VMware launches vCloud NFV-OpenStack 3.0 for 5G and Multi-Cloud Networks

VMware has launched VMware vCloud NFV-OpenStack Edition 3.0, a network functions virtualization (NFV) platform for communications service providers (CSPs).

With this release, VMware will be able to deliver accelerated NFV performance with the help of VMware NSX-T Data Center, which adds Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK)-based techniques. DPDK delivers accelerated data plane network performance, dramatically increasing CPU efficiency, at the same time preserving all the existing benefits of VMware’s NFV infrastructure.

“VMware’s NFV solution is deployed in more than 50 CSPs globally supporting a wide variety of use cases and more than 300 million mobile subscribers. And with the imminent arrival of 5G, a new approach to the telco network and the cloud is required to solve for the hyper-distribution of virtual network functions, applications, and data,” said Shekar Ayyar, executive vice president, and general manager, Telco NFV Group, VMware. “With VMware vCloud NFV-OpenStack 3.0, service providers will be able to build software-defined, programmable, highly-distributed Telco Distributed Clouds based on open standards to deliver new advanced services to consumers, and quality-of-service-based network slices to serve the application needs for a wide variety of industries.”

NTT Com, Telia Company, and Telefonica are the customers participating in beta tests of the new NSX Managed Virtual Distributed Switch (N-VDS) in Enhanced Data Path mode have shown network performance improvements of 3-5x depending on packet size.

New carrier-grade networking capabilities in VMware vCloud NFV-OpenStack 3.0 enable the extension of VMware’s vision for the Virtual Cloud Network to CSPs. This is made possible by the inclusion of NSX-T Data Center. Advanced networking and security for container-based workloads and microservices will be enabled by Native support for the Container Networking Interface (CNI). IT teams will get more operational control and visibility into heterogeneous environments spread across data centers, public and telco clouds and edge environments with the help of Multi-cloud networking and security capabilities.

Intent-based service assurance introduces a new paradigm in NFV operations that will allow CSPs to define operational and business intent for the network, and continuously verify performance against the defined intent through Day 0, Day 1 and Day 2 operations.

These capabilities help improve the total economics of software-defined, open standards-based 5G and multi-cloud telco networks.

“A highly performant and reliable NFV platform is key to unlocking the cloud efficiencies that NFV promised,” said Caroline Chappell, Research Director and lead analyst for Analysys Mason’s Software-Controlled Networking research program. “It’s important that operators gain the benefits of a carrier-grade and scalable NFVI without sacrificing support for open industry standards and the ability to execute virtual network functions from multiple vendors. As operators begin to scale commercial NFV deployments, they will need robust platform features and the potential in future to run the same NFVI in multiple clouds.”

This post is subject to the original announcement.