SimplyFlexible

NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

Ronald Gruia, Director,

Emerging Telecoms

SimplyFlexible:NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

TABLEOFCONTENTS
introduction........................................................................................................................3
SDNDefined....................................................................................................................4
TheCombinedBenefitsofSDN/NFV................................................................................6
EvolvingtowardsanSDN/NFVCarrierNetwork...................................................................7
IntroducingNECsSDNandNFVsolutions...........................................................................7
NECSDN/NFVArchitecture.............................................................................................7
NECSSDNPositioning.....................................................................................................8
NECSSDNPedigree........................................................................................................9
NECSDN/NFVUseCases...............................................................................................10
NECDeployment...........................................................................................................10
Conclusions.......................................................................................................................12
Abouttheauthor:..............................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Carriersareexperiencinganincreasinglychallengingenvironmentinwhichtheyhaveto
continuouslyscaletheirnetworks(inordertomeetrapidlygrowingtraffic)whilehavingto
settlefordecliningrevenues.Thedisconnectbetweenexponentialtrafficincreaseand
logarithmicrevenuegrowthhasbecomemoreexacerbatedoverthelastthreeyears,due
toahostoffactorsincludingtheproliferationofsmartphones,theuptakeofvideo,and
theincreasedpenetrationofmobilebroadband.
Figure1:Revenue/TrafficDisconnect

FigureSource:BroadbandForum

Program services instead

of re-architecting the
network and the
management system for
every new service - Peter
Lthberg, IETF Executive
Director and Swedish
Internet guru.

Furthermore,operatorsarefacingintensecompetitivepressurefromOverTheTop
playerssuchasApple,Google,Skypeandothers,whicharenimblerandcandelivernew
servicesinaquickerfashion.Lastly,anothermajorcarrierpainpointistheincreasingcost
andcomplexityofmanagingitsnetwork,loadedwithmanyverticalstovepipeservices.
Clearly,newersolutionsneedtobeconsideredandreplacethelegacyimplementations
whicharenolongersustainableoverthelongrun.Twonewtechnologiesthathave
gainedalotofattentionfromtheoperatorsoverthepastcoupleofyearsareSDN
(SoftwareDefinedNetworking)andNFV(NetworkFunctionVirtualization).
InthisWhitePaper,wewillexamineSDNandNFVfromacarriersperspective.The
startingpointwillbethecurrentstateoftheindustry,theevolutiontowardsanSDN
carriernetworkandthebenefitsincurredbyoperatorsastheytransitiontoanSDN/NFV
solution.

SimplyFlexible:NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

Then,wewillexamineNECsSDN/NFVvalueproposition,howthecompanyisaddressing
thekeycarrierrequirements,andexamineakeyreferencedeployment.Finally,wewill
concludewithourimpressionsofwhywebelieveNECisuniquelypositionedtobea
trustedandreliableSDN/NFVpartner.

SDNDefined
SDNcanbethoughtofasanovelapproachtonetworkingenablingcarrierstoachievea
moreefficientcontroloftheirinfrastructure,drawinguponcustomizationand
optimizationtodeliverinnovativenetworkservices.SDNallowsacontroller(serverbased
software)todeterminehowpacketsareforwardedbynetworkingelements,separating
thecontrolanddataplaneswithinswitches/routersThisapproachmakesnetworksmore
programmablebyabstractingnetworkelementsandexposingthemtovariousapps.
Thereare3keyfeaturesintheSDNarchitecture:

