation of hyperscale networking and compute gear. Telecom premises such as Central Offices can
exceptionally provide up to 15 kilowatts per rack but these are far from the 30 kilowatts maximum power
capacity per rack of the Open Rack standard. In addition, telecom racks are not suitable for standard IT
servers which double the 600 mm ETSI rack depth. In a telecom cloud scenario, where NFV spans across
the whole network, computing equipment is also deployed outside of the network core, into the edge and
access locations, where environmental, power and physical restrictions get even tougher to comply with.
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Figure 4. 5G, IoT and NFV impact on a sample mobile network topology
The resiliency model also changes depending on location. Cloud-style resiliency can be implemented in a
telecom central office or datacenter with services running on a fully redundant infrastructure with no single
point of failure from the VMs and host servers to the upstream connections and power installation. This is
not so feasible at the network edge where sites often host only a few racks that provide local service.
Traditional telecom equipment practices better fit the edge of the network to guarantee high availability. A
node or chassis failure at the edge means losing higher percentages of service capability. At the access
point, a service that is for example provided out of a single server node integrated in a base station or a
small cell will go from 100% to 0 availability if that node goes down.
From a business point of view, new technologies such as Mobile Edge Computing that can open new
revenue streams by enabling added-value services that run closer to subscribers, will require an NFV
infrastructure precisely at those sites that cannot host hyperscale equipment. Advantech’s NFV Elasticity
program serves an elastic telecom cloud which supports a tiered subscriber model where premium services
(that enjoy best latency and highest bandwidth) are provided by the access network (where the cost of
compute is higher) and flat-rate users along with non-critical traffic are routed back to the core network
where a lower cost per compute installation can be built. Advantech NFV servers are tailored for the edge
and core networks and are optimized for the right power footprint by leveraging the latest SoC technology
from Intel®. In fact Advantech’s Packetarium XLc achieves an outstanding compute density per kilowatt of
power consumed when compared to other infrastructure solutions such as legacy AdvancedTCA, a stack of
1U servers, and even when compared to cloud-style rack solutions.
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Different Approaches at Different Stages
Given the high complexity of the new NFV landscape with major technical and business challenges ahead
for both end-users and providers, the networking industry realizes that it will take a whole ecosystem to
successfully transition the network infrastructure from fixed network functions to NFV. It has been an
intense time since 2012, when the ETSI NFV specification group first published their prominent white paper
on software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenFlow. Intense ecosystem activity has led to the
development of different initiatives that can be divided in two groups depending on the objectives:
-
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Industry alliances for facilitating partner collaboration: the first step to encourage cooperation is
providing a platform or hub where partners can meet, gather and discuss synergies to
collaboratively build end-to-end NFV solutions. With over 200 members, Intel® Network Builders is
a good example of an active ecosystem that brings together independent software and hardware
vendors, TEMs, system integrators, and CSPs which understand the importance of joining forces
to deploy an open NFVI based on interoperable elements that still provide the same availability as
traditional telecom network architectures.
Proofs of Concepts (PoCs) for operational validation: the PoC framework was originally developed
by the ETSI NFV ISG to build confidence on NFV as a viable technology. A PoC integrates
technology from different vendors and demonstrates the operational viability of an NFV use case in
the stage before deployment. The PoC requires tight collaboration between all participants and
involves the end-user.
But moving from a partner relationship to a PoC and into deployment is still a big leap for many players.
Advantech’s Remote Evaluation Service (RES) helps eliminate NFV uncertainties by providing remote and
secure access to fully-functional NFVIs where end-users, customers and partners can evaluate NFV
service chains and use cases. RES enables collaboration that goes beyond the basic ecosystem
partnership. Partners can remotely test VNF interoperability and performance on an open NFVI and work
collaboratively towards a production-ready end-to-end NFV solution without incurring the costs of shipping
heavy freight around the world, purchasing expensive test rigs or breaking their back integrating different
vendors equipment therefore saving time, resources and money.
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Remote Evaluation Service for NFV Validation
Advantech’s Remote Evaluation Service provides easy access to a virtual lab where users can test nextgeneration applications and services on a wide range of VNF-ready platforms from Advantech. Advantech
works with leading NFV ecosystem partners to enable its white boxes and build an open NFVI environment
where users can test and validate NFV use cases and emulate different deployment scenarios at different
network locations. The systems available for evaluation are VNF-ready platforms embedded in a qualified,
dedicated, and secure network test environment.
