Labels: Combine , Landscape , Service , Transform , Virtualization

How SDN and NFV Combine to Transform the Service Landscape with Virtualization

We all know SDN is a big subject, to be honest it seems to be the only topic at the moment. So when you’re set the challenge of talking about it for just sixteen minutes where do you start? Well, at Broadband World Forum, Brian Levy (CTO, Service Provider, EMEA) was asked to do just that as an introduction to a series of workshops. We’ve recorded his presentation, Transforming the Service Landscape with Virtualization, for you to view – it’s 16 minutes well spent.

So how does Brian approach the subject? First off he draws a distinction between SDN and NFV (Network Functions Virtualization). Brian positions SDN as the centralised resilient brain that uses network intelligence to control virtualised functions. In other words it’s the combination of SDN and NFV that delivers greatest benefit. He sums this up rather neatly when he says “centralise what you can, distribute what you must.”

Brian provides context by talking us through a short history of virtualization in the datacenter environment. He takes us through openflow and onto the proactive overlay networks of today of which JuniperContrail is a great example. But Brian talks of the legacy network as a world of physical boxes and goes on to present a vision where functions such as firewalls, DPI, and BRAS for example, are run in virtual machines on a platform that enables us to create chains of services. The ability to spin up these network capabilities within seconds gives network operators a flexibility unseen before.

However, as interesting as the technology is, Brian avoids the trap of talking about the technology as an end in itself. He knows from his experience of talking to customers that what really excites them is understanding how to get the most out of SDN/NFV and exploring what it can do for them and their customers. Brian illustrates this using three separate use cases: Public and enterprise cloud federation, virtual CPE, and secure cloud brokerage.

Looking at secure cloud brokerage, Brian identifies three advantages delivered through virtualisation:

The ability to have an end-to-end application service level agreement with a single point of contact for all your network needs.The ability to offer service wraps such as a single bill or service aggregation.Trust and security. Here Brian talks about data compliance being quoted as the new number one barrier to cloud adoption and how virtualization can overcome this.

It’s probably taken me longer to type this blog than it would to watch the recording and I’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of the richness of content Brian covers. My advice is to put aside sixteen minutes, follow the link and watch the recording of his presentation first hand.

View the original article here