Issue link: https://hub.radisys.com/i/866445
SPONSORED CONTENT 4 June 2017 A FierceTelecom eBrief HOW SERVICES VIRTUALIZATION IS EATING THE WORLD Communications service providers (CSPs) are accelerating their deployment of Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) in order to efficiently deliver network services including mobile video, IoT and 5G. In an NFV architecture, SDN is used to route these traffic packets from the network to the appropriate virtualized network functions (VNFs). However, simple packet classification and forwarding is not enough. CSPs must deploy powerful switches for open SDN control with additional features facilitating NFV interoperability – they need an open SDN switch on steroids. FlowEngine enables a large array of SDN and NFV scenarios with unique features designed to manage traffic flows and accelerate service innovations. ese features include: FLOW-BASED LOAD BALANCING Flow-based load balancing is required when the VNFs in a data center scale out dynamically. FlowEngine can be provisioned to control multiple IP-based flows, and distributed the traffic to VNFs based on certain criteria. e criteria includes the source of the packets, IP ranges, transport protocol, destination IP subnet and the availability status of the destination servers. POLICY CONTROL AND COMPLIANCE FlowEngine brings together switching, load balancing and routing functionality under open SDN policy control. VNFs are usually designed to handle multiple VxLAN (Virtual extensible LAN), and each VxLAN needs to adhere to specific policies to provide carrier and government compliance. FlowEngine ensures that specific policies are dynamically implemented on a per VxLAN basis through open APIs. TRAFFIC SHAPING NFV services may require traffic shaping and bandwidth control based on application policies. rough programmable APIs, SDN controllers and conventional control planes including Netconf and REST APIs can dynamically configure FlowEngine to define traffic shaping rules on a flow-by-flow basis. NETWORK SERVICE CHAINING One of the central use cases of SDN and NFV is the ability to chain network services. FlowEngine enables Service Function Chaining (SFC) functionality based on open Network Service Header (NSH) standards for distribution of traffic flows through a programmable sequence of VNFs. Some examples of service chain components include firewall services, SDN-WAN, bandwidth throttling, and DPI/LI services that may need to be sequenced for specific IP flows. DATA PLANE DISAGGREGATION One of the benefits of SDN technologies, as implemented by Central Office Re-Architected as a Datacenter (CORD) and ONOS (Open Networking Operating System), is the simplification provided by the disaggregation of control plane elements from the data plane. FlowEngine is built on a flexible architecture which accelerates and manages the data plane though multiple network processing units (NPU). is disaggregated data plane architecture is increasingly important for communications service providers that wish to adopt Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), as well as pave the way for 5G network deployments. SDN AND NFV SECURITY FlowEngine also enables SDN and NFV security including IPSec offload, ACLs and Network TAP. Radisys' FlowEngine is being deployed by tier-one service providers, including Verizon, and is designed to operate in both data center and carrier environments that demand high network throughput, scalability and guaranteed performance. For more information, visit www.Radisys.com/FlowEngine. RADISYS' FLOWENGINE: AN OPEN CARRIER GRADE SDN SWITCH ON STEROIDS