NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the market-leading online community for the global communications sector, has published a groundbreaking, multivendor NFV interoperability test report that will help to further the development and implementation of communication service provider virtualization and cloud capabilities.
In a historic first for the communications networking industry, Light Reading, in partnership with European Advanced Networking Test Center AG (EANTC) (http://www.eantc.de/) on behalf of the New IP Agency (NIA -- http://www.newipagency.com/), organized and carried out the world's first independent interoperability evaluation of NFV infrastructure, focused on multivendor NFV infrastructure-to-virtual network function (NFVi-to-VNF) interoperability.
Now the results of that evaluation have been shared with the industry in an extensive and revealing report. The results show that while interoperability is already possible between NFV technology elements from different vendors, there is still much work to be done and much to learn about NFV deployments.
For this round of 'Phase 1' tests, four networking companies stepped up to supply their NFVi platforms for independent evaluation:
In addition, 12 vendors supplied many different VNFs, including virtual routers, evolved packet core (EPC) elements, test probes and more. Those vendors were:
Of the 39 separate interoperability tests conducted by EANTC, 25 (or 64%) met all the requirements for a 'pass.' The report includes a 'Results Matrix' that shows which VNFs are interoperable with which NFVi platforms.
"This first round of testing is a shining example of the telecom industry at its best, working across company lines to accelerate the deployment of virtualized networks by addressing service providers' number one fear about NFV: interoperability," says Stephen Saunders, Founder and CEO of Light Reading. "All of the participants should be immensely proud of their achievements in this evaluation. There are only winners here, and the biggest winner of all is the comms industry itself."
Carsten Rossenhoevel, Managing Director, EANTC, added: "The high pass rate confirms that the participating vendors have already made great progress towards multi-vendor interoperability – a topic of utmost importance to create a viable, open market for service providers to select solutions best suiting their requirements."
Bhaskar Gorti, President of IP Platforms for Alcatel-Lucent, said: "One of the key NFV success factors is having open and interoperable software. From the very beginning, Alcatel-Lucent has focused on developing all aspects of NFV and we welcome the opportunity to publicly assess the state of the market. We applaud NIA and EANTC for taking on this important initiative to raise awareness of the critical role openness and interoperability plays in the NFV cloud environment," he added.
The full report can be read at Light Reading: http://www.lightreading.com/nfv/nfv-tests-and-trials/exclusive!-nfv-interop-evaluation-results/d/d-id/719675
This was Phase 1 of the test program being devised by Light Reading and EANTC for the New IP Agency: Further test phases will focus on other aspects of NFV as determined by the NIA board, which will be formed and meet for the first time early in 2016.
For more information about the NIA, go to http://www.newipagency.com
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About Light Reading
Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) helps the global communications industry make informed decisions. The Lightreading.com site is the definitive source for next-generation communications analysis for more than 450,000 users each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading also produces live events for executives charged with monetizing cable, New IP, optical, Ethernet, mobile, gigabit cities, security, virtualization, components, communications drones, next-gen analytics, Internet of Things, and wireline networks.
Media Contact:
Ray Le Maistre
Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading
O: +44(0)1372 800 585
[email protected]
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SOURCE Light Reading
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