FEATURE: SDN
Programmable cloud
for telcos
By Arun Shankar
C
loud-based approaches enable operators to
ensure rapid service creation and rollout by
delivering new levels of flexibility, scalability and
responsiveness. They also satisfy growing expectations
for service performance and quality of experience, while
handling increasing traffic loads. services are not tied to the constraints of a physical
datacentre. The solution implements flow tracking
and policy enforcement at logical cloud level.
This encompasses multiple operator datacentres,
irrespective of geographic location and network
infrastructure connecting them.
Operators can make use of cloud technology in three
ways. Although these scenarios are all quite different,
they share some common requirements, and operators
can benefit from the implementation of a common
platform across all three. Scale in and scale out, and load balancing of virtualised
network functions, are further examples demonstrating
the value of a programmable network cloud solution.
This gives the ability to extend network functions into
the cloud, with software defined networks, network
function virtualisation and the cloud, working together.
# Telecom cloud: Operators gradually turn their
networks into layered and distributed clouds.
# Private cloud: Operators optimise the use of internal
IT resources to deliver an improved customer experience.
# Commercial cloud: Operators leverage a platform to
resell or broker value-added cloud services.
A cloud system that integrates seamlessly with a
real-time, software defined programmable network,
can provide value to service providers and subscribers.
Subscribers do not rely on connectivity alone and
demand a range of cloud-hosted services. They
require the network to play a role in offering the right
connectivity for the desired application. This is where
the real value of software defined, network-based,
programmable cloud becomes apparent.
One use case is in virtual enterprise IT infrastructure, where
a software defined, network-based gateway or Virtual
Enterprise Customer Premises Equipment or vE-CPE, can be
put into the cloud to eliminate the need for hardware and
software on the enterprise premises. The solution features
tight coordination between a feature-rich cloud controller
and a software defined network controller.
Customer-premises equipment is any terminal or
equipment located at a subscriber’s premises and
connected with a telecom carrier’s channel at the
demarcation point. A demarcation point is established
to separate customer equipment from the equipment
located in either the distribution infrastructure or
central office of the communications service provider.
This enables replication and migration of network and
cloud-based services to the best available location,
based on the tenant’s requirements, overall network
congestion and cloud availability. This means cloud
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As the load on a network appliance increases, the
software defined network controller can request a peer
cloud manager to instantiate a virtual network function
in the cloud and to start load balancing between the
physical appliance and the virtual appliance, treating
it as a common entity. The network-enabled cloud
provides the necessary virtual resources for software
appliances. This can be on dedicated physical hardware
or on virtual machines, and supports distribution of
these resources wherever needed in the network.
Scaling of a software appliance can be achieved either
by requesting more cloud capacity in the network-
enabled cloud or by requesting virtual resources in
a centralised cloud datacentre. The flexibility of the
distributed cloud is greatly enhanced using software
defined networks, real-time control mechanisms,
in which software appliances can be moved within
or between clouds while preserving the networking
attributes and requirements.
Service providers are in a unique position to offer
services that transcend boundaries of the traditional
datacentre, without compromising on quality. New levels
of innovation are possible when leveraging resources
residing in different clouds or network domains.
A programmable network cloud provides new
capabilities, made possible by implementing a
combination of distributed cloud, network function
virtualisation, network programmability from software
defined networks, and highly automated networks. The
result is improved experience for enterprises, while at
the same time delivering efficiency, lower costs and
higher margins for service providers. Excerpted from,
The programmable network cloud, by Ericsson. ¡
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