Separationofthecontrolplanefromthedataplane

Acentralizedcontrollerandviewofthenetwork

Programmabilityofthenetworkbyexternalapplications

Thisisdepictedinthefigurebelow:
Figure2:SDNArchitecture

FigureSource:ONF

ThekeyelementinthearchitectureisthecentralizedSDNcontroller,whichcanbe
thoughtofasthesoftwarethatisresponsibleformakingpolicydecisionswithinthe
network.Thecontrollerhasthesystemfunctionsnecessarytocontrolthephysicaland
virtualizednetwork,inadditiontonetworkfunctionresources,bypassingconventional
L2/L3protocols.
ThecontrolplanedatainterfacebetweentheSDNcontrollerandphysicalorvirtual
networkdevices(theSouthboundAPI)iswelldefinedbytheOpenFlowspecification,
whichhasindustrywidesupport(i.e.,vendorsandoperators).TheNorthboundAPIsare
vendorspecificandrepresenttheprogramminginterfacesbetweentheapplicationsand
SDNcontroller.
TheadventofSDNrepresentsyetanotherinstanceoftheongoingITficationofthe
telecomIndustry,withITmodelsbeingusedtousherthenextstageofnetworking
industrydevelopment.SDNcanrepresenttheindustrialrevolutionofnetworking,driving
thesamescalabilityandstandardizationthatwasmadepossiblebyfactoriesfromthe
mid1700sforward,astheyreplacedhandproduction.
Thenotionofseparatingthecontrolanddataplanesviaamorehorizontalarchitecture
certainlydoesnotrepresentanovelideainthetelecomindustry,havingbeendone
beforeinframeworkssuchasIPMultimediaSubsystems(IMS),a3GPPspecificationfor
deliveringIPmultimediaservices.Butwhatisdifferentaboutthisconceptthistime
around?Aretheprobabilitiesofsuccesshighernow?Webelieveso,basedonthefact
thatSDNhastwootherpillarstostandon:opennessandNFV.
Figure3:SDN,NFVandOpenness

FigureSource:Frost&Sullivan
NFVandSDNarecloselyrelated,mutuallybeneficialbutnotnecessarilyinterdependent:
NFVcanbedeployedwithoutSDNandviceversa.Thetechnologiesreallymeetdifferent
goals.

SimplyFlexible:NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

SDNcanimproveNFVperformancebyeasingoperationsandsimplifyingcompatibility.It
canalsoallowvirtualizednetworkfunctionstobesewnuptogetherintoservicechains.
NFVenhancesSDNviavirtualization,ITorchestrationandmanagementtechniques.
Simplyput,SDNrepresentsanetworkevolutionwhereasNFVisaplatformadvancement.
NFVwasbornoutofaneedtomeetserviceproviderneedssuchasloweringCAPEXby
eliminatingproprietaryhardware,andconsolidatingvariousnetworkfunctionsonto
industrystandardplatforms.AnotherevenbiggerNFVbenefitisOPEXreduction,withthe
movefromanetworkequipmenttoadatacenterdeploymentarchitecture.ETSIsNFV
IndustrySpecificationGroup(ISG)managestheNFVspecs.
SDNcomesfromtheITworld,bringingabouttheseparationofthedataandcontrolplane,
whilecentralizingthecontrol.SDNdeliverstheabilitytoprogramnetworkbehaviorvia
welldefinedinterfaces.TheONF(OpenNetworkingFoundation)isresponsibleforthe
advancementandstandardizationofOpenFlow,thedominantSDNprotocolframeworkat
thistime.

TheCombinedBenefitsofSDN/NFV
ThereareahostofbenefitsthatSDNcandeliver,including,amongothers:

Efficiency:optimizationofexistingapplications,services,infrastructureand
management/operations,resultinginCAPEXandOPEXsavings.

Scalability:enablinganoperatortorapidlygrowanexistingapplicationoranewservicein
amodular,economicalfashion.

Programmability:allowingthefastprovisioningofnewservices;thetimetoprovisionnew
servicesisthetopnetworkchallengeaccordingtomostoperators.

Serviceawareness:anotherbyproductoftheprogrammabilityaspect,delivering
operatorsfeaturessuchasguaranteedQoSandondemandexpresstrafficlanes.

Serviceexposure(viaAPIs):newrevenuegenerationopportunityforoperators,whichcan
delivernewapplicationsandbusinessmodels.

