Radical network thinking at Cloud-Net Summit

A major telco planning to move mission-critical services to the cloud; a growing buzz around software-defined networking (SDN); business models of traditional network suppliers under threat. There was a lot to chew on at the recent Cloud-Net Summit in London organised by Layer123, and that was from attending one morning session only. Apparently, there were some pretty heated workshop discussions the day previously.

Of course, industry debate about how telcos can better manage and simplify their networks – and deliver a wide range of services in a more cost-effective and timely way – has been going on for years. But advances in cloud computing and storage capacity, plus signs that software-defined networking is ready to move beyond the university campus, is giving the discussion fresh impetus. It also focuses minds when an operator the size of Deutsche Telekom says it has radical plans to overhaul its network and head for the cloud.

In his excellent presentation at Cloud-Net, Axel Clauberg, vice president of IP architecture and design at Deutsche Telekom (DT), complained that growing network complexity – and the support of multiple protocols with expensive interfaces– was holding back the operator’s efforts to bring service innovation to market. He also noted that Germany’s cable operators, running more IP-optimised networks than DT’s, were causing competitive problems. “If we want to compete in this market and be profitable, we need to drastically simplify our IP service production process,” said Clauberg. It might be good business for suppliers if DT continued to run multiple network elements on switches and routers, he added, but it wasn’t doing the telco’s profit margins any good. The old way of doing things, insisted Clauberg, was not sustainable.

The DT plan is to radically simplify the network and create a new architecture based on native IP. Dubbed TeraStream, the new DT network will comprise only two types of routers: R1 and R2. R1 routers are customer facing, residing in the access network; R2 routers are connected to the telco’s cloud-based data centres and peering partners. The R1 and R2 routers are connected by an optical ring that forms the core of the network. The core transmits Ethernet frames carrying IPv6 traffic. “We want to get rid of all the expensive internal interfaces you would get in an MPLS network,” said Clauberg.

The task of service delivery moves away from the network to what Clauberg calls network-centric data centres. “The more special hardware and software in the network elements, the more difficult it is to manage and scale,” he said. “We want to concentrate on IP service delivery [from network-centric data centres] using COTS [commercial off-the-shelf software].”

A range of network services will be housed in DT’s data centres, including DHCP, DNS and OSS. Other services include IPTV, OTT apps, content delivery networks, IMS components, and the support of legacy protocols (MPLS and IPv4). “Users will also be able to self-provision, which is possible today with cable operators,” said Clauberg. “And if content providers want to sell directly to their customers, we will provide virtual machine storage capacity to do that.” The first customer trial of TeraStream is scheduled for this year.

Under new management?

Co-hosted by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), the Cloud-Net Summit naturally devoted time to OpenFlow, the network management protocol that ONF promotes. Based on SDN, OpenFlow envisages a radical simplification of switches and routers to enable easier and more cost-effective service delivery.

Today, switches are complicated beasts. Dan Pitt, executive director at ONF, wants that to change. Instead of being self-contained systems, exchanging peer-to-peer protocols that determine such things as network topology, routing methods and security, the OpenFlow vision is to move the control plane out of the switch and into a centralised SDN controller platform. It certainly sounds compelling. Using what Pitt calls ordinary software, which can be handled by ordinary programmers with no special training, network policies (using OpenFlow) can be attached to applications. It is the control tier, not the switch, that now determine where the packets go and what policies they adhere to (such as throughput, latency, security levels, multicasting and if data should even stay in one country or not). “Company policy can be translated into routing algorithms,” said Pitt.

There is still a lot of work to do, however, if the ONF vision of a super flexible network is to become reality. While DT’s Clauberg said he could see a real-time OSS role for OpenFlow in the data centre and the access network, the network core was currently out of bounds. The presence of BGP (border gateway protocol) for the public internet, he said, made the network core incompatible with OpenFlow. Clauberg said he was keeping a watchful eye on progress made by the ONF hybrid network working group, which is tackling this issue. “We are depending on its results,” he said.

There are other questions, too. As Pitt acknowledged at Cloud-Net, there is apprehension among operators about throwing out their current gear and introducing OpenFlow-compatible switches. Nor have the arguments for a centralised control plane, as envisaged by ONF, appear to have been won outright.

There is also a question mark over the availability of these stripped-down switches and how enthusiastic traditional network suppliers – such as Cisco and Juniper – would be in making them. Unless they can differentiate using OpenFlow software, it is hard to imagine they will be working strenuously to commoditise their products. That said, Cisco and Juniper clearly take OpenFlow seriously. Both are founding member companies of ONF. Wisely, however, ONF does not allow vendors to have seats on the board. Suppliers, protecting vested interests, could easily slow down standardisation work.

Tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

60 Responses to Radical network thinking at Cloud-Net Summit

  1. Zenaida1992 says:

    This post is on 11 spot in google’s search results, if you want more
    traffic, you should build more backlinks to your blog, there is one trick to get free,
    hidden backlinks from authority forums, search
    on youtube: how to get hidden backlinks from forums

  2. Carpetvsp says:

    term manuscript (late lat.manuscriptum,

  3. Mojavewgr says:

    manuscripts attributed to Robins

  4. Garminzsnb says:

    Since manuscripts are subject to deterioration

  5. Carpetbpl says:

    The most common form

  6. Holographicftu says:

    handwritten books were made,

  7. Cutterqzc says:

    handwritten books were made,

  8. Vintagegfr says:

    from lat. manus – “hand” and scribo – “I write”) [1]

  9. Superchipsprl says:

    Europe, and in Ancient Russia

  10. Milwaukeehvm says:

    Since the era of Charlemagne

  11. Wirelessnxf says:

    handwritten by the author.

