Is It Time for Open Source SD-WAN?

The benefits of an open market may sound worthwhile — flexibility, speed, cost-saving, freedom, scalability, neutrality — but there are certain corners of the greater technology and software industry where openness has not quite reached, including SD-WAN. In recent months it seems that there are certainly components, use case, and even companies — flexiWAN joined the market in April with plans to build an open architecture for SD-WAN — arising as examples for open SD-WANs, but open source has yet to be adopted fully into the networking technology. And though in some ways it seems that open source is right around the corner, it could be further away than expected. There is even some debate as to whether SD-WAN needs open source, but it’s worth discussing how openness could help the technology.

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Nextivity

IntelliBoost uses digital signal-processing to enhance cellular performance in real-time and deliver unbeatable coverage for organizations, homes, and vehicles in over 100 countries. All Nextivity solutions are unconditionally network safe and are used by over 200 mobile network operators globally.

OTHER ARTICLES
Data Center Networking

Building Deterministic, Service-Based and Endogenous Security Networks in Data-Centric Way

Article | July 5, 2023

With continuous development and wide application of new-generation information technologies, digitalization, networkization, and intelligentization have become important directions of economic and social transformation and upgrade. The development and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) all depend on data. Thus, data has become a production factor and the basis of digital economy. Data in the digital era can be compared to petroleum in the industrial era. However, data is intangible and infinite, and there’s a HUGE amount of data being generated every minute. How to make good use of data to create value has become the key to success in the era of digital economy.

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5G

Impact of Widespread Implementation of 5G on Cloud Computing

Article | September 28, 2023

Introduction 5G is predicted to have a significant impact on how cloud computing operates in the future. It will undoubtedly revolutionize the communication and networking industry. In addition, it will have a significant impact on all other industries. Transmission speeds will be 10 times faster in 5G than in 4G. Apart from networking and communication industries, it will also revolutionize other healthcare, automotive, and many more. Commercial 5G smartphones are already in the market. A study report by Ericsson Mobility predicts that there will be one billion 5G subscriptions by 2023. It will account for about 20% of the mobile data traffic. 5G, with its features such as low latency performance and high speed, has all the capabilities of developing cloud computing and take to the next level. As a result, there will be an unpredictable positive impact of 5G on cloud computing, especially in the industries and sectors that use the latest technologies such as the Internet of Things, machine learning, and AI. It has already started redefining business networks. It is also expected to make tremendous, unpredictable progress and changes in how cloud computing and networks perform in storing, moving, and accessing data. It will be possible as 5G brings more technological applications to make digital transformations faster and more efficient for businesses. 5G Network- Advantages As said in the introduction, there are many advantages to 5G network. Some of them can be: Greater transmission speed Lower latency Higher capacity Compared to 4G, 5G has increased bandwidth. These features will change the way people work, live, and play in the future once the 5G network comes into play widely. How Will 5G Impact Cloud Computing? Undoubtedly 5G has the potential to redefine the future of cloud computing. It will transform edge computing. Let us look in detail at what impact 5G will bring in cloud computing. Mobile Cloud Applications to Become More Efficient and Widely Used Undoubtedly 5G has the potential to redefine the future of cloud computing. It will transform edge computing. Let us look in detail at what impact 5G will bring in cloud computing. Mobile Cloud Applications to Become More Efficient and Widely Used Organizations today widely use cloud-enabled applications for customer services as well as for their different operations. Once the widespread use of the 5G network starts, the mobile application will become more efficient and widely used. It will be reflected more in the industries such as healthcare and banking. Enabling Cloud Service Providers to Reach Customers Reliably and Easily 5G will make a machine to machine communication and larger computing possible. This will make accessing virtual machines via phones a common practice. Mobile users will get more features and options from cloud computing enterprises. Remote workers will access cloud services as hotspots will become faster and uninterrupted. Complete Transformation of Edge Computing The emergence of edge computing has solved the issues of unnecessary traffic on the cloud and latency. The need for edge computing became strong when internet penetration and IoT came into existence. Now, G5 will make edge computing grow, making it an essential thing. G5 will transform edge computing entirely and increase the demand for it. As a result, edge and 5G are becoming mutually reinforcing phenomena. 5G will work on edge computing to provide quick real-time data. This is because edge computing has the potential to provide low latency and higher bandwidth. Faster Streaming 5G network will surprise companies and entities with its fast data transfer capabilities. It will be ten times faster than the 4G network. It will facilitate storage and faster real-time streaming and thus productivity at its best. “If everything you touch has to go to a data center and back before you see the animation, you're going to notice. Working at the 5G Lab in a mobile edge cloud, all of a sudden, what we thought would be impossible can happen because the 5G network is so fast.” - Ian McLoughlin, LiquidSky Software founder, and CEO Work from any Location As 5G is ten times faster than 4G in transferring data due to its better connectivity, employees can work from any location. It will make remote work possible anywhere. Better Security Systems As technology is ever-evolving, hackers and online frauds come with advanced techniques to steal data. They hold the sensitive information of organizations and do unimaginable damage. Once 5G is rolled out widely, administrators will recognize such frauds in advance and prepare to mitigate such cyber-attacks. Summing up Cloud computing is undoubtedly going to have an impact on cloud computing. The connectivity of 5G is ten times faster than 4G. IT will help people connect to their workplaces from any location. Remote work will make it easier. Cloud mobile applications will become more efficient and reliable. The service providers will have a good relationship with customers as they will be providing prompt and reliable service in terms of connectivity. Joining together with other technologies such as edge computing, AI, ML, technology is expected to get into another level with the wide roll-out of 5G. Frequently Asked Questions How will 5G affect cloud computing? Cloud computing will have a complete transformation and improvement when 5G is rolled out widely. The 5G connectivity has the features such as cloud virtualization, Ultra-reliable low-latency communication, better latency, increased bandwidth, and more flexible cloud-based management. How is 5G going to impact lives? 5G is capable of controlling services remotely. In addition, 5G will enhance autonomous driving, personal communication, IoT, AI, and augmented reality. It will also change the way companies store, access, share and protect data. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "How will 5G affect cloud computing?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Cloud computing will have a complete transformation and improvement when 5G is rolled out widely. The 5G connectivity has the features such as cloud virtualization, Ultra-reliable low-latency communication, better latency, increased bandwidth, and more flexible cloud-based management." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "How is 5G going to impact lives?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "5G is capable of controlling services remotely. In addition, 5G will enhance autonomous driving, personal communication, IoT, AI, and augmented reality. It will also change the way companies store, access, share and protect data." } }] }

