Open Networking Summit - Video Interview with Dan Pitt

OpenFlow -- or software defined networking -- is clearly one of the industry's hottest trends, as it promises to bring the power of virtualization, the scalability of the cloud and the economics of commodity hardware. This interview with Dan Pitt, Executive Director of the Open Networking Foundation covers:

1:36 -- What is the mission of the ONF?

1:50 -- Is the ONF a standards setting body?

2:27 -- Has interest in SDF come primarily from data center application, telecom networks or both?

2:48 -- What has the ONF accomplished in its first year?

3:28 -- Attendance at the Open Networking is sold out. What makes it so hot?

4:01 -- What new at this latest summit?

4:34 -- Is SDN making the transition to early adopter phase?

5:12 -- What other resources are available?http://www.convergedigest.com

Read More

Level 3 Boosts its CDN Capacity

Level 3 Communications has boosted its globally available CDN capacity to more than 5.6 Tbps (terabits per second) from 2.15 Tbps in late 2010.

In addition to increasing its CDN capacity, Level 3 has expanded its CDN service offering to new markets in Buenos Aires (Argentina); Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Medellin (Colombia); Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); and Montreal and Toronto (Canada). Level 3 is also continuing its work to grow its deployments in Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America.

"Level 3's growing CDN and network scalability helped us expand our business into new markets, specifically Latin America, the UK and Ireland," said Greg Peters, vice president of Product Development for Netflix. "Level 3's speed, consistency and ability to scale help us deliver a great Netflix experience for our members worldwide."

Level 3 noted that CDN services represented approximately two percent of its Core Network Services (CNS) revenue in 2011. The company expects its CDN platform will continue to represent approximately two percent of CNS revenue in 2012.

Level 3 is also introducing a service that enables companies to see an objective, third-party analysis of their websites’ video streaming performance in real time across all content delivery networks (CDNs). The new service, Client Side Statistics, is fully integrated within Level 3’s MediaPortal, with data analyzed by Conviva – a market leader in video optimization and viewer experience.

http://www.level3.com

Read More

ADVA Optical Debuts Syncjack for Mobile Backhaul Networks

ADVA Optical Networking introduced its new Syncjack suite for delivering precise timing synchronization and assurance across mobile backhaul networks.


Syncjack features a rich implementation of SyncE and IEEE 1588v2 functionality guaranteeing highly accurate delivery of timing information across any network. The MEF-certified UNI function of the FSP 150 includes support for a large number of EVCs as and hierarchical QoS management. SLA verification can be performed on a per-service basis to ensure high latency, jitter and packet delivery performancehttp://www.advaoptical.com

Read More

Ixia Partners with QualiSystems and ONPATH for Lab Automation

Ixia is partnering with QualiSystems and ONPATH Technologies to offer integrated test lab automation, from network test and measurement equipment, lab topology control, lab re-cabling and reconfiguration, to resource tracking, schedule management, and analytic software. The combined solution centralized control of multi-vendor test gear, automation of manual testing, and off-hours testing. Specifically, Ixia’s Test Composer automation software operates with QualiSystems and ONPATH products to provide quick access to a consolidated lab automation environment.


QualiSystems’ TestShell software enables control over Ixia test equipment and other resources in the lab, simplifying reconfiguration of devices as necessary to execute each test. With its embedded integration and control over ONPATH physical layer switches, the combined solution enables extensive, global lab management, topology creation, test bed and device under test (DUT) provisioning, and full-blown test automation. This high level of integration and control with “push button�? ease accelerates productivity and increases overall lab performance.

http://www.ixiacom.com
http://www.qualisystems.com/

Read More

SOFTBANK MOBILE selects Nokia Siemens Networks

SOFTBANK MOBILE has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to supply, deploy and integrate its 4G, FDD-LTE (Frequency Division Duplex) network across Japan. SOFTBANK MOBILE expects to offer LTE services in autumn 2012. Under a separate contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will also expand SOFTBANK MOBILE’s HSPA+ network to enable new services using the recently allocated 900 MHz frequency band. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Nokia Siemens Networks will supply its Flexi Multiradio Base Station. It will also provide optimized backhaul transport with its FlexiPacket Microwave platform.


