Extreme Automation at the Network Edge

Network edge computing is not just the periphery of the Telecom infrastructure, it’s also the frontier of NextGen network and service management. Unlike the bountiful resources at the core or the conceptually unlimited resources of the cloud, edge deployments are decentralized, numerous and constrained. At the edge – continuous optimization and efficiency is necessity. Telco edge platforms must do ‘more with less’. They have to flexibly support a wide variety of use-cases and configurations for diverse Enterprise workloads, while maintaining low-latency SLAs of public and private MEC, all within resource and power constraints of edge servers. The extreme demands of edge computing is driving innovation through the automation stack from the application layer down to the hardware, all of which will ultimately make its way back to the core and cloud for a more agile and sustainable industry. EnterpriseWeb is leading an award-winning multi-vendor Intel 5G RAN testbed based on an secure edge gateway use-case. The testbed demonstrates dynamic configuration of Intel® Ethernet Controller E810 and network functions to optimize processing of secure packets, while significantly reducing resource requirements and energy consumption at scale. Stage 3 of the testbed incorporates Intel’s FlexRAN™ to further extend programmability. The testbed presents an open, extensible and near real-time solution for self-healing, scaling and optimizing networks. The testbed team includes: Intel (INB Lab, Intel® Ethernet Controller E810, FlexRAN™); Red Hat (RHEL CoreOS, OpenShift, RHACM); Fortinet (FortiGate, FortiWeb); Keysight (CyPerf test agents); KX (data services & analytics); EnterpriseWeb (CloudNFV intelligent orchestrator with LCM, iPaaS, SMO, NSMF); Tech Mahindra (system integration partner). The testbed also incorporates open-source from the ONF Aether project (SD-Core and SD-RAN) and Grafana Labs (Prometheus and Grafana).