ADVA advances its Ensemble Suite for NFV with zero-touch capabilities

Ensemble, a division of ADVA, launched a major new release of its network functions virtualization (NFV) platform with a focus on reducing deployment and operations complexity for network operators. The suite includes the Ensemble Orchestrator, Ensemble Director, Ensemble Connector.

New management and orchestration (MANO) capabilities enable service providers to roll out secure virtualized services at scale by using pre-packaged designs. Better design simplifies integration into higher level OSS, BSS or portal systems, which leads to faster deployment of services at scale with less-trained staff.

The company said the new capabilities were developed alongside Tier 1 customers in direct response to their requirements and the need to address security and complexity challenges. The new MANO features include multi-layer security, simplified management of NFV infrastructure (NFVI) and service chain creation, visibility, monitoring and troubleshooting. The latest release is based on three years of real-world experience enabling companies to deploy and manage software-based, cloud-native solutions.

"Our Ensemble solutions are successfully deployed in major networks across the globe. Now, we're taking the agility and efficiency of cloud-centric service provision to the next level. We're well beyond simply making NFV work. With the new functionality of our Ensemble portfolio, we're empowering our customers to deploy and manage virtual network functions (VNFs) at scale," said Prayson Pate, CTO, Ensemble division, ADVA. "From day one, we've been ahead of the curve when it comes to delivering the promise of NFV. While others have spent the last three years theorizing and testing, we've been empowering leading global service providers to deliver agile, cost-efficient virtualized offerings."

Some highlighted capabilities in Ensemble

• The ability to deploy NFV and virtualized services across multiple locations with flexibility and scale
• The ability to provide Day 0 configuration of VNFs. 
• The ability to resolve problems related to operating uCPE deployments at scale, such as a single IP address for management and in-service software upgrades with reversion. 
• Multi-layered approach to security helps operators tackle vulnerabilities, and it provides software-based encryption that can be combined with VNFs. 
• User-friendly information on service chain operations as well as virtualization tools for analysis and troubleshooting. 
• Zero touch provisioning capabilities remove the need for user intervention and replace truck rolls and on-site technicians with automation. This empowers an operator to ship an unconfigured COTS server to a customer site and commission it automatically.
• Embedded cloud: Solves the problems of deploying OpenStack in the distributed telco network 
• LTE wireless support: Enables turn-up of sites that don’t yet have wireline connectivity, as well as providing an economical means of resilient access.
• Scalable software -- from small Intel Atom servers, up to large Xeon-based blade servers. Upcoming support for ARM servers.
• Multiplatform hardware support -- including Dell, Lanner, Advantech, Lenovo, HPE, Supermicro

"The team at ADVA's Ensemble division understands our NFV strategy and shares our drive to empower customers through sophisticated cloud-based services. The new Ensemble release makes deploying and managing VNFs and the NFV infrastructure simpler, quicker and more secure," commented Mirko Voltolini, head of Network On Demand, Colt Technology Services. "The latest enhancements help us build service chains on demand and safeguard our customers' networks with additional security controls. One of the Ensemble suite's recently added capabilities is zero touch provisioning. That ability to ship unconfigured COTS servers to customers and commission them automatically gives us a key advantage. Not only does it generate significant cost savings but it also simplifies and accelerates service activation."

A slide presentation on Ensemble's MANO capabilities can be found here: http://adva.li/mano-slides