Junichi Miyakawa, Executive Vice President, Director and CTO at SOFTBANK MOBILE said, “SOFTBANK MOBILE is witnessing a major upsurge in subscriber numbers with now over 28 million customers. We are committed to providing people with the best mobile internet experience through the launch of 4G, using FDD-LTE, and enhanced, nationwide, HSPA+ network coverage. Nokia Siemens Networks’ mobile broadband technology and services will help us deliver on this commitment. Importantly, Nokia Siemens Networks’ familiarity with our existing network environment offers cost savings as well as enables a faster roll-out of high-quality mobile broadband services."

http://www.nsn.com

Read More

Hibernia and Colt Announce Strategic Agreement

Hibernia Media, the fiber-based video transport division of Hibernia Atlantic, and has entered a strategic relationship with Colt to connect their European and US broadcast networks globally. Under the agreement, Colt has selected Hibernia Media’s platform to deliver managed broadcast services from its customers in Europe into the US, expanding reach and creating a seamless content-delivery system.

Hibernia Media brings Colt’s European customers over 45,000km of terrestrial and trans-Atlantic fiber connectivity and over 100 POPs in the US and Europe, with another 50+ on-net media customer nodes. Hibernia Media offers a Content Exchange Center (CEC) for native HD content delivery from programmers to cable and consumer satellite distributors.

The service will be available to customers from May 15, 2012.

http://www.HiberniaMedia.com

Read More

Rackspace Introduces 'Cloud Powered by OpenStack'

Rackspace introduced its Next Generation Public Cloud powered by OpenStack and featuring Cloud Servers, Cloud Databases, Cloud Block Storage, Cloud Networks, a completely new cloud Control Panel, Cloud Monitoring and support for the OpenStack API.



Rackspace is using OpenStack "Quantum" and Nicira's Network Virtualization Platform (NVP) to automate network services independent of data center network hardware. The design is expected to promote operational simplicity and reduce the costs of managing Rackspace's large-scale, multi-tenant clouds.


OpenStack Quantum allows users to programmatically create and manage logically abstracted network services. Leveraging Quantum's pluggable architecture and extensible API, Nicira has delivered an NVP plug-in which allows OpenStack environments to take full advantage of a Nicira distributed virtualized network infrastructure

Rackspace's new Cloud Servers are provisioned and managed by the new OpenStack API as well as via a control panel. Cloud Databases, powered by OpenStack – gives customers API access to massively scalable, high availability MySQL database that is based on SAN storage for high performance and provides automated management of common database tasks.


"The open era of the cloud is a reality and Rackspace has positioned itself at the forefront of this massive, technological shift," said Lanham Napier, CEO of Rackspace. "We’re drawing a line in the sand against proprietary cloud providers. With this launch, Rackspace is providing an open cloud alternative, backed by Fanatical Support and our core expertise on OpenStack, to deliver a strong product portfolio that will help customers navigate their way through an increasingly complex cloud environment.�?

Nicira noted that it initiated, leads and is the most active participant in the 'Quantum' project. Nicira's Dan Wendlandt is the Project Technical Lead (PTL) for Quantum.

http://www.rackspace.com

http://www.nicira.com

Read More

Sprint to Launch Wholesale Cloud Services

Sprint is preparing to launch Wholesale Cloud Services later this year, providing a suite of applications for SMB-focused resellers.


The idea is to package multi-vendor hosted software services with a software delivery platform. The Sprint Wholesale Cloud Services portfolio consists of both Software as a Service (SaaS) and Communications as a Service (CaaS) solutions intended to help SMBs grow their business. SMBs can take advantage of SaaS product offerings to increase efficiency in the areas of business process, archiving, Web commerce and security. Sprint’s CaaS portfolio offers access to many of today’s preferred communications enablement software solutions.


"Sprint Wholesale Cloud Services enable Wholesale partners and their customers to get to market faster by reducing the number of contracts they are required to manage and aggregating all of the software offerings through a single Web interface,�? said Ben Vos, vice president, Wholesale Business Operations - Sprint. “We’ve minimized the initial capital expenditure required to enter the Cloud Services marketplace, allowing our clients to service their SMB customers with top-tier software solutions, without breaking the bank."

http://www.sprint.com

Read More

NEC's OpenFlow Enables Multitenant Network Virtualization

NEC released its next generation OpenFlow solution, featuring the ability to design, deploy, monitor and manage secure, multitenant networks from a single point of control.


