1. www.nextworks.it An SME perspective on SDN & NFV promises: programmability, abstraction and new business roles Nicola CiulliHead of Research & Development, Nextworks Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session

2. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens Let’s start from the conclusions [Q1] What is in NFV and SDN for SMEs? The promise of a new, unlocked business ecosystem where SMEs can be the new Network App developers and maintainers [Q2] What is the benefit for an SME to be active in NFV & SDN standardization? SDN & NFV open / standard interfaces are still a growing jungle, and are key for SMEs to develop business ideas and products [Q3] How can research help? SDN & NFV are broad and wild field; research is key to pioneer in the SDN far- west and validate intuitions before standards can regulate it [Q4] How can large scale test-beds, as made available by NRENs, help? In reality, networks are never small and simple. Large scale virtual laboratories are key to properly validate and showcase SDN/NFV product ideas 2

3. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens The promises behind SDN and NFV  2 key promises for network operators…  “Extreme” service orchestration and deep programmability, i.e. beyond the black-box configuration New, operator-defined, service features and compositions Full control of the network boxes  Ability to deal with heterogeneous network technologies in an (mostly) agnostic way Towards a more open market of network gears Shorter time to market for new services and network technologies  … and 1 major promise for the (potential) stakeholders in the network equipment and software business  Can create new roles and business threads in network software development 3

4. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens network operator service provider datacenter provider … The technology jungle in networks In legacy networks, each technology and architecture requires its own control & management to install, configure, and operate it 4 ? OSPF-TE IS-IS BGP MPLS Carrier-grade Ethernet GMPLS RSVP SNMP AAA CLI VPNs Netconf OSS OpenFlow ? virtualization

5. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens SDN can help, with a long term vision 1.Open/standard southbound interfaces OpenFlow, XMPP, SNMP, CLI, Netconf, I2RS, PCEP, etc. 2.A driver for each class of (subnetwork of) nodes To abstract the hardware (and software!) internals and make it “plug and play” 3.The concept of Network Operating System To abstract the heterogeneity underneath To generalize the procedures required for configuring / managing / controlling the network functions in a set of primitive OS functions i.e. we shouldn’t have to buy a new management system with a dedicated software when we deploy a new network technology 4.A powerful northbound interface for lots of user-friendly applications Full-featured access point for the network control, e.g. for innovative NMS tasks, new virtualized network services, etc. This is where the SDN “programmability” promise kicks in 5

6. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens Northbound API Southbound API drv The concept of Network Operating System 6 drv Network Operating System kernel (SDN Controller with abstraction layer) App

7. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens Towards a SDN/NFV business ecosystem  SDN and NFV are not about reinventing network management / control and data plane software  It is more about leveraging on open interfaces, common network control frameworks (SDN controller), functions virtualization to build new network services and service models  This can really open to new business roles in the network software development market, esp. for SMEs  Network hardware (i.e. fabric) manufacturer  NOS kernel developer  Driver developer  App developer  Software integrator  System (sw + hw) integrator 7

8. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens drv A new value-chain from SDN 8 drv NOS App NOS From a Vertical value-chainTo a more Horizontal value-chain

9. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens [Q1] What is in NFV and SDN for SMEs?  SDN offer today can be anything vendors just have  Sometimes an API to equipment  Sometimes a series of scripts or macros in the operating system that auto- magically execute commands (via YANG, NETCONF)  But, SDN & NFV ultimate promise is more about  Automation, i.e. intelligence, not scripts nor dumb APIs  Programmability, i.e. no CLI, rather REST API  Open interfaces, i.e. different possible views to different user profiles  Open source, i.e. move the value on the Apps & customization more than the OS internals  This “SDNv2.0” adheres more to the initial concept and can really open to new business roles for SMEs  Softwarized network functions on top of whiter and whiter network boxes  User-/Operator-driven network functions using open network interfaces 9

10. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens [Q2] What is the benefit for an SME to be active in NFV and SDN standardization?  SDN & NFV have their hype today, but consolidated specifications are still to come ([open] interfaces, detailed architecture, etc.)  Standards here are still a intricate jungle… difficult to predict where things will converge  It’s not as easy as in the past… sitting down and waiting for the architecture and protocols specs to be released, and to understand which of the standards is the “right one to master and to implement”  E.g. ATM, PNNI, MPLS, GMPLS  We need to stand closer to the window, and watch things evolve, reach consensus or just disappear in disagreement. Have ideas and predictions on what “SDN item” we should learn, get familiar with, implement  Use-cases and propositions related to innovative ideas and products are well received in NFV & SDN SDOs  SMEs can be promoters of such ideas in these SDOs and also be among the early adopters/implementers of them  Still, a benefit is also in sitting together with big Telcos (operators, ISPs), helping them to shape up their visions on SDN (more open field that in the past) and create business opportunities from this 10

11. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens [Q3] How can research help?  SDN is evolving very fast, much faster than other architectures and protocols in the past  But it’s a far west of architectures and protocols… approximately anything can be defined as SDN & most of legacy network control could fit in SDN  Still very light and not-normative standards  Research is mostly about bright ideas and how to let the right software piece fit in the right place in the right overall picture  Therefore, research is key to validate SDN/NFV intuitions before any SDO can regulate it 11

12. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens [Q4] How can large scale test-beds, as made available by NRENs, help?  Networks are never small and simple… and validation in large scale virtual laboratories is key to consolidate SDN/NFV product ideas before engineering them into products  R&E networks as well as FIRE infrastructures have always pioneered new network technologies in the large-scale/continental networks  Because of the large capacity of the R&E infrastructures  Because of the less compelling need to capitalize on it and bill large user pools  SDN & NFV are perfect new technologies for trials  They build upon the softwarization and virtualization of network functions, i.e. it is an easy task to clone and replicate on large-scale test-beds  SDN & NFV put more control power in the hands of the network operator  Yet, it would be crucial to build these large scale test-beds beyond the R&E networks  R&E and Telco virtual labs can be used to validate SDN/NFV even larger, and with all the involved stakeholders  The impact and sustainability of any showcases can be unprecedented 12

13. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens But still many questions behind the corner…  Are there enough margins for all the stakeholders along the value chain?  Once the value chain is defined, what is the chain of responsibilities and reasonable SLAs in it?  E.g. 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd line of support: who provides what?  E.g. who’s liable when something goes wrong?  Is there a risk that the whole thing is much more complex for Telcos?  What is actually missing to package turnkey solutions? 13 network operator system integrator software integrator app developer NOS developer driver developer hardware manufacturer  Why should a dominant vendor go SDN?  Could it be that the whole value chain is mimicked internally, e.g. with spin-in companies?  Programmability: why should I be fancy of doing with SDN something that I could have done with predecessor architectures, and didn’t care to do?  e.g. bandwidth-on-demand, network optimization, etc.

14. Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary SessionMarch 18th 2014, Athens Thank you! Nicola Ciulli Head of Research & Development n.ciulli@nextworks.it info@nextworks.it www.nextworks.it HQ: via Livornese, 1027, 56122 Pisa (Italy) Tel: +39-050-3871600 Fax: +39-050-3871601 14