Here’s a quick update of the happenings at Open Networking Summit taking place in Amsterdam, September 25-27. …

1// The Linux Foundation has announced further collaboration between telecom and cloud industry leaders enabled by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and LF Networking (LFN). The Foundation added that leading open source communities spearhead migration from Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) to Cloud-native Network Functions (CNFs).

Two of the fastest-growing Linux Foundation projects – ONAP (part of LF Networking) and Kubernetes (part of CNCF) – are coming together in next-generation telecom architecture as operators evolve their VNFs into CNFs running on Kubernetes. Early examples of both VNF and CNF enablement are seen within ONAP and via working projects from the CNCF and ONAP communities.

ONAP’s inaugural release, Amsterdam, represents the second stage (2.0) of network architecture evolution: it runs in a VM, in an OpenStack, VMware, Azure or Rackspace environment. ONAP’s upcoming release, Casablanca, brings the next phase of network architecture evolution (3.0): it runs on Kubernetes, and works on any public, private, or hybrid cloud. ONAP currently supports VNFs on either VMs (running on OpenStack or VMware) or containers (running on Kubernetes via KubeVirt or Virtlet).

Source: The Linux Foundation

2// Open source reaches a new level of maturity among operators, survey finds. Combined with an overwhelming confidence in open source performance, communications service providers (CSPs) are confident that open networking solutions can achieve the same level of performance as traditional networking solutions. The Linux Foundation has announced the results of a survey to gauge what the industry thinks about open source across networking technologies. Top takeaways from the survey suggest an increasing maturity of open source technology use from operators, ongoing innovation in areas such as DevOps and CI/CD, and a glimpse into emerging technologies in areas such as cloud native and more.

Conducted by Heavy Reading, the survey covers six segments across networking technologies – DevOps, automation, cloud native, big data and analytics, open networking performance, software-defined networking (SDN), and management and orchestration (MANO). Key findings indicate CSPs show an unexpected level of sophistication around new technologies and approaches, including adoption of open networking solutions in numerous domains and active automation of processes across operations.

Source: The Linux Foundation

3// LF Networking (LFN) simplifies open source software consumption as it announces continued ecosystem value chain disruption across its projects. Collectively, LFN projects and communities are said to be already easing deployment of open network technologies through strong collaboration between end users, developers, and vendors to deliver enhanced platform releases, forge new partnerships, and innovate on open networking technologies.

The growth and expansion of both breadth and depth of Compliance and Verification programs remains a key focus area. Launched earlier this year with a focus on infrastructure software at the NFVI/VIMlayer, the OPNFV Verified Program (OVP) issued its second test suite release that brings deeper and more extensive testing capabilities. The compliance program aimed at demonstrating readiness and availability of commercial NFV products has already verified products from Ericsson, Huawei, LG Uplus, Nokia, Wind River and ZTE.

OPNFV and ONAP are also collaborating to extend the scope of the program to include VNF verification. With an initial focus on VNF packaging requirements and a vision to improve VNF on-boarding, ongoing-management, and performance, the VNF compliance program is expected to launch in early 2019. The program is also in process of scaling testing support through work on building a third-party lab ecosystem.

Source: The Linux Foundation

4// Tungsten Fabric has rolled out version 5.0.1 of its open source software-defined networking (SDN) and security software platform. Tungsten Fabric is an open source, scalable, multicloud, multistack networking platform. The Tungsten Fabric project also completed the move to LF Networking – a process started when it joined The Linux Foundation in December of last year.

With the latest version, Tungsten Fabric now comes in a fine-grained scale-out microservices architecture packaged as containers. Install-time provisioning is now possible with minimum information provided, and yet every feature is configurable if needed, the community said. Installation continues to be supported on various container orchestrators, but it has been optimized and validated for Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters. The Tungsten controller can run adjacent to the cluster, or the controller containers can run on the cluster under management, whereby a new Helm Chart can ease its lifecycle management.

The distributed SNAT feature allows traffic from container or virtual machine-based workloads in the Tungsten-managed overlay to directly exit the overlay routing on the node where the workload is running. Also, Tungsten Fabric now supports implementing Kubernetes network policy in Tungsten Fabric using the Tungsten Fabric firewall security policy framework.

Source: The Linux Foundation

5// SONAR4 has announced the European release of its assurance analytics and automation solution for next-generation networks at the Open Networking Summit Europe. Powered by Mariner, SONAR4 is said to enable communication service providers (CSPs) to fast-track next-gen network adoption, bridging SDN and NFV with an end-to-end service experience.
The SONAR4 solution will address the complex challenges of SDN and NFV relative to end-to-end service assurance including Orchestration, SDN Control, VMs, Containers, switch fabric, etc.

Source: Mariner Partners

Lumina Networks released version 8 of the its SDN Controller, powered by OpenDaylight. The Lumina SDN Controller, along with the Flow Manager software, defines and implements a single end-to-end service over a multi-domain environment, mixing traditional routers with white box switches and virtual network functions.

Close on the heels of the company’s recently closed series A funding from AT&T, Verizon Ventures and Rahi Systems, Lumina Network’s eighth platform release is said to focus on improved network scalability, stability, and tools. Included in the Oxygen-based release comes increased cross-project code quality, and updates to Karaf 4.1.3, to enable developers with improved agility and compliance of future upgrades.

Lumina will also be demonstrating advances in its SD-Core software at the Open Networking Summit in Amsterdam this week.

Source: GlobeNewswire