RES allows both CSPs and NFV solution providers to simplify and shorten NFV development and
validation phases in a cost-efficient way, without having to setup, integrate and maintain a dedicated NFVI
lab on-site. RES users can early detect and remove performance bottlenecks as well as hardware, OS or
OpenStack incompatibilities by testing applications and services under different circumstances. Throughput
of data plane intensive VNFs running on an accelerated vs non-accelerated environment can be easily
compared based on hands-on results. RES offers a powerful tool to support developers in their critical
decision making process when designing high-performance, scalable and reliable carrier-grade NFV
software.
Test Environment
Advantech’s Remote Evaluation Service was originally conceived to streamline the hardware evaluation
process for telecom equipment manufacturers. The aim being to help them get ahead of the technology
curve by rapidly evaluating performance and functionality of the latest processing technology from Intel on
a wide range of Advantech’s hardware platforms. RES eliminates the delays and costs of shipping,
troubleshooting and updating evaluation hardware on-site. Because the hardware sits close to R&D teams,
Advantech’s engineers can work together with RES users’ engineering teams to fine-tune platform
configuration for their application. With the industry transition to NFV, Advantech has built on the RES
concept and created a remote NFVI lab that makes VNF testing and validation easy. The RES network is
depicted in the image below and includes the following elements:
Figure 5 RES Environment
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Remote Access Server: RES is available through a Remote Access Server that secures access to
the Evaluation Unit or Units. Each RES user will log in to the service using an assigned public IP,
special port number and credentials. The Remote Access Server connects to the Evaluation Unit
through Ethernet and USB-to-Serial console ports.
Evaluation Unit: RES users can choose from a wide range of networking platforms based on Intel®
Architecture to test-drive NFV behavior in different scenarios. Advantech’s Packetarium XL
Blade Servers, FWA White Boxes, High-Performance SKY Servers and Packetarium ATCA
Reference Platforms are available for evaluation and can be configured for specific payloads.
Users can monitor each node and activate / deactivate the nodes.
-
Packet Generator: in order to test the performance of VNFs and service chains, Advantech also
provides a Packet Generator which can generate traffic as well as receive traffic from the
Evaluation Units. The Packet Generator is an option from the RES service. RES Packet Generator
supports 10Gbps/40Gbps traffic.
RES for NFV provides a VNF-ready platform that supports acceleration, OS, virtualization and provisioning
software from different providers. The proposed NFVI integrates with OpenStack Kilo release and has been
tested with VNFs from different vendors such as 6WIND, F5, Ixia, KEMP and Stormshield, and more.
Figure 6 Advantech NFVI Partners
RES is a growing program that is open to new ecosystem partners. Advantech is an active member of the
NFV community and believes in open collaboration as the means to accelerate NFV adoption and unlock
the true potential of NFV for all players in the value chain.
Benefits
PERFORMANCE & SCALABILITY
RES users can choose from the broadest range of communications infrastructure platforms based on Intel
Architecture in the industry. Using branded or whitebox servers and appliances from Advantech, users can
evaluate performance of VNFs and service chains on a range of computing platforms that scale from 1 to
over 300 Intel processor cores. Performance unpredictability is one of the main concerns on the transition
to NFV. RES allows developers and end-users to test how multi-threaded, multi-tenancy VNFs scale out
across multiple network nodes with several instances running on different VMs. It allows them to optimize
VM provisioning and their mapping to threads and cores across various multi-processor network nodes.
The wide range of white box servers, switches and appliances that can be deployed to implement the
virtual network edge makes RES a perfect tool to accelerate the selection process. It is the ideal service for
choosing the appropriate whitebox with the right price/performance point to fit each deployment need, from
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entry-level to large installations, in vE-CPE applications at the virtual service edge as well as the virtual
customer edge. In addition, the same whitebox may be located in different size deployments with different
throughput requirements and workload needs. RES platforms can be configured to test VNF performance
on white boxes with different I/O capabilities from gigabit Ethernet to 40GbE. Users can evaluate software
and hardware acceleration technologies to measure packet processing offloading or virtual switch
acceleration savings when deploying data-plane intensive VNFs. They can objectively compare
accelerated vs. non-accelerated data-path performance results to decide if an accelerated NFVI is able to
reduce their CAPEX and OPEX.