  12. Marshallipf says:

    the spread of parchment.

  13. Carpetmbs says:

    , text and illustrations to which

  14. Kemvxd says:

    lasuna oral – himcolin over the counter buy himcolin generic

  15. Pkpjln says:

    buy besifloxacin eye drops – buy besifloxacin eye drops buy sildamax without prescription

  16. Rlesfk says:

    order neurontin online cheap – purchase azulfidine online sulfasalazine pills

  17. Pbvijs says:

    buy probalan without prescription – buy etodolac tegretol online

  18. Jkrhgc says:

    order generic diclofenac 100mg – order aspirin generic aspirin 75 mg tablet

  19. wessush says:

    My thoughts is the folic acid is the most important vit buy priligy australia Drink this fluid thickness from a cup

  20. Oiqydn says:

    rumalaya for sale online – rumalaya cost elavil 50mg cheap

  21. Vxonge says:

    where can i buy pyridostigmine – order pyridostigmine 60 mg without prescription azathioprine generic

  22. Dsrkzo says:

    buy cheap diclofenac – order nimotop online cheap nimodipine pills

  23. Nespressoqzq says:

    or their samples written

  24. Knjtou says:

    purchase ozobax generic – generic piroxicam 20 mg buy cheap generic piroxicam

  25. Ykdbja says:

    buy meloxicam 7.5mg – order toradol online order generic toradol

  26. Vezraj says:

    order periactin 4mg without prescription – tizanidine generic buy zanaflex pills for sale

  27. Momdxi says:

    buy artane generic – voltaren gel where to buy order emulgel

  28. Lwlqgt says:

    how to buy omnicef – buy cefdinir generic cleocin brand

  29. Flexibleiap says:

    manuscripts significantly

  30. Vintageodq says:

    only a few survived.

  31. Universalxne says:

    Duke de Montosier

  32. Drywallivt says:

    Many calligraphers have acquired

  33. Rubberisz says:

    European glory, and even after

  34. Generationnyi says:

    55 thousand Greek, 30 thousand Armenian

  35. KitchenAidyvr says:

    new texts were rewritten

  36. Marshallukw says:

    From many manuscripts of Antiquity

  37. WILDKATpjt says:

    handwritten by the author.

  38. Cutterofi says:

    inventions of typography

  39. Fwicmj says:

    xeloda price – buy mefenamic acid paypal danocrine over the counter

  40. Olmbgz says:

    buy progesterone paypal – clomiphene 50mg drug cheap clomiphene without prescription

  41. iAquaLinkjao says:

    inventions of typography

  42. Gtlcgs says:

    order norethindrone 5 mg online – order bimatoprost sale where to buy yasmin without a prescription

  43. Cijofp says:

    alendronate 70mg price – fosamax 70mg brand cheap medroxyprogesterone 10mg

  44. appotte says:

    Serious Use Alternative 1 calcium chloride will decrease the level or effect of baloxavir marboxil by cation binding in GI tract order priligy online

  45. appotte says:

    73 00 When should we suspect PE in COPD exacerbation buy priligy dapoxetine online The post implantation loss occurred at around 9 10 days of gestation suggesting that paternal factors involved in embryo development were affected by tamoxifen treatment

  46. Reggie Bartl says:

    I have learn a few good stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you put to make such a magnificent informative web site.

  47. Nwqjdk says:

    buy cabergoline – order dostinex 0.5mg sale order alesse generic

  48. Brkwtn says:

    purchase estrace – order anastrozole 1 mg order arimidex 1mg pill

  49. promobay says:

    Heya! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 3gs! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the great work!

  50. appotte says:

    Lubricating eye drops should also no longer be needed what is priligy tablets

  51. Great blog here! Additionally your website rather a lot up fast! What web host are you the use of? Can I am getting your affiliate link on your host? I desire my website loaded up as fast as yours lol

  52. Ngheft says:

    ばいあぐら – シルデナフィルジェネリック йЂљиІ© г‚їгѓЂгѓ©гѓ•г‚Јгѓ« еЂ‹дєєијёе…Ґ гЃЉгЃ™гЃ™г‚Ѓ

  53. Edelbrocklxt says:

    Testaru. Best known

  54. appotte says:

    I won on appeal as well but it was a long drawn out process and it was for DE [url=https://fastpriligy.top/]reddit where buy priligy[/url]

  55. Icbsnf says:

    гѓ—гѓ¬гѓ‰гѓ‹гѓі – 5mg – г‚ёг‚№гѓ­гѓћгѓѓг‚ЇгЃЇи–¬е±ЂгЃ§иІ·гЃ€г‚‹пјџ г‚ёг‚№гѓ­гѓћгѓѓг‚Ї гЃ®иіје…Ґ

  56. Premiumtps says:

    and 12 thousand Georgian manuscripts

  57. I ve heard that it can and that it can t, I just wanted some more opinions where buy cheap cytotec price

  58. Nhnvir says:

    eriacta soon – zenegra online along forzest trust

  59. The global annual abortion rate has been estimated at about 29 abortions per 1000 women aged 15 44 years 5 how can i get cheap cytotec online

  60. PMID 7978672 can i buy generic cytotec pill According to her family, since her discharge from the hospital one month ago her respiratory status has not returned to normal

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>