Elasticcapacity:leveragingtheperformancegrowthofindustrystandardhighvolume
servers

ImprovedOA&M:simplifiedoperationsmovingfromanetworkelementtoadatacenter
deploymentmodel

Virtualizedarchitecture:bringingbenefitsinscalability,energy,footprintandresiliency
options

EVOLVINGTOWARDSANSDN/NFVCARRIERNETWORK
Asalreadydiscussedintheintroduction,carriersarefacedwithexponentialtrafficgrowth
broughtuponbyfactorssuchasabiggermobilebroadbandpenetration(globallyexpected
tosurpassthe20%markinearly2014),largeradoptionofsmartphones(whichconsume
onaverageatleasttwicethedatatrafficofafeaturephone)andthehigherusageofdata
intensiveapplicationssuchasvideo(videotrafficexpectedtogrowatovera65percent
CAGRfrom20122017accordingtovariousindustrysources).Theincreasedtrafficload
requiresnotonlyahighercapacitybutalsomoreconnectivityandcapacityinthenetwork.
Concomitantly,socialresponsibilitiessuchasgreeninitiativesgearedtowardsreducing
powerconsumption,datasecurity/privacy,publicsafetyanddisasterrecoveryare
becominganintegralpartofbothenterpriseandoperatorstakeholdersagendas.
SDNandNFVcanbetechnologiescapableofaddressingalltheseareas.TheSDN/NFV
valuepropositionispremiseduponthefollowingthreepillars:
1.
Infrastructure(SDN)virtualized,programmable,scalable&highlyreliable
networks,deliveringCAPEXreduction
2.
Management&Orchestrationautomated,comprehensiveandflexible
configurationcoupledwithcentralizedcontrolandmanagement,entailingalowerOPEX
3.
Services(OpenAPIs)newrevenuegenerationpotentialviadifferentiated
services,serviceagility(improvedservicevelocity),andsimplerserviceprovisioning.New
servicescouldbeuniquelyenabledbytheSDNarchitecture,orcouldbeenabledbythe
openAPIto3rdpartysolutiondevelopers.Thisisakeydifferentiatoramongvendors
ForanoperatorwillingtoembraceSDN/NFV,itwillfirsthavetoevaluateavalidbusiness
casewherethetechnologycanbringvalue.Afterthat,thecarrierwillhavetoworkwitha
trustedpartnervendortodesignaproofofconceptproject.Subsequently,itwillhaveto
takethelessonslearnedandapplythemforafullblownprojectwhichcantakeplace
whenvendorproductsbecomemoremature.

INTRODUCINGNECSSDNANDNFVSOLUTIONS
NECSDN/NFVArchitecture
TheNECSDNarchitectureconsistsofthefollowingelements:

SDNcontroller:NECisanSDNpioneer,havinglaunchedtheworldsfirstcommercial
OpenFlowControllerandSwitchrangein2011.TheControllercanbedeployedasa
cluster,withhotstandbyforseamlessfailover.NECsOpenFlowproductrangeisbranded
asProgrammableFlow.

SimplyFlexible:NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

SDNdataplane:TheProgrammableFlowswitchrangesupportslargeOpenFlowtablesin
TCAMforlinerateprocessing.Theswitchesarehybridsandalsosupportconventional
L2/L3protocolsforinterconnectwithinstallednetworkinfrastructure.Fortransport
networks,opticalandpacketlayerswillbeconvergedandmanagedbythecentralizedSDN
controller,asonenetworkwithOpenFlowinterfaces.Hence,thecoreandedgerouter
functionscanbeabstractedtotheSDNController,loweringLayer3dependencyand
allowingrouteroffloading.Thiswillleadtoreductionofrouterhardwareinthenetwork
infrastructure.

Virtualizedfunctions:NECisaggressivelydevelopingNFVfunctionalitiesontopofa
commonandopenhardwareandsoftwareinfrastructure.NECscarriergradehypervisor
enablesthevirtualizationofnetworkfunctionsonCommercialOffTheShelf(COTS)
hardwareplatforms.ThecompanysNFVsolutionsarefullyinterworkingwithlegacy
systems.NECsparticipationintheETSINFVIndustrySpecificationGroup(ISG)is
consistentwithitsgoaltoofferhighlyreliableandcostefficientvirtualizednetwork
functionalityonindustrystandardservers.Thefirsttwofocusareasinthisdirectionare
mobilecoreandnetworkedgefunctionality.

