On Sat, Aug 1, 2020 at 7:21 AM Etienne-Victor Depasquale <ed...@ieee.org> wrote:
> The surprise for me regards Intel's (and the entire Cloud Native Computing > Foundation's?) readiness to move past network functions run on VMs > and towards network functions run as microservices in containers. > > See, for example, Azhar Sayeed's (Red Hat) contribution here > <https://www.lightreading.com/webinar.asp?webinar_id=1608>@15:33. > Be careful not to confuse vendors pumping stuff with whats actually deployed. Also, AT&T has been doing virtualization for nearly 10 years now, so perhaps you were just not paying attention https://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/at-t-target-for-virtualizing-75-its-network-by-2020 Not sure it has helped ATT in any meaningful way, their stock price is the same it was in 2015. > Cheers, > > Etienne > > On Sat, Aug 1, 2020 at 2:35 PM Mark Tinka <mark.ti...@seacom.com> wrote: > >> >> >> On 1/Aug/20 11:23, Etienne-Victor Depasquale wrote: >> >> Over the past few weeks, I've attended webinars and watched videos >> organized by Intel. >> These activities have centred on 5G and examined applications (like >> "visual cloud" and "gaming"), >> as well as segment-oriented aspects (like edge networks, 5G RAN and 5G >> Core). >> >> I am stunned (no hyperbole) by the emphasis on Kubernetes in particular, >> and cloud-native computing in general. >> Equally stunning (for me), public telecommunications networks have been >> portrayed >> as having a history that moved from integrated software and hardware, >> to virtualization and now to cloud-native computing. >> See, for example Alex Quach, here >> <https://www.telecomtv.com/content/intel-vsummit-5g-ran-5g-core/the-5g-core-is-vital-to-deliver-the-promise-of-5g-39164/> >> @10:30). >> I reason that Intel's implication is that virtualization is becoming >> obsolete. >> >> Would anyone care to let me know his thoughts on this prediction? >> >> >> In the early dawn of SDN, where it was cool to have the RP's in Beirut >> and the line cards in Lagos, the industry quickly realized that was not >> entirely feasible. >> >> If you are looking at over-the-top services, so-called cloud-native >> computing makes sense in order to deliver that value accordingly, and with >> agility. But as it pertains to actual network transport, I'm not yet sure >> the industry is at the stage where we are confident enough to decompose >> packet forwarding through a cloud. >> >> Network operators are more likely to keep using kit that integrates >> forwarding hardware as well as a NOS, as no amount of cloud architecting is >> going to rival a 100Gbps purpose-built port, for example. >> >> Suffice it to say, there was a time when folk were considering running >> their critical infrastructure (such as your route reflectors) in AWS or >> similar. I'm not quite sure public clouds are at that level of confidence >> yet. So if some kind of cloud-native infrastructure is to be considered for >> critical infrastructure, I highly suspect it will be in-house. >> >> On the other hand, for any new budding entrepreneurs that want to get >> into the mobile game with as little cost as possible, there is a huge >> opportunity to do so by building all that infrastructure in an on-prem >> cloud-native architecture, and offer packet forwarding using >> general-purpose hardware provided they don't exceed their expectations. >> This way, they wouldn't have to deal with the high costs traditional >> vendors (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Siemens, ZTE, e.t.c.) impose. Granted, it >> would be small scale, but maybe that is the business model. And in an >> industry where capex is fast out-pacing revenue, it would be the mobile >> network equivalent of low-cost carrier airlines. >> >> I very well could be talking out the side of my neck, but my prediction >> is mobile operators will be optimistic but cautious. I reckon a healthy mix >> between cloud-native and tried & tested practices. >> >> Mark. >> > > > -- > Ing. Etienne-Victor Depasquale > Assistant Lecturer > Department of Communications & Computer Engineering > Faculty of Information & Communication Technology > University of Malta > Web. https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/etiennedepasquale >