Digitization is driving service providers to find new ways to do
things better, faster and with lower costs. To get there, many are
moving toward virtualization and simplified programmability solutions
for their networks.
Network functions virtualization (NFV) and software defined
networking (SDN) are the popular software-based approaches that service
providers are using to design, deploy and manage their networks and
services.
Cisco today introduced its new NFV Infrastructure Solution
(NFVI), combining virtual and physical environments, and providing all
the necessary compute, storage, and networking infrastructure to run NFV
network services.
The new NFV Infrastructure complements existing virtualization solutions like the Cisco
Virtualized Packet Core (VPC), which provides network functions as
virtualized services. It combines all mobile packet core services for
4G, 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, and small cell networks into a single solution.
Customers including South Africa's Vodacom are in the
integration phase to use the Cisco VPC, with NFV Infrastructure and
Cisco Advanced Services delivery to scale their network capacity and
introduce new services faster and more cost-effectively.
Benefits of NFVI:
- It helps to further simplify and automate service providers' NFV operations to deliver applications and services faster.
- It provides a robust solution with carrier-grade performance, availability, security, and scalability.
- This is a ready-to-go, fully integrated and tested infrastructure.
- Independent EANTC testing validated the industry-leading,
high-performance Cisco NFV Infrastructure and its openness and
interoperability.
- The automated life cycle management of Cisco NFV Infrastructure can
significantly lower network total cost of ownership by as much as 40%.
"This solution is another step in delivering on our strategy
for an open, modular and expandable network architecture," said Kelly
Ahuja, senior vice president, Cisco Service Provider business, products
and solutions. "We are committed to helping our service provider
customers embrace the network transformation toward virtualization with
the right foundation to successfully deploy virtualized network
functions."
How Cisco NFV Infrastructure can provide savings of up to 40%:
- Improved Operations: Reduces the risk of service outages due to smaller and more controlled maintenance windows.
- Security Upgrades: Improves security for OpenStack and Linux vulnerabilities.
- Validated and Tested Design: Increases service
velocity by shortening the time for system deployments: down to three
weeks; Cisco's Advanced Services leads the design and deployment.
- Simplified Tech Support: Cisco will be the single
point of contact for customer support, including third-party software
like Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform.