Transforming Network Infrastructure Week in Review: Cisco, NTT, OPNFV
By Cisco is rumored to be working on a stand-alone operating system to respond to software-centric networking. NTT Communications is implementing 400 gigabit per second optical transmission in its data centers. And the OPNFV has come out with a new release called Danube.
That’s just a sampling of the news featured in Transforming Network Infrastructure this week.
As I reported earlier this week, a story by The Information indicates that Cisco has erected a project code named Lindt through which it aims to deliver switching and routing capabilities exclusively in software. The idea here is that this software would be able to run on general-purpose processors and white box servers instead of Cisco’s proprietary hardware and silicon. If this is indeed the direction in which the supplier is headed, it would be a huge change for Cisco and potentially a much more affordable one for its customers.
But in response to our request for comment on this rumor, Cisco spokesman Jim Brady told me: “We do not comment on rumor or speculation. That said, the vast majority of our customers see huge value from the power and efficiency of our fully integrated networking platforms. This tight integration of hardware and software will continue to be the basis of the networking solutions we offer our customers.”
NTT Communications Corp. has been one of the service providers pioneering the move to software-centric networks via its adoption of such technologies as network functions virtualization and software-defined networking. And the company recently announced it has begun using 400gpbs optical technology in data centers, which NTT is employing in combination with SDN.
Not only is this optical technology fast, it’s also space and power efficient. DSP technology created by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., and 16nm metal-oxide semiconductor technology, allow NTT with this deployment to reduce its energy consumption by 75 percent and take up 80 percent less space than the previous system occupied.
Meanwhile, other enterprising network operators have worked with their suppliers to release the Danube management and orchestration solution through the OPNFV. This new release from the organization brings with it enhanced DevOps automation and test methodologies, improved performance, better control, added instrumentation related to management and orchestration, and more.
And A10 Networks this week contributed a piece to Transforming Network Infrastructure about the need for telecom operators to update and future-proof their networks.
