SDxCentral | October 29, 2018
Accedian launched a service analytics platform, DataHub IQ, to extract granular insights from the active and passive network and application performance data generated by its performance monitoring platform Skylight. Skylight is a virtualized network services platform that provides service activation testing, network fault isolation, bandwidth monitoring, and service assurance functions. It also applies NFV monitoring capabilities at various locations including on premises, at a central location, or at the network core. The Skylight platform combines active and passive testing capabilities, but according to Tom Foottit, the senior manager of network analytics at Accedian, the company lacked a tool that could take all the data it was creating and analyze it to provide insight and predict network issues. Accedian tried letting customers use existing analysis tools on their networks, but it wasn’t successful so it decided to build its own platform. “The vast majority of deployed software in this space was designed and built off technology that is at least a decade old in many cases, if not more,” Foottit said. “The primary difference is they weren’t built to handle large volumes of time series data.” The DataHubIQ augments granular Accedian performance statistics with network data from other vendors and network sources. In order to handle the large volumes of time series data, Accedian built a big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) stack into the software using open source technologies and algorithms. This AI stack enables it to perform pattern detection, anomaly detection, and data correlation in real-time. Accedian used technologies from Apache for open source big data and time series data stock including Apache Druid, Apache Spark, and Apache Kafka.
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Virtualization Review | August 16, 2018
F5 Networks unveiled a new VNF Manager that it says is designed to simplify network functions virtualization (NFV) for service providers and mobile operators moving to software-defined networking environments. Such organizations, the company said, can leverage the functionality of the new virtualized network functions tool within its preconfigured, prepackaged solution that automatically deploys, scales, manages and decommissions network services according to evolving needs. In announcing the new NFV functionality, the company touted what it described as a simplified, pay-as-you-go, capacity-based consumption and pricing model. The company said it aims to alleviate burdensome complexities that come with configuring software-based infrastructures, which are a key tenet of NFV and the related software-defined networking (SDN) approach. As part of that initiative, the company said it also supports customers' existing orchestration solutions for streamlined integration with open and extensible APIs. In describing simplified operations, the company said, "Network planning, sizing and deployments can be accelerated with F5's capacity-based consumption models and automation features, maximizing operational flexibility around elements such as the mobile core and virtual edge. In addition, the solution enables portable VNFs that can be easily moved as needed throughout the network." F5 said its VNF portfolio will continue to expand with new offerings that will be available next month, along with the new VNF Manager. It didn't provide specific pricing information, directing interested organizations to contact a local sales office for country-specific details about product availability.
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SDxCentral | August 07, 2018
AT&T’s SDN, NFV, and 5G plans will eventually allow the carrier to reduce capex that is currently running at an escalated clip. That pace is being propelled by those network plans as well as integration costs tied to recent acquisitions. Speaking at the Oppenheimer Technology, Internet, and Communication Conference this morning, AT&T CFO John Stephens fielded questions about the carrier’s capex forecasts. As part of its most recent quarterly earnings release, AT&T noted it expected total 2018 capex of around $25 billion. The carrier spent $21.6 billion on capex last year, and $22.4 billion in 2016. By contrast, rival Verizon recently said it was on track to spend around $17 billion on capex this year. Stephens said part of that investment was tied to its ongoing efforts to gain SDNcontrol of 75 percent of its network assets by 2020. Those efforts remain on track and are expected to eventually reduce total capex. “But once you get there those investments you are making to achieve that goal ebb out. They either come down or effectively stabilize,” Stephens said. “So then you have the full benefit of that.” 5G Prep: AT&T is also looking to eventually drive down 5G deployment costs. Stephens noted that current network upgrades will allow the carrier to perform software upgrades to its sites to activate 5G services. He explained that was part of the carrier’s NFV story as well. “That leads you to the ability to bring down capex,” Stephens said. The carrier does, however, remain committed to a mobile 5G future instead of a fixed 5G business case. Stephens said that the carrier’s extensive fiber deployment reduces its business case for a fixed 5G service that would end up being a more expensive proposition for customers. “We can do that and our technologists have the capability to line it up, so we are clearly capable and ready to do that,” Stephens said, adding that at this point it was just a cost equation in terms of serving a neighborhood with a fixed 5G service. AT&T is planning to launch a mobile 5G service in a dozen markets this year. That deployment will be based upon the 3GPP non-standalone 5G NR standard. Those plans are in contrast to rival Verizon, which is focusing its initial 5G deployments on a fixed service that would be similar to a home broadband offering.
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