Nokia on Monday published what it said is the first complete templating system for Virtualized Network Function (VNF) lifecycle management, crafted to reduce the cost and time required to deploy multi-vendor NFV networks.
According to Nokia, the new open templating system will help streamline the VNF onboarding and integration process and automate VNF lifecycle management through its CloudBand Application Manager.
The templating system is based on European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s Network Functions Virtualization (IFA011 and IFA014) and Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) specifications and builds on OpenStack tools, the company said. It provides “key functionality” to service providers, including VNF definitions for better integration and added support of complex structures, and eliminates the need for customization when providing VNF information to a generic VNF Manager and NFV Orchestrator, Nokia said.
“One of the goals of NFV has been to foster an open ecosystem of VNF suppliers to give service providers maximum choice in the capabilities they integrate, and to offer subscribers the best available services,” Ron Haberman, head of Nokia’s CloudBand product unit, said. “By creating an open system that improves the management of VNFs, we aim to make it easier for service providers to quickly add new value-added services to differentiate their offerings, generate new revenue opportunities, and deliver better user experiences.”
Analysys Mason Principal Analyst Caroline Chappell said the new templating system will be an important resource for the industry as carriers transition to NFV.
“VNF onboarding is one of the major challenges the industry must solve to ensure the long-term success of NFV,” Chappell said. “This will require a standards-based approach that automates the onboarding process and minimizes its complexity. Publicly available guidelines that build upon ETSI NFV ISG and OASIS TOSCA work are an important resource for the market. They provide an exemplar for VNF onboarding that can help harmonize the fragmented vendor approaches we’ve seen so far.”
Filed Under: Infrastructure