HypervisorSoftswitchInteroperability:NEChasproductizedanOpenFlowbasedvirtual
SwitchforWindowsServerHyperV.HyperVisincreasinglybeingevaluatedbycarriers
globally.TheadvantageoftheWindowsServerHyperVsoftswitchisthatitgetscontrolof
thetrafficasearlyaspossibleintheserver.Thetrafficgoesthroughthesamesoftswitchif
itisonthesamehypervisor.Outofthefourmajorhypervisorsavailableinthe
marketplacetoday,three(HyperV,XEN,andKVM)haveoptionsforbuiltinOpenFlow
supportwithinNECsproductportfolio.

Management&orchestration:Fortheclouddatacenter,NEChasbothacommercially
availableofferingandanOpenSourcesolution(withOpenStack).Forthecarriernetwork
(includingNFV),thecompanyleveragesitsNetCrackersuite.NECsNetCrackerOSS/BSS
solutioncanbeleveragedfortheoperationandmanagementofcustomerassetsand
inventory,aswellasthebillingfunction.ThissolutioncanalsoensureQoScanbe
maintainedbyperformingfaultdetectionandanalysis,aswellasmonitoringresource
shortages.NetCrackerinterworkswithbothlegacynetworksandSDN,therebyensuringa
smoothtransitionfromlegacytoSDN.TheSDNControllersorchestrationfunction
interworkswithNetCrackertomanagenetworkandserverresourcesforthecoordinated
controloftheendtoendinfrastructure.

NECSSDNPositioning
NECsSDNpositioningissupportiveofthefollowing:

Opennetworkinfrastructure(ProgrammableFlow)NECnotonlywasthefirst
vendorbehindOpenFlowbutalsoconstantlyparticipatesininnumerousinteroperability
andbakeoffindustryevents,includingEANTCsMultiVendorInteroperabilityEvent
2013.

WorkwiththirdpartiestodevelopapplicationecosystemNECpartnerswith
bestinclassvendorsacrossareassuchasmanagement(includingRealStatus),security
(includingRadwareandvArmourNetworks),andoptimization(includingA10Networks
andCitrixforloadbalancingandSilverPeakforWANOptimization).

DrivingstandardizationofNorthboundinterfacesinONFNECremainshighly
committedtohelpingdrivestandardizationoftheseinterfaceswithintheONF,toenable
acommonSDNframeworkforsupportofservicesincludingantiDoS,followmecloud,
instantVPN/TE,SDNbasedmobilebackhaul,SDNbasedservicechaining,andIPv6
transitionviaSDN.

ContributingtoOpenSourcecommunityNECisagoldmemberofProjectOpen
Daylight,anopensourceprojectspearheadedbyvendorsinordertoaccelerateSDN
adoptionundertheauspicesoftheLinuxFoundation.Towardsthatgoal,NEChas
contributedwithitsVirtualTenantNetwork(VTN).

R&DcollaborationwithleadingTier1carriers:NECcollaborateswithahostof
carriersincludingNTTCommunications(SDN/NFV),Telefonica(SDN/NFV)andPortugal
Telecom(evaluationofnetworkvirtualizationbasedonSDNtechnologyfordatacenters
andcarriernetworks).).

NECSSDNPedigree
NECsSDNpedigreeissecondtonone,beingapioneerandamongearlymindshare
leaders.ThecompanyhasalongSDNhistorygoingbacktoCleanSlateProgram(Jan.
2008),andtheintroductionofthefirstcommercialOpenFlowproducts(switchand
controllerin2011).
WebelievethatNECisuniquelypositionedtoaddressnetworkvirtualization,whichcan
bethoughtofasacombinationofSDNandNFV.OnceIPedgeelementsaresoftware
based,networkhardwarecanbemanagedasapoolofresourcesforsoftwaredefined
functions.NFVdeliverssoftwaredefinedfunctionswithhighandpredictableperformance
inadditiontoahomogeneousorchestrationofcomputedomain.SDNallowsthe
interconnectingofthevirtualmachines(VMs),orthebackplane.Thisenablesdata
encapsulation,andaneasyorchestrationtogetherwithcomputedomain.

