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An SME perspective on SDN & NFV promises:
programmability, abstraction and new business
roles
Nicola Ciulli
Head of Research & Development, Nextworks
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
www.nextworks.it
Let’s start from the conclusions
[Q1] What is in NFV and SDN for SMEs?
The promise of a new, unlocked business ecosystem where SMEs can be the
new Network App developers and maintainers
[Q2] What is the benefit for an SME to be active in NFV & SDN
standardization?
SDN & NFV open / standard interfaces are still a growing jungle, and are key
for SMEs to develop business ideas and products
[Q3] How can research help?
SDN & NFV are broad and wild field; research is key to pioneer in the SDN farwest and validate intuitions before standards can regulate it
[Q4] How can large scale test-beds, as made available by NRENs, help?
In reality, networks are never small and simple. Large scale virtual laboratories
are key to properly validate and showcase SDN/NFV product ideas
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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The promises behind SDN and NFV
 2 key promises for network operators…
 “Extreme” service orchestration and deep programmability, i.e.
beyond the black-box configuration
• New, operator-defined, service features and compositions
• Full control of the network boxes
 Ability to deal with heterogeneous network technologies in an
(mostly) agnostic way
• Towards a more open market of network gears
• Shorter time to market for new services and network technologies
 … and 1 major promise for the (potential) stakeholders in
the network equipment and software business
 Can create new roles and business threads in network
software development
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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The technology jungle in networks
network operator
service provider
datacenter provider
…
In legacy networks, each technology and architecture
requires its own control & management to install,
configure, and operate it
CLI
BGP
?
AAA
VPNs
IS-IS
V
MPLS
OSS
SNMP
?
RSVP
virtualization
OSPF-TE
OpenFlow
Carrier-grade Netconf
Ethernet
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
GMPLS
March 18th 2014, Athens
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SDN can help, with a long term vision
1. Open/standard southbound interfaces
• OpenFlow, XMPP, SNMP, CLI, Netconf, I2RS, PCEP, etc.
2. A driver for each class of (subnetwork of) nodes
• To abstract the hardware (and software!) internals and make it “plug
and play”
3. The concept of Network Operating System
• To abstract the heterogeneity underneath
• To generalize the procedures required for configuring / managing /
controlling the network functions in a set of primitive OS functions
• i.e. we shouldn’t have to buy a new management system with a
dedicated software when we deploy a new network technology
4. A powerful northbound interface for lots of user-friendly applications
• Full-featured access point for the network control, e.g. for innovative
NMS tasks, new virtualized network services, etc.
• This is where the SDN “programmability” promise kicks in
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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The concept of Network Operating System
App
App
App
App
App
App
App
Northbound
API
Network Operating System kernel
(SDN Controller with abstraction layer)
Southbound
API
drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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Towards a SDN/NFV business ecosystem
 SDN and NFV are not about reinventing network management /
control and data plane software
 It is more about leveraging on open interfaces, common network control
frameworks (SDN controller), functions virtualization to build new
network services and service models
 This can really open to new business roles in the network
software development market, esp. for SMEs
 Network hardware (i.e. fabric) manufacturer
 NOS kernel developer
 Driver developer
 App developer
 Software integrator
 System (sw + hw) integrator
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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A new value-chain from SDN
From a Vertical value-chain
To a more Horizontal value-chain
App
App
App
NOS
NOS
NOS
NOS
drv
drv
drv
drv drv drv drv drv drv drv drv
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
App
App
March 18th 2014, Athens
App
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[Q1] What is in NFV and SDN for SMEs?
