OpenDaylight releases Magnesium, its 12th gen SDN controller

The OpenDaylight Project released Magnesium, the 12th version of its open source SDN controller platform.

Highlights of OpenDaylight Magnesium

• New projects: The Magnesium release includes two new projects—DetNet and Plastic. The new projects deal with deterministic networking for performance sensitive traffic and model-to-model translations, respectively. 
• New Features for Service Provider Use Cases: The community contributed several new features to the TransportPCE and BGPCEP projects, making OpenDaylight even better suited to service provider use cases. TransportPCE took a step forward in the control of open optical infrastructure domains while the BGPCEP project added support for missing features from RFC 5440 and a BGP-LS topology provider for segment routing. In addition to these two major areas of enhancements, the Genius project, that provides generic network interfaces, utilities, and services, added support for Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) for OpenFlow tunnels. This makes it easier to detect if the tunnel is bidirectional or not.
• ONAP Integration: the OpenDaylight community provided an optimized distribution of the Magnesium release to the ONAP project so that OpenDaylight can be consumed efficiently by a number of ONAP controllers. Distribution is being integrated successfully by the ONAP Common Controller Software Development Kit (CCSDK) project and will be available in the upcoming ONAP Frankfurt release.
• Improved Functionality, Scalability, and Stability: The Magnesium release continued to make progress around S3P. For example, the OpenFlow plugin and the Netvirt project improved cluster stability, scale, and performance. The projects also include updated documentation, upgrade process description, and numerous bug fixes. The Daexim (data export/import) project has improved scalability and supports processing of very large data sets. Projects such as Genius, OVSDB, NETCONF, and AAA include a variety of improvements in the areas of scalability, performance, and bug fixes. Moreover, the Magnesium release includes Java Developer Kit (JDK) 11 that brings with it a number of security features such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3, newer ciphers, key agreement improvements, and root certificate additions. In total, Magnesium includes 70+ improvements and bug fixes!

Lumina Networks contributed to the Plastic and BGPCEP projects and also released updates to the  Lumina SDN Controller 11.2.0 to align to theOpenDaylight Sodium release.
An early version of the Magnesium release TransportPCE project was used in a live demo at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference to show interoperability of OpenROADM equipment from six suppliers and to control a low latency optical layer build from ROADMs and OTN flexponders. Orange played a central role in moving the project forward.
PANTHEON.tech continued their contributions to the core OpenDaylight platform as well as individual plugins; specific contributions covered JDK 11, YANG Parser, In-memory data tree, OVSDB, and distributed datastore efforts.

https://www.lfnetworking.org/blog/2020/03/31/odl-magnesium-new-projects-new-service-provider-features-and-loads-of-performance-improvements/

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uSenlight employs MaxLinear's PAM4 DSPs for 400G modules

uSenlight Corporation, a key OEM developing high speed, high performance, reliable integrated optical modules for datacenter, FTTx, optical networking and CPRI/LTE applications, has selected MaxLinear’s MxL93542, Telluride PAM4 DSP, to develop its next-generation 400G-DR4 and FR4 optical modules.

The new optical modules build upon the success of uSenlight’s current product offerings of 100G QSFP28 PSM4 and 100G QSFP28 CWDM4 modules for data center connectivity. uSenlight’s experience in data center transceiver design and its manufacturing capabilities enable them to meet the growing demands of hyperscale data center customers.

MaxLinear’s MxL935xx Telluride PAM4 DSPs are key components in the development of high-speed, mega-scale data centers based on 100Gbps single lambda optical interconnects. MaxLinear’s SOCs offer integrated electro-absorption modulated laser (EA-EML) drivers for 100/400Gbps optical interconnects and breakout mode clocking support for 400Gbps DR4 optical modules. The MxL93542 400G PAM4 DSP allows companies like uSenlight to develop a 400Gbps optical interconnect module in a compact form factor for intra-datacenter applications with a transmission distance up to 2 kilometers.

“Telluride DSPs offer industry leading integration, power consumption, and link-margin performance,” said Will Torgerson, Vice President and General Manager of MaxLinear’s High-Speed Interconnect Group. "We are pleased to see that these features will enable uSenlight to develop next-generation 400G-DR4 and FR4 optical modules to address the massive demand to deploy higher speed networks in next-generation hyperscale data centers.”