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Unified Communications, Network Security

FUTURE-PROOFING 5G ARCHITECTURE WITH OPEN-RAN

Article | July 10, 2023

The RAN (Radio Access Network) architecture for mobile networks includes a remote radio unit (RRU) located at the top of a cell tower, which communicates with a baseband unit (BBU) at the base of the tower. The hardware and communication interfaces are owned by a specific vendor, and its software-driven functionality is tightly coupled within the hardware. Traditionally, this has worked well for mobile network operators (MNOs). However, there are several drawbacks to consider – for instance, upgrading or changing the wireless network demands physical hardware replacements throughout the network, which is cost-inefficient, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Furthermore, the equipment and interfaces that connect the hardware are owned by the vendors that originally supplied them, which locks MNOs into existing relationships with them.

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RAN Management and Orchestration Is Central to Operators Gaining Control Over Their Own Networks

Article | July 6, 2021

The promise of Open vRAN is to give back to mobile operators some form of control over their networks. The “open” refers to the opening of RAN interfaces. It is critical because it gives operators the possibility to buy the radio unit and the baseband unit from different vendors, rather than having to buy an integrated system, and therefore helps them diversify their suppliers and reduce their dependence on traditional vendors. The “v” refers to virtual. Virtualization is about disaggregating hardware and software and enabling the use of commercial off-the-shelf servers, instead of the usual purpose-built hardware, to run network functions in order to increase flexibility and reduce costs. Across Asia-Pacific, the announcements and activities from operators including Airtel, Axiata, NTT Docomo, Rakuten Mobile, Smartfren and Telkomsel indicate a growing appetite for open and virtualized radio access networks. In countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, open RAN can for example help to address the challenges of remote connectivity and to deploy a network in places where it has been traditionally difficult to achieve a satisfactory return on investment.

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Spotlight

Nextivity

IntelliBoost uses digital signal-processing to enhance cellular performance in real-time and deliver unbeatable coverage for organizations, homes, and vehicles in over 100 countries. All Nextivity solutions are unconditionally network safe and are used by over 200 mobile network operators globally.

Related News

Cisco ties its security/SD-WAN gear with Teridion’s cloud WAN service

Network World | May 23, 2019

Cisco and Teridion have tied the knot to deliver faster enterprise software-defined WAN services. The agreement links Cisco Meraki MX Security/SD-WAN appliances and its Auto VPN technology which lets users quickly bring up and configure secure sessions between branches and data centers with Teridion’s cloud-based WAN service. Teridion’s service promises customers better performance and control over traffic running from remote offices over the public internet to the data center. The service features what Teridion calls “Curated Routing” which fuses WAN acceleration techniques with route optimization to speed traffic. For example, Teridion says its WAN service can accelerate TCP-based applications like file transfers, backups and page loads, by as much as three to five times.

