One of the key pieces of network functions virtualization (NFV) is the “virtual infrastructure manager” or VIM. In the E2E ETSI model for NFV, the VIM takes instructions from the management and orchestration element (MANO) and translates them to infrastructure management and control processes. One of the challenges for NFV implementation is just what shape…
If we assume that the notion of an event-driven cloud is correct, we have to ask ourselves what that cloud model would do to the way edge devices get information and content. If the cloud is a new computing paradigm, does the paradigm extend to the edge? How does it then impact the way we…
Cisco reported roughly in-line numbers for the quarter but the stock was down over 2% because it is still reporting a sequential decline in revenues. Guidance was also at the low end of Street expectations, which further suggests a “no-improvement” scenario, and there was special Street concern for the fact that security products didn’t do…
After my blog on a model-driven service lifecycle management technique, I got a bunch of emails from operator and vendor contacts (and from some who’d never contacted me). Part of the interest was driven by a Light Reading article that noted my skepticism about the way that ETSI NFV was being implemented. Most was driven…
Have you noticed that in the last six months, we’ve been having more stories about “cloud” networking and fewer about SDN or NFV? Sure, it’s easy to say (and also true, as it happens) that the media jumps off a technology once it becomes too complicated to cover or is discredited in terms of impact…
I hate to open another hype can of worms, but this is a question that has to be asked. Is there a role for artificial intelligence (AI) in service lifecycle automation, virtualization, SDN, and NFV? The notion raises the specter of a glittering robot sitting at a console in a network operations center, and surely,…
We already know that fiber technology can be divided into families based on features—long-haul versus access, passive optical versus point-to-point or active reconfigurable. We might be seeing signs that it is dividing at the business level, into what might be called “tactical fiber” and “strategic fiber”. If so, that could have major implications on the…
There are sometimes concrete answers to abstract questions. In some cases, the reason why those answers don’t seem to gain traction or acceptance is that they come from a different sector. So it is today with network transformation or “next-gen” networks. We have spent half-a-decade framing principles that were already framed better elsewhere, and with…
What do we need, in a technical sense, to advance to next-generation networking? Forget trite suggestions like “carriers need to change their culture” or “we need to focus on customer experience.” When has any of that been in doubt, and how long has it been said? If there are problems that need to be solved,…
Operators tell me that they are still struggling with the details of service lifecycle automation, even though they’re broadly convinced that it’s a critical step in improving profit per bit. There are a lot of questions, but two seem to be rising to the top of everyone’s list, and so exploring both the questions and…