 SDN offer today can be anything vendors just have
 Sometimes an API to equipment
 Sometimes a series of scripts or macros in the operating system that automagically execute commands (via YANG, NETCONF)
 But, SDN & NFV ultimate promise is more about
 Automation, i.e. intelligence, not scripts nor dumb APIs
 Programmability, i.e. no CLI, rather REST API
 Open interfaces, i.e. different possible views to different user profiles
 Open source, i.e. move the value on the Apps & customization more than
the OS internals
 This “SDNv2.0” adheres more to the initial concept and can
really open to new business roles for SMEs
 Softwarized network functions on top of whiter and whiter network boxes
 User-/Operator-driven network functions using open network interfaces
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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[Q2] What is the benefit for an SME to be active in NFV and
SDN standardization?
 SDN & NFV have their hype today, but consolidated specifications are still
to come ([open] interfaces, detailed architecture, etc.)
 Standards here are still a intricate jungle… difficult to predict where things will
converge
 It’s not as easy as in the past… sitting down and waiting for the
architecture and protocols specs to be released, and to understand which
of the standards is the “right one to master and to implement”
 E.g. ATM, PNNI, MPLS, GMPLS
 We need to stand closer to the window, and watch things evolve, reach
consensus or just disappear in disagreement. Have ideas and predictions
on what “SDN item” we should learn, get familiar with, implement
 Use-cases and propositions related to innovative ideas and products are well
received in NFV & SDN SDOs
 SMEs can be promoters of such ideas in these SDOs and also be among the
early adopters/implementers of them
 Still, a benefit is also in sitting together with big Telcos (operators, ISPs),
helping them to shape up their visions on SDN (more open field that in the
past) and create business opportunities from this
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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[Q3] How can research help?
 SDN is evolving very fast, much faster than other architectures and
protocols in the past
 But it’s a far west of architectures and protocols… approximately
anything can be defined as SDN & most of legacy network control could
fit in SDN
 Still very light and not-normative standards
 Research is mostly about bright ideas and how to let the right software
piece fit in the right place in the right overall picture
 Therefore, research is key to validate SDN/NFV intuitions before any
SDO can regulate it
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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[Q4] How can large scale test-beds, as made available by
NRENs, help?
 Networks are never small and simple… and validation in large scale virtual
laboratories is key to consolidate SDN/NFV product ideas before
engineering them into products
 R&E networks as well as FIRE infrastructures have always pioneered new
network technologies in the large-scale/continental networks
 Because of the large capacity of the R&E infrastructures
 Because of the less compelling need to capitalize on it and bill large user pools
 SDN & NFV are perfect new technologies for trials
 They build upon the softwarization and virtualization of network functions, i.e.
it is an easy task to clone and replicate on large-scale test-beds
 SDN & NFV put more control power in the hands of the network operator
 Yet, it would be crucial to build these large scale test-beds beyond the R&E
networks
 R&E and Telco virtual labs can be used to validate SDN/NFV even larger, and
with all the involved stakeholders
 The impact and sustainability of any showcases can be unprecedented
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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But still many questions behind the corner…
 Are there enough margins for all the stakeholders along the value chain?
 Once the value chain is defined, what is the chain of responsibilities and
reasonable SLAs in it?
 E.g. 1st, 2nd and 3rd line of support: who provides what?
 E.g. who’s liable when something goes wrong?
 Is there a risk that the whole thing is much more complex for Telcos?
 What is actually missing to package turnkey solutions?
 Why should a dominant vendor go SDN?
 Could it be that the whole value chain is mimicked
internally, e.g. with spin-in companies?
 Programmability: why should I be fancy of doing
with SDN something that I could have done with
predecessor architectures, and didn’t care to do?
 e.g. bandwidth-on-demand, network optimization,
etc.
app
developer
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
network
operator
system
integrator
software
integrator
hardware
manufacturer
NOS
developer
driver
developer
March 18th 2014, Athens
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Thank you!
[email protected]
Nicola Ciulli
Head of Research & Development
www.nextworks.it
HQ: via Livornese, 1027, 56122 Pisa (Italy)
Tel: +39-050-3871600
[email protected]
Fax: +39-050-3871601
Future Internet Assembly 2014, High Profile Plenary Session
March 18th 2014, Athens
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