White Paper BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect Unblocking the Cloud Connectivity Bottleneck
2 BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect Contents Executive Summary... 2 Cloud Connectivity Challenges.... 3 BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect Redefines Cloud Networking... 5 Delivering on Packet Integration.... 6 Delivering on the Promise of SDN and NFV.... 6 BTI pronx Management and Control Software... 7 BTI 7800 Series Platform.... 7 BTI Applications Module.... 7 BTI Dynamic Optical Layer... 7 Summary.... 8 Executive Summary Businesses and consumers are increasingly turning to the cloud for a vast array of applications and services. Cloud computing redefines the way applications are implemented and executed, and introduces complex network engineering and capacity planning challenges for content, cloud and service providers. Conventional networking solutions based on legacy optical, switching, and routing equipment are too costly for the cloud. BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect is the first cloud connectivity platform specifically designed for today s highly virtualized and elastic service environments. This white paper reviews cloud-networking implications and explains how BTI s Intelligent Cloud Connect platform enables content providers, cloud providers, and service providers to create highly programmable network fabrics that meet the stringent performance, scale, and service innovation demands of the cloud, with breakthrough economics.
BTI White Paper 3 Cloud Connectivity Challenges The cloud is fundamentally transforming the way applications are delivered and consumed, and is dramatically impacting the way networks are designed and managed. In the business world, organizations are migrating to on demand, cloudbased services to improve business agility and contain costs. In the consumer world, users are flocking to the cloud for a wide variety of applications and entertainment services from social media and gaming; to music and video streaming; to content sharing, storage, and backup. The cloud introduces significant capacity planning and traffic engineering challenges. By 2016 nearly two-thirds of all workloads will be processed in the cloud, and nearly two-thirds of all data center traffic will be cloud-based 1. Server and desktop virtualization solutions, clustered computing 2, and Web application architectures dramatically alter traffic flows and volumes both inside and outside the data center. A new breed of networking solutions is required to meet the increased performance, scalability, and service innovation demands of the cloud. Until now most of the focus has been on addressing networking issues within the data center. In recent years established and upstart network equipment vendors have introduced new products to provide high bandwidth, low latency, machineto-machine connectivity for workload mobility 3, clustered computing, and other virtualized applications and services. By consolidating equipment and collapsing network layers, these solutions are intended to address the growing east-west server-to-server traffic inside the data center. (See Figure 1) Figure 1: Most next-gen cloud networking solutions focus on intra-data center traffic Peering Points Partners User East-West Traffic Data Center 1 East-West Traffic Data Center N Cloud Provider 1 Cisco Global Cloud Index, Cisco 2012 2 Cluster computing distributing computation across a collection of machines is gaining popularity for Big Data analytics and other high performance computing functions 3 Workload mobility refers to the process of moving a live Virtual Machine (VM) from one host to another using a tool such as VMware VMotion.
4 BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect Far less attention has been paid to traffic traveling outside the data center. Yet nearly a quarter of all cloud traffic flows in and out of the data center (inter-data center) to peering points, partners, and end-users, as well as to other data centers. (See Figure 2). And that traffic is projected to grow at a staggering compound annual growth rate of over 30% from 2011 to 2016 1. Providers must upgrade their WAN and MAN infrastructure to support massive traffic growth. Figure 2: Nearly 25% of all cloud traffic flows outside the data center Peering Points Partners User Content Distribution Hosted Applications Data Center 1 Workload Mobility Data Replication Data Center N Cloud Provider Legacy networking solutions designed to support traditional enterprise applications and data transport services are too costly, complex, and inflexible for today s dynamic cloud environments. Contemporary networks are built upon separate layers of discrete switching, routing, and optical networking elements that support specific protocols and functions, and offer limited programmability. Most networks are statically configured to support peak traffic demands an inefficient and expensive approach that squanders bandwidth. Re-provisioning the network is a manually intensive, error-prone process, involving multiple devices and administrative interfaces. Expanding network capacity means adding more switches and routers, and increasing operational expense and complexity. A new generation of more efficient and flexible data center networking solutions is required to meet the increased performance, scalability, and service innovation demands of the cloud. (See Figure 3). Figure 3: Conventional data center connectivity solutions are too costly and rigid for today s dynamic service environments Peering Points / Private Peering Points / Private Access Network Partners Access Network Partners 10/100GxN Routers Optical Optical Limited Scale, Low Latency Switches High Cost & Complexity Inefficient Utilization Multi-Points of Failure App Servers App App App App App App Data Center 1 Data Center N
