The NFV Way:
It Ain’t Carrier-Grade
Cloud_
Diego R. Lopez
Telefónica I+D
March 2014
The NFV Concept
Network functions are fully defined by SW, minimising dependence
on HW constraints
DPI
GGSN/
SGSN
CG-NAT
BRAS
Firewall
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
PE Router
VIRTUAL NETWORK
FUNCTIONS
FUNCTION
COMMON HW
(Servers & Switches)
CAPACITY
NFV-based Target Service Provider Network
•
The target is a simplified, less expensive service provider network
•
From hardware-based networks to software defined, virtualized ones
• Service level functionality should be implemented largely in software
• The network infrastructure consists of low unit cost COTS network
elements: servers, packet optical transport, data center switches and
storage
• Leverage low cost per unit to provide bandwidth expansion and
increasing range of services
• Use distributed storage instead of expensive routing and transport to
deliver popular, high volume content
• Use software-based service delivery to be more responsive to new
requirements from customers and market opportunities
• Automate management and provisioning to the greatest extent possible
• Leverage SDN for application-aware routing, and separation of packet
forwarding from control to rapidly introduce new services and adapt to
changing traffic patterns
• Network functions, caching, applications, enablers all run in virtualized
distributed data centers
• IP & transport infrastructure still used as necessary in optical backbone
and Internet
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
The NFV Framework
End
Point
E2E Network Service
End
Point
Network Service
Logical Abstractions
VNF
VNF
VNF
VNF
VNF
Logical Links
VNF Instances
SW Instances
VNF
VNF
VNF
VNF
VNF : Virtualized Network Function
NFV Infrastructure
Virtual Resources
Virtual
Compute
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
Virtual
Network
Virtualization Layer
Virtualization SW
HW Resources
Virtual
Storage
Compute
Storage
Network
The NFV Reference Architecture
Os-Ma
OSS/BSS
Orchestrator
Se-Ma
Service, VNF and Infrastructure
Description
EMS 1
EMS 2
EMS 3
Or-Vnfm
Ve-Vnfm
VNF
Manager(s)
VNF 1
Or-Vi
VNF 3
VNF 2
Vn-Nf
Vi-Vnfm
NFVI
Virtual
Storage
Virtual
Computing
Virtual
Network
Nf-Vi
Virtualisation Layer
Vl-Ha
Computing
Hardware
Storage
Hardware
Execution reference points
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager(s)
Hardware resources
Network
Hardware
Other reference points
Main NFV reference points
It Ain’t Cloud Applied to Carriers
The network differs from the computing environment in
2 key factors…
1
2
Data plane workloads
(which are huge!)
Network requires shape
(+ E2E interconnection)
HIGH PRESSURE ON
PERFORMANCE
GLOBAL NETWORK VIEW IS
REQUIRED FOR
MANAGEMENT
…which are big challenges for vanilla cloud computing.
AN ADAPTED VIRTUALISATION ENVIRONMENT IS NEEDED
TO OBTAIN CARRIER-CLASS BEHAVIOUR
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
Cloud Computing vs NFV
NFV
CLOUD COMPUTING
1. PERFORMANCE BOUND TO CPU
1. PERFORMANCE BOUND TO
I/O & MEMORY ACCESS
2. AGGREGATED VIEW OF
RESOURCES (CPU, memory, etc.)