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Tempering Open Source Expectations in 5G

SDxCentral | May 23, 2019

5G presents network operators with a new framework that lends itself to open source technologies that can play an important and defining role in how services are architected, maintained, and operated. While open source is making an impact on the software layer of 5G networks, the vision for open source networking is much more grandiose. Open source’s ultimate impact on 5G will likely fall somewhere in the middle — heralding new ways for operators to piece together networks and services, but well short of the utopian, completely disaggregated future some have envisioned. Operators have long complained about the lack of choice and vendor lock-in that results from having a small group of entrenched vendors to buy equipment and networking services. Open source will change that dynamic in small areas of the radio access network (RAN), but its mark will be much greater in the services layer or what many call the “softwarization” of the network — service orchestration, automation, network slicing, and mobile edge computing.

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On 5G wireless: Key technological, economic, and security questions

Publication | May 24, 2019

AEI colleague Shane Tews will host a public event analyzing the future of 5G wireless and related technological, economic, and security implications. Over the past two weeks, a cascade of events has made this discussion extremely timely — not least the US decision to ban sales of equipment to Huawei, the Chinese telecoms company that dominates competition for 5G backbone technology. Many observers have labeled this action as the opening gun of a larger, protracted war for future technological supremacy. The rollout and sweeping economic advances associated with 5G will be central to determining the outcome of this competition. Here are some questions for the experts taking part in the event to answer or puzzle over. In banning the use of 5G backbone equipment from Huawei, how confident is the Trump administration that Ericsson and Nokia can fill the gap expeditiously, and with equipment that matches Huawei in technological sophistication and cost? Further, has the administration any plans to boost the fortunes and competitiveness of Ericsson or Nokia? And is 5G nationalization really off the table?

Read More

Cisco ties its security/SD-WAN gear with Teridion’s cloud WAN service

Network World | May 23, 2019

Cisco and Teridion have tied the knot to deliver faster enterprise software-defined WAN services. The agreement links Cisco Meraki MX Security/SD-WAN appliances and its Auto VPN technology which lets users quickly bring up and configure secure sessions between branches and data centers with Teridion’s cloud-based WAN service. Teridion’s service promises customers better performance and control over traffic running from remote offices over the public internet to the data center. The service features what Teridion calls “Curated Routing” which fuses WAN acceleration techniques with route optimization to speed traffic. For example, Teridion says its WAN service can accelerate TCP-based applications like file transfers, backups and page loads, by as much as three to five times.

Read More

Tempering Open Source Expectations in 5G

SDxCentral | May 23, 2019

5G presents network operators with a new framework that lends itself to open source technologies that can play an important and defining role in how services are architected, maintained, and operated. While open source is making an impact on the software layer of 5G networks, the vision for open source networking is much more grandiose. Open source’s ultimate impact on 5G will likely fall somewhere in the middle — heralding new ways for operators to piece together networks and services, but well short of the utopian, completely disaggregated future some have envisioned. Operators have long complained about the lack of choice and vendor lock-in that results from having a small group of entrenched vendors to buy equipment and networking services. Open source will change that dynamic in small areas of the radio access network (RAN), but its mark will be much greater in the services layer or what many call the “softwarization” of the network — service orchestration, automation, network slicing, and mobile edge computing.

Read More

On 5G wireless: Key technological, economic, and security questions

Publication | May 24, 2019

AEI colleague Shane Tews will host a public event analyzing the future of 5G wireless and related technological, economic, and security implications. Over the past two weeks, a cascade of events has made this discussion extremely timely — not least the US decision to ban sales of equipment to Huawei, the Chinese telecoms company that dominates competition for 5G backbone technology. Many observers have labeled this action as the opening gun of a larger, protracted war for future technological supremacy. The rollout and sweeping economic advances associated with 5G will be central to determining the outcome of this competition. Here are some questions for the experts taking part in the event to answer or puzzle over. In banning the use of 5G backbone equipment from Huawei, how confident is the Trump administration that Ericsson and Nokia can fill the gap expeditiously, and with equipment that matches Huawei in technological sophistication and cost? Further, has the administration any plans to boost the fortunes and competitiveness of Ericsson or Nokia? And is 5G nationalization really off the table?

Read More

Events