“MaxLinear’s MxL93542 PAM4 DSP with integrated EML driver offers the highest level of integration compared with other DSPs on the market,” said Dr. Charles Wu, President of uSenlight Corporation. “The integration and performance of the MxL93542 PAM4 DSP is enabling us to expand our portfolio by developing 400Gbps optical interconnects for hyperscale datacenters.”

http://www.maxlinear.com/MxL93542

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EANTC validates interoperability of ADVA's NOS

The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) has validated the interoperability of ADVA's carrier-grade network operating system (NOS) with routers and network management systems from a wide range of vendors while supporting segment routing and MPLS Layer 3 services. The testing was conducted at the EANTC’s facility in Berlin.

ADVA said its Ensemble Activator NOS successfully demonstrated interoperability in a series of tests showing how disaggregated packet devices can significantly enhance the scale and functionality of networks. ADVA’s NOS is designed for white box switching and features zero-touch provisioning using the Open Networking Install Environment (ONIE) framework.

“Putting our Ensemble Activator through EANTC’s rigorous tests emphasizes the commitment to openness and interoperability that underpins all ADVA innovation. But we’re also showing the industry how we can bring something special to Layer 3. Our years of experience with lower layer solutions give us a unique understanding of the operational aspects of networks,” said Eli Angel, VP, product line management, ADVA. “Our Ensemble Activator is proven to enable high-value disaggregated cell site gateway solutions, bringing the agility of software-based feature development to mobile networks. Now, we’re going even further and extending our unique MEF 3.0-certified solution with higher layer networking capabilities. These tests highlight how our Ensemble Activator supports segment routing and MPLS. What more, our disaggregated packet solution releases communication service providers from vendor lock-in and delivers total agility.”

“Our evaluation confirms that Ensemble Activator successfully interworked with third-party routers and network management systems. In environments featuring technology from other major vendors, ADVA’s disaggregated software NOS was verified in tests focused on Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPNs, segment routing, and control and data plane capabilities,” commented Carsten Rossenhövel, managing director, EANTC. “This latest interoperability event was a major success with more than 100 attendees from 16 vendors, including many participating remotely. Its program reflected a shift across the industry to software-defined networking with many testing scenarios involving programmability and manageability. ADVA’s Ensemble Activator easily integrated and successfully interoperated in several of these tests, such as those focused on vendor-neutral Layer 3 segment routing and telemetry streaming.”

https://adva.li/eantc-2020

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IDC: Cloud infrastructure spending rose 12% in 4Q19

Total end-user spending on IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud environments, including public and private cloud, recovered in the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q19) after two consecutive quarters of decline, growing 12.4% year over year in Q4 2019 to $19.4 billion, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker.

"While the beginning of 2020 was marked by supply chain issues that should be resolved before the end of the second quarter, the negative economic impact will hit enterprise customers' CAPEX spending," said Kuba Stolarski, research director, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies at IDC. "As enterprise IT budgets tighten through the year, public cloud will see an increase in demand for services. This increase will come in part from the surge of work-from-home employees using online collaboration tools, but also from workload migration to public cloud as enterprises seek ways to save money for the current year. Once the coast is clear of coronavirus, IDC expects some of this new cloud service demand to remain sticky going forward."

IDC's new five-year forecast predicts cloud IT infrastructure spending* will reach $100.1 billion in 2024 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4%. Non-cloud IT infrastructure spending will decline slightly to $65.3 billion with a -0.7% CAGR. Total IT infrastructure is forecast to grow at a 4.2% CAGR and produce $165.4 billion in spending in 2024.