BTI White Paper 5 BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect Redefines Cloud Networking BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect is the first open networking platform for inter-data center connectivity specifically engineered from the ground up to meet the stringent price-performance, scalability, and service innovation demands of the cloud. The solution combines the intelligence and flexibility of routing, with the capacity and scale of optical, bolstered by the efficiencies and extensibility of applications integration. It enables providers to increase cloud connectivity performance quadrupling capacity and scale, reducing latency by 50%, and increasing network applications performance by as much as 10 times while significantly improving operational efficiency and service innovation compared to legacy solutions. (See Figure 4). Purposely designed for today s highly distributed and dynamic cloud infrastructure, BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect delivers: > > Ultimate performance Large scale capacity, low-latency, and fully optimized utilization for bandwidth intensive, delay-sensitive traffic; > > Improved economics Lower OPEX and CAPEX, with fewer devices, centralized management and control, as well as reduced power, cooling, and rack space requirements; > > Service innovation Embedded intelligence and analytics with open northbound APIs enables rapid services innovation with new applications delivered in software time ; supports customer-developed applications as well as Network Function Virtualization (NFV) applications from BTI or best-of-breed third-party partners such as security, analytics, service assurance and application optimization. The BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect solution includes software-based L2+ switching systems with integrated optics, centralized management and control software with open APIs, and wide-ranging network applications from BTI and BTI solution partners. Peering Points / Private App App App Peering Points / Private Access Network Partners Intelligent Cloud Connect Management/Control Software Access Network Partners Intelligent Cloud Connect 10GxN 100GxN Intelligent Cloud Connect App App App App App App Data Center 1 High Performance & Scale Reduced OPEX & CAPEX Fully Optimized Resources Service Innovation Data Center N Figure 4: BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect revolutionizes cloud data center connectivity
6 BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect Delivering on Packet Integration Today s cloud networks are based on separate routing and optical networking layers that are independently configured and managed. They rely on costly IP routers to route both client-server traffic and inter-data center traffic. New networking architectures are required to meet the increased performance, scalability, and cost requirements of the cloud. Providers are pursuing converged network designs to improve performance, increase service agility, and contain equipment and operating expenses. By converging packet and optical layers, employing efficient MPLS label switch routing (LSR) to route transit traffic, and using layer 3 routers solely for gateway functionality, providers can support delay sensitive, bandwidth-intensive traffic flows with less cost and complexity. To simplify traffic engineering, most forward-looking providers prefer a converged network architecture that incorporates a dynamic LSR layer on top of a statically-provisioned optical layer. BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect enables highly scalable and flexible optical networks that can be easily adapted in real-time to address evolving application requirements. Providers can engineer high-capacity metro or regional optical networks that can be dynamically tuned by simply re-provisioning LSR bandwidth. Delivering on the Promise of SDN and NFV BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect is based on an open Software-Defined Networking (SDN) framework that enables highly adaptable and programmable networks that are better suited for today s virtualized and elastic service environments. The platform features a standards-based application operating environment, with open APIs for instantiating applications and executing advanced analytics directly in the network. The solution fits with emerging Network Function Virtualization (NFV) models, allowing strategic network functions to be executed within industry-standard operating environments. BTI will offer a variety of best-of-breed network applications (e.g. DDoS, DPI, WAN acceleration, firewall, load balancing) from leading vendors. Providers can leverage analytics as well as BTI applications, third party applications and design custom applications to programmatically monitor network conditions, automatically provision network resources and attributes, and influence traffic flows in real-time to optimize performance. They can also enforce security policies and enable differentiated services. By embedding analytics and application awareness directly into the network, providers Figure 5: An NFV open networking platform CSP, SP & Enterprise Applications Traffic Steering, Security - Anomaly, CALEA, Network Optimization, Sleep/Exception modes Third Party Applications DDoS, DPI, Load Balancing, Cloud Security BTI Applications Network Analytics: Performance Monitor SLA Compliance SDN Controllers BTI is agnostic OpenFlow Benefits: Analytics, security, application and service assurance in Software Time Service instantiation from anywhere, service scalability Creates new sources of revenue Intelligent Cloud Connect NFV-enabled multi-layer open networking platform
