1. It Ain’t Carrier-Grade Cloud_
The NFV Way:
It Ain’t Carrier-Grade Cloud_
Diego R. Lopez
Telefónica I+D
March 2014

2. VIRTUAL NETWORK FUNCTIONS
The NFV Concept
Network functions are fully defined by SW, minimising dependence on HW constraints
VIRTUAL NETWORK FUNCTIONS
DPI
CG-NAT
GGSN/ SGSN
FUNCTION
BRAS
Firewall
PE Router
COMMON HW (Servers & Switches)
CAPACITY

3. NFV-based Target Service Provider Network
The target is a simplified, less expensive service provider network
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
From hardware-based networks to software defined, virtualized ones
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

4. The NFV Framework NFV Infrastructure E2E Network Service Compute
End Point
E2E Network Service
Compute
Storage
Network
HW Resources
Virtualization Layer
Virtualization SW
Virtual
Virtual Resources
Logical Abstractions
Network Service
VNF
Logical Links
VNF Instances
SW Instances
VNF : Virtualized Network Function

5. The NFV Reference Architecture
Computing
Hardware
Storage
Network
Hardware resources
Virtualisation Layer
Virtualised
Infrastructure
Manager(s)
VNF
VNF 2
OSS/BSS
NFVI
VNF 3
VNF 1
Execution reference points
Main NFV reference points
Other reference points
Virtual Computing
Virtual Storage
Virtual Network
EMS 2
EMS 3
EMS 1
Service, VNF and Infrastructure Description
Or-Vi
Or-Vnfm
Vi-Vnfm
Os-Ma
Se-Ma
Ve-Vnfm
Nf-Vi
Vn-Nf
Vl-Ha
Orchestrator

6. It Ain’t Cloud Applied to Carriers
The network differs from the computing environment in 2 key factors… 1
Data plane workloads
(which are huge!)
HIGH PRESSURE ON PERFORMANCE 2
GLOBAL NETWORK VIEW IS REQUIRED FOR MANAGEMENT
Network requires shape (+ E2E interconnection)
…which are big challenges for vanilla cloud computing.
AN ADAPTED VIRTUALISATION ENVIRONMENT IS NEEDED TO OBTAIN CARRIER-CLASS BEHAVIOUR

7. Cloud Computing vs NFV CLOUD COMPUTING NFV 1. PERFORMANCE BOUND TO CPU
1. PERFORMANCE BOUND TO I/O & MEMORY ACCESS
2. AGGREGATED VIEW OF RESOURCES (CPU, memory, etc.)
2. NUMA VIEW
Internal architecture is relevant for guests
3. ENDPOINTS
Applications need the OS
3. MIDDLEPOINTS
Data-plane network functions bypass the OS
4. NODE-CENTRIC
Shapeless interconnection
4. NETWORK-CENTRIC
The network has a shape
5. MANY AND SMALL VMs
5. FEW AND LARGE VMs

8. Redesigning Network Segments
Distributed Data Plane
Centralized Control Plane
LOCAL PoPs v v
REGIONAL DATA CENTRES
Service Domain
CDN
Video
SDP
CSFB
NGIN
P-CSCF
Security
IMS
SRVCC
M/SMSC
Network Domain
EPC
BRAS PE
DHCP
PCRF
DPI
CG-NAT
GGSN
DNS
UDB
HW and SW decoupling
HW and SW decoupling
Infrastructure
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

9. With the Proper Balance between NFV & SDN
CONTROL
CG-NAT
POOL MGMT
BNG
SW-defined network functions
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
IPv4 / IPv6
Session mgmt
Pool admin
DHCP
UPnP
TR-069
NAT
NAT ctrl.
SDN
Interconnecting Virtual Network Functions (a.k.a. backplane)
Separation of control and data plane
Easy orchestration with SW domain

10. High and Predictable Performance is Achievable
80 Gbps per COTS blade
@Cloud VM
Bare
Metal
Acceptable performance
GAP
x10
@vPoP
EXECUTION
MANAGEMENT
What defensive Industry says
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)

11. NFV Current Targets: Virtual Residential CPE
Shifting network functions deployed in home environment to the network…
Telco Network environment FW
TR-069
NAT
UPnP
DHCP
IPv4/IPv6
STB
Home environment
Virtual
CPE
Access Point
Módem
Switch
Service evolution and operation is supported inside telco network
Monetize cloud and video services (virtual set top box)
Monetize security and digital identity features
Simple, stable along the time and cheaper customer premises equipment
Quick and transparent migration to IPv6
Live trial today
Commercial before end 2014
EXPLORE
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
MATURITY LEVEL

12. NFV Current Targets: Elastic DPI
CENTRALISED INTELLIGENCE
NFV
domain
Other data
Deeper
Network Big Data
RELEVANT INFO
REAL-TIME ANALYSIS
Metadata interface
xDRs
Security
Alarms
Copy
OpenFlow
SDN
domain
OF Switch
RAW USER TRAFFIC
OF Controller
POLICY DECISIONS
MITIGATION
RAW USER TRAFFIC
>80 Gbps line rate per server
Stable signatures
Flexible data analysis and signature upgrade
Forensic analysis feasible.
EXPLORE
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
MATURITY LEVEL

13. NFV Current Targets: SW BNG
QinQ termination
LPM Routing
GRE tunnelling (reference for wholesale services)
MPLS tunnelling
80 Gbps line rate switching per server
EXPLORE
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
MATURITY LEVEL

14. 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.
EXPLORE
PoC
TRIAL
DEPLOY
MATURITY LEVEL

15. 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
Plan for phased deployments
Interworking with existing infrastructure
Not breaking current operational practice
Take advantage of NFV advantages
Flexibility
Extensibility
Reusability
Soft-Node
DS vCPE

16. Thank you.