Some highlights from IDC

The overall IT infrastructure market continued to struggle after its strong performance in 2018, up 3.3% to $38.1 billion in 4Q19 but declining 1.1% to $134.4 billion for the full year. Non-cloud IT infrastructure fell 4.6% to $18.7 billion for the quarter and declined 4.1% to $67.7 billion for the year.
Spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 4Q19 was driven by the public cloud segment, which grew 14.5% year over year to $13.3 billion; private cloud grew 8.2% to $6.1 billion.
IDC expects cloud IT infrastructure will stay above 50% of the IT Infrastructure market at both the quarterly and annual levels, reaching 60.5% annually in 2024.
Across the three IT infrastructure technology domains, storage platforms saw the fastest year-over-year growth in 4Q19 at 15.1% with spending reaching $6.6 billion. Compute platforms grew 14.5% year over year with $10.8 billion in spending while Ethernet switches declined 3.9% to $2.0 billion.
For the full year 2019, Ethernet switches led with year-over-year growth of 5.0% and $8.2 billion in spending, followed by storage platforms with 1.9% growth and spending of $23.1 billion, and compute platforms with growth of 1.5% and spending of $35.5 billion.
IDC's forecast for 2020, after taking into consideration the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing economic crisis, is for $69.2 billion in cloud IT infrastructure spending*, a 3.6% predicted annual increase over 2019. Non-cloud IT infrastructure spending is expected to decline 9.2% to $61.4 billion in 2020. Together, overall IT infrastructure spending is expected to decline 2.9% to $130.6 billion.

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IDC cuts worldwide IT spending forecast by 2.7% due to COVID-19

Worldwide IT spending is now expected to decline 2.7% in constant currency terms this year as COVID-19 impacts the global economy and forces many organizations around the world to respond with contingency planning and spending cuts in the short term, according to IDC. In line with previous economic recessions, IT spending on hardware, software, and IT services is likely to decline by more than real GDP overall, as commercial IT buyers and consumers implement rapid cuts to capital spending in line with declining revenues, profits, market valuations, and employee headcounts.

"Overall IT spending will decline in 2020, despite increased demand and usage for some technologies and services by individual companies and consumers," said Stephen Minton, program vice president in IDC's Customer Insights & Analysis group. "Businesses in sectors of the economy that are hardest hit during the first half of the year will react by delaying some purchases and projects, and the lack of visibility related to medical factors will ensure that many organizations take an extremely cautious approach when it comes to budget contingency planning in the near term."

Spending on server/storage and network hardware will also decline overall despite strong demand for cloud services as enterprise customers delay purchases during the initial rapid response phase of the current crisis. Total infrastructure spending (including cloud) will increase by 5.3%, but all of this growth will come from enterprise spending on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and cloud provider spending on servers. Meanwhile, overall server/storage hardware spending will be down by 3.3% and enterprise network equipment spending will decline by 1.7%.

"Hardware spending in general is always identified for rapid spending cuts during any economic crisis, as a means for enterprises to quickly protect short-term profitability," said Minton. "In previous economic crashes, IT hardware has tended to overshoot the economic cycle on both the downside and in the recovery phase. That's because underlying demand drivers don't change overnight, but the timing of purchases is shifted and delayed, and this can now be done even more quickly than in the past. What's different now is that cloud is a bigger factor than it was in any previous global recession, and this should mean that overall spending is less volatile than in the last two major IT spending downturns."

More: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46186120

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Renesas and Microsoft develop chip-to-cloud IoT solution

Renesas is teaming up with Microsoft to offer seamless device-to-cloud experience for IoT developers.

The companies to deliver a complete chip-to-cloud IoT solution based on Renesas’ microcontroller (MCU) and microprocessor (MPU) devices and Microsoft Azure IoT building blocks, including Azure RTOS, Azure IoT device SDK for C, IoT Plug and Play, IoT Central and IoT Hub.

“Our Synergy and RX cloud kits combined with Azure RTOS and other Azure IoT building blocks offer MCU customers a quick and secure end-to-end solution for cloud connectivity,” said Sailesh Chittipeddi, Executive Vice President, General Manager IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas. “We are excited to expand our collaboration with Microsoft and look forward to bringing Microsoft Azure to our MCU and MPU customers, including solutions that will support Azure IoT Edge Runtime for Linux on our RZ MPUs.”

“Integrating our industry-leading Azure IoT services with Renesas’ Synergy and RX microcontroller cloud kits makes it easier for customers to build and bring new enterprise-grade IoT solutions to market quickly,” said Sam George, Corporate Vice President, Azure IoT, Microsoft. “As a result of our collaboration with Renesas, customers will soon be able to seamlessly connect their devices to Microsoft Azure, and we look forward to delivering additional intelligent capabilities in the future.”

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