BTI White Paper 7 can accelerate the pace of innovation and improve service velocity and agility while containing CAPEX and OPEX. The software-centric approach enables providers to quickly monetize assets, accelerate time-to-market, and boost revenues and margins. (See Figure 5). BTI pronx Management and Control Software The BTI pronx Management and Control Software provides centralized intelligence and control for BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect platforms. The Management and Control Software features an extensive Web Services API that streamlines integration with Operations Support Systems (OSSs) and Business Support Systems (BSSs) or other external applications, by providing an abstraction layer that shields programmers from the details of the underlying networking infrastructure. By acting as a centralized management and control layer, the software makes it easy for external applications to provision resources and orchestrate services that span devices and geographies. With the management and control software, providers can leverage automated SDN programs to dynamically turn-up services or expand network capacity to address changing application requirements or business needs in real-time. BTI 7800 Series Platform The BTI 7800 Series platform is a software-rich, high performance, high-density L2+ networking system purposely designed for cloud connectivity. The open platform integrates high-capacity optical switching with MPLS label switch routing to meet the massive scalability requirements of the cloud at a fraction of the cost of alternative networking solutions. Unlike expensive full-fledged L3 routers that are engineered to support resource-intensive core routing protocols such as BGP, the BTI 7800 Series platform is implemented as a pure label switch router that is optimized for cloud connectivity applications. By designing a new system from the ground up, excluding unnecessary core route processing and look-up overhead, BTI was able to achieve significant cost advantages over legacy systems. In addition, by delivering optical and L2+ switching capabilities in a single platform, with unified management and control, the BTI 7800 Series platform enables providers to consolidate equipment and network layers, simplify administration, and contain operating expenses. BTI Applications Module The BTI Applications Module is an optional module for the BTI 7800 Series platform. It is a compact, high performance, selfcontained operating environment for hosting BTI, third-party, and custom applications. The BTI Applications Module has its own processors, storage, and memory, which operate independently and don t impair L2+ networking performance. The module provides a standards-based, open application NFV operating environment as well as open APIs that allow BTI partners, ISVs, or customers to streamline development and accelerate time-to-market for network applications. The BTI Applications Module provides programmatic access to the LSR data plane enabling the instantiation of advanced L4-7 applications deep in the network. Third-party applications can inspect packets, execute analytics, and control traffic flows directly in the network for data mining, WAN or application optimization, traffic steering, security, capacity planning, policy management, service orchestration or other functions. BTI Dynamic Optical Layer The BTI Dynamic Optical Layer provides reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexing, reach extension, and end-to-end serviceand path-centric management for inter-data center connectivity applications. An integrated component of the BTI 7000 Series packet optical platform, the BTI Dynamic Optical Layer enables unified provisioning, simplifies planning, and optimizes performance and power consumption across the entire network.
The Dynamic Optical Layer consists of ROADM-on-a-Blade (ROB) modules for flexible, point-and-click wavelength routing, and DWDM Line Amplifier (DLA) modules for reach extension in an extremely compact form factor. The common control system, integrated on ROB and DLA modules, enables plugand-play operation to simplify the planning, deployment, service provisioning, ongoing optimization, and power management of the network. These elements combine, as the system-oriented foundation of a packet optical service delivery network, to support a full-96 wavelength (960 Gbps) system capacity and offers any-wavelength anywhere add/drop access, automated network equalization, and per-channel performance monitoring metrics. Summary Cloud computing is revolutionizing information technology and introducing a variety of capacity planning and network engineering challenges for service providers. Legacy networks built using separate layers of autonomous switching and routing equipment can t meet the agility and price-performance requirements of the cloud. BTI s Intelligent Cloud Connect platform is the first inter-data center connectivity solution specifically designed from square one for today s highly distributed and dynamic cloud service environments. By combining the intelligence and flexibility of routing, the capacity and scale of optical networking, the analytics and flow optimization of applications networking, and the extensibility and efficiency of an SDN architecture, the BTI Intelligent Cloud Connect platform enables service providers and content providers to create highly programmable cloud network fabrics that deliver breakthrough performance and economics. BTI s Intelligent Cloud Connect platform: the industry s most scalable, cost-effective, and extensible cloud connectivity solution. 2013-BTI-WP0173.2 BTI Systems Inc. Corporate Headquarters 1000 Innovation Drive, Suite 200 Ottawa, Ontario K2K 3E7 Canada US Headquarters One Monarch Drive, Suite 105 Littleton, MA 01460 USA BTI is a registered trademark of BTI Systems Inc. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. Specifications subject to change without notice. 2013 BTI Systems Inc. and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All rights reserved.