VNF I N T E R O P E R A B I L I T Y & S E R V I C E C H A I N I N G
Remote evaluation helps simplify complex NFV-stack dependencies by accelerating certification of:
-
VNF interoperability and their compatibility with open NFVI interfaces.
Particular NFVI implementations using open standard-compliance platforms for VNF portability.
CSPs can easily test service chaining viability and VNF interoperability for any specific use case by using
RES. For example, in the use case for network edge virtualization, VNFs can run in the network core or
they can run close to subscribers on edge platforms if the user application mandates low-latency response
times based on location-dependent services. With this in mind, developers can leverage RES to test a
range of service provisioning options on different hardware platforms by emulating different deployment
scenarios at diverse network locations.
In addition, NFV ecosystem partners can remotely collaborate to reduce time and cost in the certification
process of new VNFs and NFVI components. The joint effort of certifying that two particular NFV hardware
or software products are interoperable and have been validated to work together is an industry initiative
that reduces NFV integration risks, simplifies the end-user purchasing process, and speeds up the testing
phase previous to deployment by limiting its scope.
FUNCTIONALITY
To lead innovation in the fast-paced networking industry, solution providers need to stay ahead of the
technology curve and minimize the time-to-market of new-generation products. RES puts the latest
networking technology at the developers’ fingertips. Advantech is a premium partner in the Intel IOT
Solutions Alliance which gives Advantech early access to the latest Intel silicon for the design of new
networking gear. By leveraging RES, key customers can gain early access to pre-release, next-generation
hardware platforms and save precious development time during their software design and update cycles.
Advantech's x86 platforms in RES leverage the widely adopted Data Plane Developers Kit1(DPDK) to
speed up packet processing, and they also provide Intel® QuickAssist Technology for bulk encryption, data
compression, and other workloads critical to networking. VNF developers can early evaluate if their
application benefits from the latest virtualization features of a new CPU or if they can leverage new
enhancements in the latest DPDK version without having to deal with the continuous updating and
integration-tuning of the NFVI platform.
Multi-vendor ecosystems and associations can tap into RES to provide CSPs with virtual access to a test
environment that allows them to evaluate specific NFVIs or end-to-end NFV solutions. In addition, NFV
ecosystem partners can also leverage RES to remotely demonstrate VNFs or NFVI functionality in
meetings, webinars, conferences or trade shows.
1
www.dpdk.org
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Use cases
6WIND T E S T -D R I V E P O R T A L
The 6WIND test-drive portal is the first portal to run on Advantech’s testdrive-advantech-nfv.com domain
using systems installed in RES. It is accessible to registered users, providing a test environment for
developers to evaluate VNF functionality and performance with the 6WIND virtual accelerator.
Figure 7 provides an overview of a sample project's relevant components and describes a set-up and
execution environment. The first demo project on the portal runs an OpenStack environment on four dual
Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2600 compute nodes. While the platform is a shared resource, projects are
mutually exclusive. Developers can test VNFs, and build applications which make use of them. They can
compare and confirm 6WIND's virtual accelerator performance boost within the confines of their project.
One of the basic demo environments comprises four compute nodes, two are accelerated with 6WIND
virtual accelerator installed on them. Two additional nodes are installed and depicted as standard Linux
nodes as they have no accelerator installed. With the exception of 6WIND virtual accelerator installed in the
top pair, all nodes are identical and are connected together via an Ethernet switch via 10GbE links. This is
the base topology provided for initial testing; additional changes can be made as required by users.
A basic demonstration video at http://6WIND.testdrive-advantech-nfv.com shows the creation of 4 VMs
each with the same image. No special images are required to take advantage of 6WIND virtual accelerator.
Since the environment is shared, VXLANs are created to connect the VMs running on different compute
nodes. The demonstration in the video is performed on an Ubuntu machine which is used to access the
project. Neutron and Nova commands are used to create a network with identical VMs on each compute
node. For the throughput test, iperf is used in server mode on VM_accelerated_1 and in client mode on
VM_accelerated_2, then in server mode on VM_Linux_1 and in client mode on VM_Linux_2. This first
demonstration shows an acceleration of throughput from 3.6 to 8.9 Gbps. A second demonstration can be
found on the portal which takes a commercial VNF and uses 6WIND virtual accelerator to demonstrate a
performance improvement of over 5X.