NEC's ProgrammableFlow 2.0 Product Suite builds upon the OpenFlow 1.0 standard to provide more control of network resources, while maintaining interoperability with other OpenFlow compliant equipment. The company said its multitenant network virtualization technology provides the ability to programmatically manage the way traffic flows across the network, optimizing use of existing network resources and the appliances, servers, and storage connecting to the network.

ProgrammableFlow 2.0 Updates Include:

Policy Based Multipath Routing – The physical path traffic takes across the network can be distributed across equal cost links and by path policy. The path policy can be customized dynamically based on traffic type, providing policy based traffic steering.

Point and Click Network Deployment - Virtual networks can be created and deployed from a single user interface. Leveraging NEC’s Virtual Tenant Network (VTN) technology, the Version 2.0 of the ProgrammableFlow Controller interface allows operators to create/delete virtual networks, manage virtual network topology setting, and configuration.

Network Service/Appliance Failover – ProgrammableFlow continuously monitors the status of network services and can automatically redirect traffic to services in the case the primary service is no longer reachable.

Bandwidth Monitor – With the bandwidth monitor function, statistical information can be periodically obtained from OpenFlow switches. The number of bytes received from the physical port of the switches can be collected.

"This release of the ProgrammableFlow 2.0 extends NEC’s lead in software defined networking," said Don Clark, Director of Business Development, IT Platform Technologies, NEC Corporation of America. "Deployed as data center fabric or as a virtualization layer for network services, ProgrammableFlow version 2.0’s automation and ease of use allows customers to quickly deploy and gain the benefits of a software defined network."
http://www.necam.com/pflow

Read More

Broadcom Adds Energy Efficient 10GBASE-T Transceivers

Broadcom has added two energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) 10GBASE-T physical layer transceivers (PHYs) optimized for top-of-rack switches, 10GbE server adapters and LOMs (LAN on motherboard) in the data center.


The new quad-port BCM84844 and dual-port BCM84846 substantially reduce power consumption at 10GE to less than two watts per port through the use of EEE, and extend the benefits of EEE to include all device speeds including 1GbE. The devices are based on Broadcom's second generation 40 nanometer (nm) technology. Broadcom's AutoGrEEEn technology enables systems with legacy MACs to get the power savings of EEE in periods of reduced link utilization. Both PHYs provide on-chip IEEE802.1ae MACsec link layer security and 1588v2 precision time protocol (PTP), delivering precise and accurate synchronization of nodes in the network.

Broadcom said these new devices maintain pin compatibility to previous Broadcom devices (BCM84834 and BCM84836) and integration with Broadcom's broad portfolio of switch, controller, and adapter solutions. This includes PHY drivers within Broadcom's Software Development Kit (SDK) and common implementations of MACsec and 1588v2 PTP.
http://www.broadcom.com

Read More

Texas Instruments Implements JPEG 2000 HD on Multicore DSP

Texas Instruments is enabling a real-time HD JPEG 2000 codec on a multicore digital signal processor (DSP).

Specifically, four TI TMS320C6678 multicore DSPs with JPEG 2000 codecs are available on Advantech's, new DSPC-8681E half-length PCI express card, enabling it to support 2K/4K resolution video encoding/decoding. Because TI's C6678 DSP is entirely software based, switching codecs and parameters is seamless for developers, unlike on a FPGA.


"TI's new codec implementations on Advantech's PCIe-based video engines offer equipment manufacturers the true flexibility that an all software methodology brings to video processing," said David Lin, director DSP solutions, Advantech. "This allows them to deploy leading edge hardware today with product lifecycles significantly extended by software, resulting in a lower total-cost-of-ownership and future-proofed solutions for their customers."

http://www.ti.com

Read More

Open Networking Summit: Interview with Dan Pitt

OpenFlow -- or software defined networking -- is clearly one of the industry's hottest trends, as it promises to bring the power of virtualization, the scalability of the cloud and the economics of commodity hardware. This interview with Dan Pitt, Executive Director of the Open Networking Foundation covers:

1:36 -- What is the mission of the ONF?
1:50 -- Is the ONF a standards setting body?
2:27 -- Has interest in SDF come primarily from data center application, telecom networks or both?
2:48 -- What has the ONF accomplished in its first year?
3:28 -- Attendance at the Open Networking is sold out. What makes it so hot?
4:01 -- What new at this latest summit?
4:34 -- Is SDN making the transition to early adopter phase?
5:12 -- What other resources are available?http://www.convergedigest.com

Read More