eBooks

The double promise is tantalising: reduced opex brought about by more efficient network operations and increased revenues via the ability to introduce services more rapidly. Meeting this promise requires the virtualization of existing applications but also integration with the orchestration, control and management engines currently being defined within SDN and NFV groups. Accordingly, vendors have moved to introduce technology that positions them as leaders in NFV, and as such have tended to focus on what is considered the more "achievable" NFV objective – those functions in the control plane that lend themselves well to the dynamic resource allocation that NFV brings. This has tended to ignore the challenges for large scale data plane deployments as part of an NFV rollout – and it is that challenge that this eBook addresses. Operators must be convinced that standard hardware platforms, proposed precisely because they are not telco-specific platforms, can also be carrier grade. It is this seeming paradox, the conflict between the requirement for standard IT platforms for NFV whilst retaining carrier grade operation, especially in the data plane, that gives this eBook its title. At Radisys we think that if solutions are built upon platforms that allow for high capacity, flexible resource allocation and management, then large scale data plane functions can be included in the drive to NFV – to the benefit of all. Sponsors INTRODUCTION By Karl Wale, Director of Product Line Management, Radisys There has, rightly, been a great deal of attention paid to the benefits that Software Defined Networks and Network Functions Virtualization can bring to operators. Hi!

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