Best Practices for vCPEDeploymentHow to Ensure Optimal Results and Avoid Pitfalls

June 2015

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What You Will Learn

• The State of NFV

• What is vCPE?

• Implementation Options

• Takeaways

The State of NFV

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• CSPs need automated & speedy service delivery, with a lucrative cost structure– Requires agile, efficient and well-orchestrated networks

• NFV and SDN move from theory to practice at an accelerated pace– Field trials in 2015– Mass deployments from 2016

Programmable Networks are a Must

Top rated NFV use case among service providers: virtual CPE (vCPE) for business services

Infonetics Research Survey, 2014

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• D-NFV places virtualized networking functions (VNFs) wherever it makes the most functional and economic sense– At the data center, POP and at the customer edge

Distributed NFV (D-NFV)

EconomicsTradeoff between network

and IT costse.g., for international services

PerformanceSome applications are more effective at the customer premises

e.g., end-to-end QoS, response time, survivability in case of access failure

PolicyDictated by regulations

and policiese.g., information location,

access control policy

Some functions MUST run at the customer

premisese.g., end-to-end encryption

and WAN optimization

Feasibility

What is vCPE?

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• Then: many single-purpose, hardware-based devices (router, load balancer, firewall, etc.)

• Now: virtualized appliances dynamically added or dropped as needed

• Some or all CPE networking functionality is virtualized & relocated

A New Approach to CPE (Customer Premises Equipment)

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Market Drivers

• Fast introduction of new services• No forklifts at the customer’s• Fast response to competition• Value-added services at a premium• Improve QoE to reduce churn

• Simplify operations, management• Lower costs due to truck rolls• Single device: less power and

space, better reliability• Cost-effective new technologies

Conventional appliance-based CPEs:• Mass quantities, CapEx- and OpEx-intensive• Slow and expensive to deploy and maintain• Difficult to roll out new services quickly

NFV-enabled vCPE:

Implementation Options

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• All virtualized functions reside at the data center• Basic switch/router as the pCPE at the customer premises• Fits SME services

Scenario A: All VNFs are in the Network

Network

TesterFirewall PBX

VNFs

Customer Site

CustomerNetwork

Data Center

Orchestrator

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DistributedNFV

• NID w/integrated x86 to host VNFs, or• Colocated standard server + NID

– No traffic offload for faster hardware processing• Fits value-added services (e.g., international business services)• Fits early NFV deployments – no need for full scale

network redesign

Scenario B: All VNFs at the Customer Edge

Network

Customer Site

RouterFirewall

VNFs

PBX

Customer Site

Router

VNFs

Firewall PBX

CustomerNetwork

Orchestrator

CustomerNetwork

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• VNFs placed to optimize cost, performance, policy compliance • Fits value-added services with high networking costs and stringent

performance needs (e.g., international business services)

Scenario C: VNFs at the Network & Customer Edge

Network

Tester PBX

VNFs

Customer Site

CustomerNetwork

Data Center

RouterFirewall

VNFs

Orchestrator DistributedNFV

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• Bandwidth efficiency • Security• Survivability• Performance• Diagnostics and real QoE

What Might be Affected?

Function location should ensure:• Maximum flexibility• Agility• Effective performance

Takeaways

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• vCPE is a prime candidate for first commercial NFV deployments– Especially in business services

• Sweet spot for SPs: hardware abstraction, shorter & flexible service introduction

• VNF placement in vCPE architecture: data center, customer edge, both

• Function location affects:– Efficiency– Security– Survivability– Performance– Diagnostics and QoE

Conclusion

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• Award-winning D-NFV-enabled networking devices, part of RAD’s Service Assured Access (SAA) solutions

• Support any vCPE implementation scenario

• Special VFs for central locations:– Service demarcation and traffic monitoring– VFs for VAS, such as application awareness

• RAD’s D-NFV Alliance offers 3rd-party applications, tested and approved by RAD

RAD’s vCPE Offering

ETX-2L2/L3 Demarcation with

D-NFV

MiNIDMiniature Programmable NID

RADviewNetwork Management and

Orchestration

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“Best Practices for vCPEDeployment”

For More Information

www.rad.com