NFV Checklist. Designing Agile, Scalable Networks for Carrier-Grade Performance

NFV Checklist Designing Agile, Scalable Networks for Carrier-Grade Performance

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 2 Contents NFV Checklist Introduction...3 1. Horizontal Scaling In or Out...3 2. Vertical Scaling Up or Down...4 3. Hypervisor-Agnostic...4 4. Interoperability...5 5. Multi-Tenancy...5 6. In-Service Upgrades...6 7. Pooling...6 8. Cloud Automation...7 NFV Checklist Summary...7 About Amdocs Virtualized Control Plane Solutions...8

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 3 Introduction NFV Checklist Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is transforming the way service providers plan, orchestrate and manage their mobile networks. Adapted from standard IT technology, NFV s softwarecentric approach offers a number of advantages over traditional architectures for increasing scalability and service agility. In the NFV Checklist, we review eight key considerations for gaining the maximum benefits of virtualization to create more agile, dynamic networks without compromising carrier-grade performance. 11. Horizontal Scaling In or Out NFV applications can be designed to scale elastically on demand in or out based on traffic eliminating the need for expensive over-provisioning. But to rapidly add capacity for any virtualized network function (VNF), it needs to be easily replicated. dynamically specify configuration and capacity? Modify or configure VNFs to adapt to the changing performance requirements of the network. Modular architecture increases flexibility in deployment size. leverage multi-application instantiation? Increase system agility by quickly adding network elements such as instances using multi-application, template-driven instantiation for VNFs for use as is or with new configuration and performance parameters. FIGUE 2: TEMPLATE-DIVEN INSTANTIATION TEMPLATE 15K TPS 12M SUBS POLICY ULES: A&D 1 15K TPS 12M SUBS POLICY ULES: A&D create a clone of the virtual machine Policy and Charging ules Function (), Home Subscriber Server (), Diameter outing Agent (), etc. and duplicate it? The clone has to contain all the configurations for that VNF to work as expected in the network. FIGUE 1: CLONING AND DYNAMIC ALLOCATION 1-10K TPS Clone 2-10K TPS Dynamic Allocation 3-5K TPS - 10M SUBS - 10M SUBS - 8M SUBS A B C D A B C D B & C

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 4 22. Vertical Scaling Up or Down Adding, replacing or removing instances in an existing virtual machine (VM) cluster provides vertical scalability with lower reconfiguration latency than horizontal scaling. Scaling up or down avoids concurrency limitations and leverages the full processing power of the VM. 33. Hypervisor-Agnostic To capitalize on the scalability advantages inherent in virtualization, service providers need to be able to select hypervisors that best fit their network and performance requirements and scale those hypervisors easily to add new services. expand each appliance capacity by adding resources? Add resources to an existing VM CPU, memory, IO, etc. replace a smaller node with a larger one without downtime? Bring up a new VM with higher specifications, add it into a cluster and remove a smaller node safely without service degradation. enable process failover for VM clusters? Add multiple instances of a resource on a single VM if one instance goes offline, the other instances will continue to process requests. run on widely deployed hypervisors, such as VMware, KVM and Oracle? Optimize system performance by selecting the best hypervisor for each application resource. ensure portability across different environments? Provide the capability to load, execute and move VNFs across different but standard multi-vendor environments. deploy in any network functions virtualization infrastructure (NFVI)? Fit into any hypervisor or cloud management system, such as open stack or vcloud, independent of underlying VM technology. FIGUE 3: VETICAL SCALING: ADDING A LAGE NODE WITH HIGHE CAPACITY A - 5K TPS - 5M SUBS A&B A - 10K TPS - 8M SUBS A&B SDB Expand capacity vertically by adding a larger node to a VM cluster and removing a smaller one without service downtime or performance degradation.

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 5 44. Interoperability Gating issues are inherent in disparate, third-party systems often creating performance lags for distributed network systems. If you have a VNF manager that runs as a mini-orchestration system, it s possible to increase the efficiency of the interacting elements. Does your system: FIGUE 5: LEVEAGE MULTI-TENANCY WITH CALL MODEL CUSTOMIZATION MULTI-TENANCY CS VoLTE integrate into mixed vendor ecosystems? Create a holistic end-to-end solution with interoperable components that work seamlessly in the network. work efficiently with other third-party orchestrators? Design systems so that the Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) can talk to the VNF manager for any third-party application. EGION 1 EGION 2 EGION 3 EGION 4 run virtualized and bare metal implementation as part of your deployment? etain dedicated proprietary hardware for specific applications and deploy together with virtual appliances for optimized service agility with feature parity and no loss of functionality or performance. FIGUE 4: MIX BAE METAL AND NFV INSTANCES TO OPTIMIZE ESOUCES 5 5. Multi-Tenancy educe costs and optimize resources through multi-tenancy that can support call model customization for each tenant including hold time, number of subscribers on the network and complexity of the use case. BAE METAL POPIETAY HADWAE P C F H SS P C F H SS P C F D A P C F D A S P S S P P support multiple regions and enterprises? Gain the benefits of multi-tenancy from just one instance. mix large and small deployment sizes? Modular architecture makes it possible to scale down to very small applications or up effortlessly. maximize subscribers per blade? Scale up to support a large number of end users in applications such as LTE Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or voice over LTE (VoLTE) high-definition (HD) voice services. NFV VoLTE SEVICES DATA SEVICES VITUALIZED INFASTUCTUE COTS HADWAE

