JRA TECHNICAL PAPERS
NAAS, SDN AND NFV ECOSYSTEM: WHAT VIRTUALISATION IS DOING FOR FUTURE GÉANT NETWORK SERVICES José Ignacio Aznar, Eduard Escalona Distributed Applications and Networks Area (DANA), i2cat Foundation, Barcelona, Spain {jose.aznar, eduard.escalona}@i2cat.ne
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Dave Wilson, Victor Reijs HEAnet, IFC, Dublin 1, Ireland {dave.wilson, victor.reijs}@heanet.ie Abstract—The vision of telecommunications networking requires agile programmability and efficient introduction of new network services, with systems that provide greater programmability and flexibility while reducing overall operational costs. This reflects an overall technological and economic transformation trend deeply impacting Telecom and IT industries. A shift is taking place towards software driven networks, which includes the efforts in Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Network as a Service (NaaS). Index Terms—NaaS, SDN, NFV, Network services.
I. NAAS, SDN AND NFV ECOSYSTEM: ONE STEP BEYOND SDN [1], NaaS [2] and NFV [3] greatly increase automation, optimization and flexibility for the telecom sector and constitute a key enabler for networks carrying both innovative end-user facing and resource-facing services in several ways:
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Decoupling of network functions from the hardware vendor allows third-party developers to enter the hardware-controlled segment, adding fresh competition from new sources. Telecom operators are expected to have greater choice and operational control of network functions to integrate into their equipment, without being locked to a hardware vendor. Hardware constraints slow implementation and testing, from hardware vendor and to complex integration at the telecom operator. NFV improves time to market of innovative deployments. The NaaS service model tailors network services to customers. It leans on virtualization technologies and integrates SDN technology and NFV developments to deliver, manage and fit out a wider service portfolio, to a wider range of users, than was possible before.
SDN is a flexible intermediate layer between the high-level NFV-based services offered by NaaS and the low-level infrastructure components. Together, these technologies (and their results, such as Management as a Service) will drive novel business opportunities and provide NRENs and their clients with novel services.
II. GROWTH AND VALUE AROUND GÉANT SERVICES AND SHOWCASES The value of these approaches is shown in GÉANT, where national research networks (NRENs) deploy services that must interact with other networks elsewhere. Doing so quickly is a challenge, because the existing architecture at each site is typically built only with regular IP connectivity in mind. The value in using these technologies to virtualize the customer connection comes from the wider range of services that can be deployed; the edge comes under the control of the NREN and can take advantage of multi-domain services from around GÉANT. This leads, then, to the growth hypothesis for virtualized networks: that once services are more easily available, “network effects” take over and they will gain users at an accelerating rate.