2. NUMA VIEW
3. ENDPOINTS
3. MIDDLEPOINTS
Applications need the OS
Data-plane network functions bypass the OS
4. NODE-CENTRIC
4. NETWORK-CENTRIC
Shapeless interconnection
The network has a shape
5. MANY AND SMALL VMs
5. FEW AND LARGE VMs
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
Internal architecture is relevant for guests
Redesigning Network Segments
Distributed Data Plane
Centralized Control Plane
LOCAL PoPs
v
CDN
Service Domain
P-CSCF
Network Domain
REGIONAL DATA CENTRES
Video
SDP
CSFB
v
NGIN
Security
IMS
SRVCC
M/SMSC
EPC
BRAS
PE
DHCP
PCRF
DPI
CG-NAT
GGSN
DNS
UDB
HW and SW
decoupling
Infrastructure
HW and SW
decoupling
OS + HyperVisor
OS + HyperVisor
COTS HW
COTS HW
MPLS/SDN/Optical
MPLS/SDN/Optical
Networks PoPs and datacentres intra- and inter-communications will be critical to
guarantee network service elasticity and network plasticity
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
With the Proper Balance between NFV & SDN
BNG
CONTROL
NFV
CG-NAT
POOL
MGMT
SW-defined network functions


Pool
admin
Session
UPnP
mgmt
IPv4 /
IPv6
TR-069 DHCP
NAT
Separation of HW and SW
No vertical integration
- HW vendor ≠ SW vendor ≠ Mgmt vendor

Once network elements are SW-based,
HW can be managed as a pool of
resources
NAT
ctrl.
SDN
Interconnecting Virtual Network
Functions (a.k.a. backplane)
 Separation of control and data plane
 Easy orchestration with SW domain
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
High and Predictable Performance is Achievable
80 Gbps per COTS blade
Acceptable performance
x10
GAP
@Cloud
What defensive
Industry says
(*)
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
EXECUTION
VM
Bare
Metal
VM
@vPoP
VM
@Cloud
What can be achieved
doing things well(*)
ETSI NFV Work Item “NFV Performance & Portability Best Practises”:
DGS/NFV-PER001 Current version: v0.0.7 (stable draft – 15/10/2013)
MANAGEMENT
Bare
Metal
MANAGEMENT
EXECUTION
Bare
Metal
NFV Current Targets: Virtual Residential CPE
Shifting network functions deployed in home
environment to the network…
Telco Network
environment
Home environment
STB
Virtual
CPE
UPnP
IPv4/IPv6
Access Point Switch Módem
TR-069
DHCP
•
•
Simple, stable along the time and cheaper
customer premises equipment
Quick and transparent migration to IPv6
Live trial today
Commercial before end 2014
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
FW
•
•
•
NAT
Service evolution and operation is supported inside
telco network
Monetize cloud and video services (virtual set top
box)
Monetize security and digital identity features
MATURITY LEVEL
EXPLORE
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
NFV Current Targets: Elastic DPI
CENTRALISED INTELLIGENCE
Other data
Deeper
Network Big
Data
RELEVANT
INFO
Copy
REAL-TIME
ANALYSIS
Metadata interface
Security
Alarms
OpenFlow
RAW USER TRAFFIC
RAW USER TRAFFIC
NFV
domain
xDRs
POLICY
DECISIONS
MITIGATION
SDN
domain
OF Controller
OF Switch
•
>80 Gbps line rate per server
•
Stable signatures
•
Flexible data analysis and signature
upgrade
•
Forensic analysis feasible.
MATURITY LEVEL
EXPLORE
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
NFV Current Targets: SW BNG
BNG
•
QinQ termination
•
LPM Routing
•
GRE tunnelling (reference for wholesale services)
•
MPLS tunnelling
•
80 Gbps line rate switching per server
MATURITY LEVEL
EXPLORE
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
NFV Current Targets: Enhanced Virtual Router
Leverage on open source routing project (Quagga) as rich and widely
tested protocol suite while assuring data plane performance
OPEN-SOURCE CONTROL
PLANE
(Quagga + Linux)
•
Common routing protocols supported and
extended by open source project.
•
Well-known router command line.
OPTIMIZED
DATA PLANE
(DPDK-based)
•
High-performance line-rate data plane.
•
Running as separate process, does not lead to
licensing issues.
MATURITY LEVEL
EXPLORE
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
An Evolutionary Approach
• NFV
implies a significant change for current
network infrastructures
 No zero-day approach is feasible
 Avoiding disruptions
• Identify relevant use cases
 Emerging services
 Reuse of equipment still in amortization
 Leverage on new planned elements in
architecture
Soft-Node
• Plan for phased deployments
 Interworking with existing infrastructure
 Not breaking current operational practice
• Take advantage of NFV advantages
 Flexibility
 Extensibility
 Reusability
DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
DS vCPE