SimplyFlexible:NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

NECSDN/NFVUseCases
NEChasbeendeliveringSDN/NFVsolutionstoenterprisenetworks,datacenters
(private/publiccloudandcarrier),andserviceproviders.ThecommercialSDNsolutions
thatNEChasbeendeliveringtodateinclude:

networksforpublicandprivatecloudDCs,forcarriers,serviceprovidersandenterprises
campusnetworksforenterprises

NECDeployment
NECalreadycountswithmanyreferencesites.InthissectionwelookatNTT
CommunicationsEnterpriseCloud.JapansleadingglobalcarrierhasdeployedNECs
ProgrammableFlowsolutiontodeliveritsEnterpriseCloudService.
NTTCommunicationsEnterpriseCloudServiceoffersglobalcloudresourcesthat
enterprisecustomerscanleveragethroughstraightforwardcontrolandmanagement.The
enterprisecustomerscanoptimizetheirICTcostswhilemanagingandexpandingtheir
globalcorporatefootprint.
Aglobalnetworkofvirtualizedserverswithvirtualizednetworklinkswithinandamong
thedatacentershasbeenimplemented,withNECsProgrammableFlowbeingdeployedin
thedatacenters.Itsfutureframeworkistheglobalnetworkofdatacentersthatcould
effectivelyfunctionasadefactosinglevirtualizeddatacenterforscalableandseamless
services.
Theendresultwasthesimplificationofconfigurationchanges,whichbecameflexibleand
ondemandinsteadofrequiringcumbersomesetupandconfigurationprocedures.
Figure4:NTTComsEnterpriseCloudutilizingSDN

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FigureSource:NTTCommunicationshttp://www.ntt.com/enterprise_cloud_e/

NTTCommunicationsexpectsgreatCAPEXandOPEXreductionswithinnumerousbenefits
includingimprovedmonitoringandtroubleshooting.Thesevaluesareconsistentwith
NECsownestimatesandserveasanimportantproofpointofthelowerCAPEXandOPEX
thatSDNcandeliver.

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SimplyFlexible:NEC'sSDNfortheServiceDrivenNetwork

CONCLUSIONS
AsGeoffreyA.MooreeloquentlypointsoutinhisbestsellerCrossingtheChasm,there
isagapbetweentheearlyadoptersofanewtechnology(thesocalledtechnology
enthusiastsandvisionaries)andtheearlymajority(thepragmatists).SDNandNFVare
steadilygettingclosertothatpointofadoption,inotherwords,toreachingtheearly
majoritythatismainlyconstitutedbypragmatists.Untilthatpointintime,however,
certainbestpracticesamongthoughtleaders,visionariesandtechnologyenthusiastscan
beshared,inadditiontotheformulationofstrategiestohelpaddressthekeyissues
relevanttoaparticularcarriercustomer.
Throughoutthisexercise,carrierswillneedtorelyontheexpertiseofadvisorswhich
alreadyhavegonethroughtheexperience,inordertomaximizethebenefitsofbothSDN
andNFV.WebelievethatNECisuniquelypositionedtobeatrustedSDN/NFVoperator
partnerduringtheentireprocess,sinceitcanleveragethefollowingintangibles:

EarlymindshareinSDN:NECplayedanactiveroleinthecreationoftheOpenFlow
specification,sincetheearlystagesoftheCleanSlateprogram(January2008).Thevendor
wasakeyparticipantintheearlyresearchandtrials,buildingaprototypeOpenFlow
switchasearlyasAugust2008.NECalsolaunchedtheworldsfirstcommercialOpenFlow
ControllerandSwitchrangebackin2011.

StrongIT/systemsintegrationexcellence:ITexpertiseisacriticalsuccessfactorfora
successfulSDN/NFVadvisor,asITmethodologiesareincreasinglyembracedbyoperators
seekingtooptimizetheirperformance.NECcandeliveronbothsidesofthefence.The
companyhasalonghistoryofdevelopinginnovativesolutionsfortheITandNetworks
markets,havingamassedavastexperienceinareassuchascomputingtechnologies
(serverandstorage),IPnetworks,opticaltransportandmissioncriticalsystems.In
addition,NECcanalsoleverageitsNetCrackerOSS/BSSsuiteforinterworkingwithlegacy
networksandSDNandacceleratedservicefulfillmenttoensureasmoothtransitionto
SDN.