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 6 66. In-Service Upgrades Virtualization creates a new model for service agility by adding new applications to the network without downtime or affecting performance. run new voice services such as VoLTE hot in the network? Launch new applications without disrupting data services already running in the network. support appliance recovery? Quickly expand and recover from virtual machine failures. maintain throughput? Deliver high-performance package processing and quality of service as new applications are added. 77. Pooling Performance is not just about transactions per second (TPS) combining dedicated slices that are tuned for specific traffic models, such as VoLTE, makes high scale and rich context policies feasible. support call model customization? Customize hold time, number of subscribers on the network and complexity of the use case policy requirements to fit each application. provide known capacity per slice? Tune performance around how much you need now. FIGUE 6: POOLING SLICES TO ADD INCEMENTAL CAPACITY AND TUNE PEFOMANCE VITUALIZED INFASTUCTUE VoLTE SEVICES SP COTS HADWAE DATA SEVICES SP combine application slices? Deploy incremental capacity by adding dedicated slices.

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 7 88. Cloud Automation Automating network management in the cloud enables simplified operations and faster time to market for new services. With the optimal design service providers can also maximize system scalability and performance through a highly responsive automation platform that includes a virtualization layer, orchestration layer and an API for manipulating cloud resources. support local data centers and cloud-based NFV deployments? Increase the flexibility of your system with multiple deployment options inside a cloud data center or an automated orchestration system independent of a virtualized data plane. utilize a VNF manager? When the VNF manager knows how to configure and manage the underlying applications, the system can be designed to be agnostic of the network functions running inside it. use pre-defined thresholds to manage performance automatically? If there s a KPI threshold hit, the VNF manager can tell the orchestrator that the system needs a new or whatever other network resource is required. FIGUE 7: VNF MANAGE ACTING AS A MINI-OCHESTATO UNNING VNF (OCF,,, ETC.) VNF manager translates this request to I need X amount of CPU, X amount of capacity, extra ports, etc. NFV Checklist Summary NFV creates a new paradigm for service innovation. By abstracting software such as control-plane applications including policy servers and subscriber databases VM environments on COTS hardware, service providers can rapidly introduce new services based on business models and not hardware complexity. Well-designed systems that can scale elastically and support a high level of customization without sacrificing carrier-grade performance will be critical to preparing mobile networks for future workloads, greater service differentiation and automation. 3 D PATY OCHESTATION VNF MANAGE 3 rd party orchestrator talks to VNF manager. Order a new with X capacity and Y use cases

NFV CHECKLIST: DESIGNING AGILE, SCALABLE NETWOKS FO CAIE-GADE PEFOMANCE 8 About Amdocs Virtualized Control Plane Solutions Modular, virtualized control plane technology from Amdocs enables service providers to achieve faster time to market for new services with higher elasticity for performance and scalability. The virtualized environment is characterized by distributed software architecture, self-contained application clusters with no scale limitations and independence from centralized session/state storage. Amdocs leads the industry with future-ready virtualization technologies and strategic investments in NFV and SDN. Amdocs virtualized network control solutions enhance service velocity and agility, allowing for the rapid introduction of innovative new services that can be targeted for specific subscribers and geographies, including dynamic quality of service (QoS) on demand. Virtualized solutions offer multinetwork support and extensive interoperability with network elements, enabling ease of deployment in mixed vendor heterogeneous network (HetNet) environments. FIGUE 8: AMDOCS VITUALIZED CONTOL PLANE SOLUTIONS SP OSS/BSS CDMA/EVDO OSS/BSS GSM/HSPA SUBSCIBE DATA BOKE WI-FI CONTOL SEVICE CONTOLLE HOME SUBSCIBE SEVE INTELLIGENT OUTING CONTOLLE POLICY CONTOLLE/ LTE FIXED DATA PDSN, GGSN DPI PD GATEWAYS

About Amdocs For more than 30 years, Amdocs has ensured service providers success and embraced their biggest challenges. To win in the connected world, service providers rely on Amdocs to simplify the customer experience, harness the data explosion, stay ahead with new services and improve operational efficiency. The global company uniquely combines a marketleading BSS, OSS and network control and optimization product portfolio with value-driven professional services and managed services operations. With revenue of $3.3 billion in fiscal 2013, Amdocs and its more than 22,000 employees serve customers in over 80 countries. Amdocs: Embrace Challenge, Experience Success. For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com. For the most up-to-date contact information for all Amdocs offices worldwide, please visit our website at www.amdocs.com/corporate.asp Copyright 2014 Amdocs. All ights eserved. eproduction or distribution other than for intended purposes is prohibited, without the prior written consent of Amdocs. Amdocs owns or has rights to use trademarks or trade names in conjunction with the sale of our products and services, including, without limitation, each of the following: Amdocs, Bridgewater Systems, ChangingWorlds, Clarify, Cramer, CES, Collabrent, DST Innovis, Ensemble, Enabler, Intelecable, Intentional Customer Experience, Jacobsimell, jnetx, MX Telecom, OpenMarket, Qpass, SigValue, Streamezzo, Stibo Graphic Software, Xacct, Aging in Place, Embrace Challenge, Experience Success, and Quality Consumption.