Challenges faced by Carrier Networks in SDN (i)

Challenges faced by Carrier Networks in SDN (i)

Babak Samimi

       A software-defined network that separates the data plane, the control plane, and the management plane (SDN) Improved theOPEXandCAPEX, and it makes it possible to centralize the deployment and management of network resources--SDNThese strengths are well known. BecauseSDNThe centralization of network resources creates a platform that is easy to manage, self-motivated, and highly flexible, allowing operators to allocate resources on demand and define the right business in real time as changes in the content of the Web are added or used. However, on the carrier network, the implementationSDNthe biggest obstacle is that the immediateSDNstandards (including the industry's favoriteOpenFlowHas not yet covered the definition of carrier-grade functionality.

OpenFlowis faced with a virgin land without cultivation. Prior to this, the entire industry would have ethernet fromLANtransformed into aWAN, the carrier-grade Ethernet is realized. To allow operators to acceptOpenFlow, it must also undergo a similar transformation to become a "carrier-grade" technology. In order to achieve this goal, the need forOpenFlowThe standard carries out several extensions, for example, traffic processing, multipleOAM(Ethernet,MPLS,BFD, etc.), less than50mshigh-speed heavy-route protection switching, timing and synchronization,L2/l3vpnand detailed statistical data collection and so on.

we are in the industry, such changes are often very exciting, it will promote the overall industry cooperation, leading to the creation and innovation of the outbreak, and finally to the global telecommunications network to achieve the carrier-class Sdn/openflow .

Although the industry's enthusiasm for this network innovation is high and the potential demand is huge, it is clear that the entire ecosystem and supply chain are not ready for the necessary, so the current situation is a dilemma. In an environment that is ready to evolve as standards evolve, how can talent maintain the industry's spirit of innovation while minimizing the risk of R & R investment at the same time? Since the ultimate goal is to achieve a software-controlled network, it is best to start with a flexible, programmable data channel hardware architecture that can be updated later by software. This strategy allows operators to begin system deployment at the end of the standard, and perhaps add new functionality with software updates as requirements and implementation patterns evolve.

in the next blog post, mpls-tp OAM and other new features required to implement carrier-class SDN are described.

Challenges faced by Carrier Networks in SDN (i)