Challenges and Solutions for TestingNFV/SDN NetworksTrinh Vu, Amdocs Inc.March 16, 2016

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Agenda

CSP NWEnvironment

NFV/SDNAdvantages

NFV NWTesting

NFV NWDesign and

Development

NFV/SDNChallenges

NFV CommonIssues

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Wireless Network Domains

Data devices

Smart phones

Phones

CustomerProvisioning

BSS

IMS

EPC

2G

3G

PCRF

HSS

HLR

User Equipment RAN networks Core networks IT network

eNB

4G LTE

3G/HSPA

NB

BTS

GSM

OSSAAA

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CSP Network Environment

Wireless networks constantly evolving

Continuous change, new services — greater demands on networktesting processes and resources

Complex multiple network topology

Higher data usage, “always on” access

Complex LTE services — increasing loadand performance demands

New technology and architecturesrequiring more agile network

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Strategic Challenges

• Change management• What in the NW to virtualize

and when?• Where to begin?• How to measure success

Architectural Challenges

• New NW devices,techniques, anddependencies

• Service design• Performance• Reliability• Management and

orchestration• Security risks

Operational Challenges

• Managing the complex NFVdeployments

• Operational complexity of avirtualized/hybrid carriernetworks

The NFV Paradigm Shift

Journey to NFV requires change in the way the NW is designed and tested

While carriers agree on the advantages for NFV, many are struggling toquantify the development risks, understand the practical migration steps, andhow to measure success

Everything was Known is New Again…

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NFV/SDN Technology Advantages

Core networks like EPC/IMS are the prime candidate for NFV development anddeployment

Lower equipment costsand reduced powerconsumption throughresource sharing

Faster time to market byshortening developmentand testing cycles andutilizing off the shelveHW/SW

Increased availability ofmulti-version and multi-tenancy networkappliances

Highly scalability for NWcapacity and functionalityto meet demands

Resources

BSS/OSS

NFV Applications

vDPI vCPE vIMS vEPC vFW

VNFManagement

andOrchestration

CMSOpenStack, VMWare

NFV InfrastructureCMS

OpenStack, VMWare

Servers

vComputing vStorage vNetwork

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NVF/SDN Technology Challenges

For core networks, the seamless interoperability and network operations arecritical to CSPs

Integrating multiple virtualappliances from differentvendors

Comprehensive end-to-endtesting of virtualized networkfunctions

Supporting hybrid networkswith seamless migration pathsto fully-virtualized networks

Managing and orchestratingnumerous virtual networkfunctions, while protectingagainst attacks andmisconfigurations

Maintaining NW resiliency andreliability from hardware andsoftware failures

Infrastructure

Hardware

Hypervisor (Virtualization OS)

Compute Storage Network

BSS

NFV Applications

vFW VEPC vIMSvCPE vMPLS vApp

NFV Orchestration

OSS

Data CenterNetwork Mgmt.

Test Coverage

Cloud Management

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NFV Design and Development Process

The NFV NW engineering is different than traditional NW engineeringmethodology, more complex and iterative

VNF Design

VNF InterfaceSpecifications

VNF NodeConfiguration

VNF Creation

VNF Development

VNF Lab Testing

VNF Lab NWgeneration

VNF Instantiation

VNF Deployment

VNF MarketDeployment

VNF FOA Testing

VNF FOADeployment

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NFV Testing and Integration

The NFV NW testing is different than traditional NW engineering methodology forOSS functions and NW performance: Agile or DevOps is necessary

NFV lab can simulate live production design

VNFs could be from multiple vendors (SGW,PGW, MME, PCRF)

Service orchestration testing to validate VNFfunctions and configurations with OSS

NFT testing to validate system performance andload

E2E testing to validate E2E functionality andperformance of the entire system

NW testing to validate interfaces and VNFfunctionality

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End-to-end NFV Service Offering

ActiveInventory

Big Dataand

Analytics

Existing Amdocs assets

In-development components

Ecosystem elements

CloudMgmt. SDNNFV

ApplicationsPhysicalElements

ServiceDesign

andCreation

Order Capture and Management

Self-ServicePortal BillingCRM

InventorySystem

ServiceCreation Fulfillment Assurance

OSS

BSS

MasterEnterprise

Catalog

Network CloudService

Orchestrator

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Examples of EPC design Simple EPC core design

Sample of VNF configurations

Sample of updatedconfigurations

RAN

Data Center

vEPC

NCSO

NCSOAdmin

Console

Customer

eNodeB

Control Plane

Data Plane

RAN IF

VNF-M

Session DB

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Service Design Tool

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vEPC Configuration in Network Orchestrator

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Updated vEPC in Network Orchestrator

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vEPC Virtual Network Graph

A virtual vEPC network and connectivity

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Common Issues with VNF Design VNF design phase can take longer to

match the production network

VNF orchestration and configurationsare much more complex

VNF connectivity has to be correctlydesigned and validated

VNF deployment in the test lab cansimulate the live network

VNF testing can detect certaindefects much sooner: connectivity,protocol, network topology

VNF testing will require frequentretesting or regression testing after achange in configuration or topology

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Summary NFV/SDN has many advantages over legacy

network to CSPs, enabling faster deployment ofnew NW functions

NFV/SDN poses new challenges to CSPs todesign, develop and test new NW functions

NFV technology is much more suitable for corenetworks such as EPC and IMS cores

NFV testing will require different approach totest and validate: NFVI layer VNF layer Network Orchestration Network Integration with OSS

Agile and DevOps development methodologyare more suitable for testing NFV/SDN due tohigher frequency of NFV deployment

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Thank you!

Trinh.vu@amdocs.com