Figure 7 VNF functionality and performance testing with the 6WIND virtual accelerator
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The latest platforms support performance evaluation on Ubuntu OpenStack with native Open Virtual Switch
using model-driven deployment based on Canonical’s Juju and Charms. When combined with the 6WIND
Virtual Accelerator technology the platforms can accelerate Open vSwitch within OpenStack deployments
without disrupting any KVM hypervisors, SDN Controllers or other management functions. 40GbE platforms
are also available for remote evaluation, allowing developers to test 40GbE performance on the latest
networking gear from Advantech and get a head start towards a deployable solution.
V E-CPE
DEMONSTRATOR
vE-CPE is undoubtedly the most promising use case for NFV, offering opportunities for new revenue
generation, operational efficiency and reduction of CapEx. CSP networks have typically included Customer
Premises Equipment (CPE) connected to a Provider Edge (PE) router at the edge of the core. The CPE is
usually owned and operated by either the CSP or the enterprise. With NFV and the VE-CPE use case
described by ETSI, virtualisation of the enterprise may include virtualisation of the CPE functions (vE-CPE)
in the service provider cloud and or virtualisation of the PE functions (vPE) where the virtual network
services functions and core-facing PE functions can be executed in the service provider cloud.
Virtualization of the CPE has been the first to gain industry-wide attention as a solution that enhances the
enterprise network by replacing dedicated appliances with NFV solutions located in either the enterprise
cloud or at the operator of the NFV framework. Services provided by the vE-CPE may include a router
providing QoS, along with other high-end services such as firewall (FW), intrusion detection and prevention
systems (IDS/IDP), and Wan Optimization Control (WOC) amongst others.
Figure 8 provides an example which shows how VE-CPE functionality may be located in various locations
in the network. In the most popular NFV use case, a NFVI compute node is located at the customer
premises. Typical applications that replace their physical equivalents are virtual firewall and virtual router.
Service chaining can include VNFs hosted in the vE-CPE host and at a PoP / Central Office (CO) or
datacenter. In the case of medium and large enterprise deployment the vE-CPE device may host more
VNFs on higher performance CPE compute nodes.
However the CPE is very cost-sensitive, and as such the server will typically be of lower performance than
in the datacenter. Although standard IT servers may be considered for deployment of vE-CPE on the
customer premises, white box appliances offer a reduced CAPEX alternative for deployment in volume.
Advantech’s white-box vE-CPE offering enables a more cost effective deployment as zero-touch
appliances installed at customer branch offices.
On the cloud side, the vPE equipment shown at the POP/CO in figure 8 is an Advantech Packetarium XLc
carrier grade blade server which provides the scalability needed to support a large number of virtualised
devices at the edge, where massive amounts of resources are expected from the NFVI. The vPE is able to
independently scale on the data plane and control plane to support very large forwarding tables and a large
number of flows.
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Figure 8 VE-CPE Virtualization examples
This is an interesting use case for RES and one which is in the process of being installed by several
ecosystem partners for launch in the second half of 2016. The integration of ecosystem software on top of
Advantech’s scalable range of compute and networking hardware provides a remotely accessible
framework that allows users to verify if they can reach the performance necessary in various service
chaining scenarios on a particular server or whitebox VE-CPE platform. In addition, developers can rapidly
verify if a specific platform gives them the manageability, scalability and carrier grade resiliency they
require for NFV deployments.
Conclusions
In the transition to NFV and virtual networking environments, communication service providers, integrators
and application vendors can benefit from Advantech’s Remote Evaluation Service to help solve
performance challenges faster and deploy the best solutions to meet fast-evolving needs. By making good
use of NFV portals in Advantech’s lab users are able to test different NFVI building blocks and third party
VNFs for rapid performance evaluation. VNF developers who want to optimize their solutions for varying
deployment scenarios and different locations in the network, have an unmatched choice of networking gear
available from Advantech ranging from one to many cores with connectivity choices from a few gigabit
Ethernet ports to 100GbE. RES for NFV is an initiative which allow users to evaluate NFV platforms and
configurations quickly while fostering collaboration with VNF providers to enhance interoperability and
speed innovation. Above all it helps service providers get NFV solutions to market faster and at less risk.
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