SDNexpertise:NECisbehindsomeoftheearlySDNdeploymentsbothforenterpriseand
carriercustomers,suchasresearchandenterprisenetworks,carrierdatacenters,and
datacentersforprivateandpubliccloud.ThecustomerpedigreeincludestheJapanese
NationalInstituteofInformationandCommunicationsTechnology(NICT),theKanazawa
UniversityHospital,NipponExpressandNTTCommunications.

NFVacumen:NECisplayingakeyroleintheETSINetworkFunctionVirtualization(NFV)
IndustrySpecificationGroup(ISG).ThegoalistoassistoperatorstoembraceNFV,moving
fromproofofconcepttorealprojects.NECisinitiallyfocusedonrollingoutmobilecore
andnetworkedgeofferingsrunningasvirtualizedfunctionsonCOTSservers.TheNFV
functionsarebeingdevelopedontopofacommonandopenIntelbasedhardwareand
softwareinfrastructure.

Insummary,NECsSDN/NFVportfolioissimpleandflexible.Simplemeansoffering
astreamlinedarchitectureandoperations,whichresultsinlowercarrierOPEX.
Flexiblealludestodeliveringnetworkagilitytorespondtoservicechangeneeds,
whichtranslatestoanenhancedservicevelocity.

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ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:
RonaldGruiaistheDirectorforEmergingTelecomsatFrost&
Sullivan,wherehecoverstopicssuchasNGNtransitional
technologies,4G/LTE,IMS(IPMultimediaSubsystems),FMC,VoIP,
SDN(SoftwareDefinedNetworking),NFV(NetworkFunction
Virtualization),CarrierMessaging/ValueAddedServicesPlatforms,
IPTV,IPCentrex,TriplePlayServices,EnterpriseCommunications
Systems,UnifiedCommunications,andVideoConferencing,
amongothers.HehasspokenatconferencessuchasSupercomm,
VON,3GSM,MWC,CTIA,Futurecom,VMA,TMIA,IMSExpo,
IPComm,FierceIPTV,IntelCommunicationsSummit,VONCanada,
IPWorldCanadaandComdexCanada.
SincejoiningFrost&SullivaninFebruaryof2001,Mr.Gruiahasspokenatconferences
suchasSupercomm,VON,3GSM,CTIA,TMIA,VMA,IMSWorldForum,IMSExpo,
Futurecom(Brazil),IPComm,FierceIPTV,IntelCommunicationsSummit,VONCanada,
IPWorldCanadaandComdexCanada.Healsowritesarticlesforvariouspublications
(suchasNGN/IMSMagazine,VoIPMagazine,TelecommunicationsMagazineand
Telemanagement),hasappearedonCNBC(US),BNN(BusinessNewsNetwork),Report
onBusinessTelevisionandTechTV(Canada),DecisionTV(Brazil)andTelecomTV,andis
oftenquotedinpublicationsincludingBusinessWeek,Forbes,Wired,API,MarketWatch,
Reuters,TheStreet,NetworkWorld,ITBusiness,ITWorld,SanJoseMercuryNews,
NationalPost,Globe&MailandYahoo!CanadaFinance.
Mr.GruiaisanMITgraduateinElectricalEngineering,andhasaccumulatedyearsof
experienceinthetelecomindustry,havingheldseveralrolesatNortelNetworks'
EnterpriseDivision,whereheearnedaU.S.patent.

Thispaperispartoftheongoingcoverageofworldwideinformationand
communicationstechnologiesmarketsbyFrost&Sullivan(www.frost.com),an
internationalgrowthconsultingcompany.Workingcloselywithourclients,weuse
advancedmarketresearchmethodstoidentifyandanalyzethecriticalmarket
challengestheymustaddresstobecomesuccessfulcompetitorsintheirindustry.

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