ONF Launches Continuous Certification Program

MENLO PARK, Calif., May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) today announced its new Continuous Certification Program, enabling supply chain vendors to embed their products for ongoing test and compliance certification with ONF's open source software projects.   

Additionally, the Open Compute Project (OCP) is collaborating with ONF in this new program to promote the use of OCP-recognized open hardware in ONF solutions. Together, this collaboration will make clear for end users how best to assemble world-class solutions leveraging both open hardware and open software components, thus driving wider adoption of comprehensive open networking solutions.

The Test and Certification Challenge
With the advent of open source, the networking industry has come to struggle with how to certify products against rapidly evolving open source projects.  Traditional certification practices don't work for open source because the software may well have advanced by one or two releases by the time a test plan can be completed, testing labs are enabled and a certification program launched.  This delay renders the test plan obsolete before certification can even get started. 

ONF is responding to member and market needs to reimagine certification testing in the age of Continuous Integration (CI)/Continuous Deployment (CD) and cloud software development.

ONF projects already incorporate a continuous testing framework that keeps pace with enhancements to the platform in order to facilitate CI/CD - thus enabling rapid agile software development. ONF's new Continuous Certification (CC) Program leverages the ever evolving testing framework for each project, and inserts participant products into the CI/CD/CC pipeline such that the systems are continuously retested and certified on an hourly or daily basis.  When a formal release of the project is declared, all systems currently validated as conformant in the CI/CD/CC pipeline will be officially certified as part of the release package bill-of-materials.

Product certification in ONF's CI/CD/CC process is not a one-time activity. Vendors provide hardware or software products for indefinite installation into the development pipeline, and their products are continually tested throughout the development process. Rather than simply publishing static and outdated results, the real time status is made available via a public dashboard highlighting each product's current compatibility with the most recent in-development version of ONF open source software.  This is, in essence, cloud era certification.

The testing and certification process requires considerable resources. ONF is unique in that it is the only open source networking organization with a full-time engineering team, thus making implementation of this new program possible. With this program, ONF will be publishing certified hardware and software BOMs (bill-of-materials) to smooth adoption of ONF platforms and broaden the ecosystem of hardware and software components compatible with ONF software distributions.

"The increasing speed at which operator-driven open source and SDN network deployments has been moving over the past few years mandates a certification program that is designed to run several times faster than conventional certification processes," said Timon Sloane, Vice President of Marketing & Ecosystem for the ONF. "The ONF is in a singular position to offer this testing, and our Continuous Certification Program is further enhanced when testing is performed by engineers who have hands-on familiarity with the ONF's Reference Design platforms. Our Continuous Certification program is also consistent with the industry migration to cloud native testing and automation, and increases the velocity of innovation and value provided to our members."

"The OCP is very pleased to be partnering with ONF on this new continuous certification program.  This new ONF program pairs nicely with our Recognition Program and Marketplace that highlights integrated solutions.  The OCP Marketplace will identify OCP Inspired™ and OCP Accepted™ products that achieve ONF certification.  We anticipate this program will accelerate introduction of new cloud hardware technology into the ONF's test and certification pipeline.  By working together, OCP and ONF are advancing our joint goal of accelerating adoption of open hardware and software by making selection of a complete hardware/software BOM much more streamlined for end users."
Bill Carter, CTO, Open Compute Project (OCP).

Founding Members

Vendors who are early participants in the program include Edgecore Networks, Accelleran, Delta, Inventec, MiTAC, Sercomm, STORDIS and Wywinn

"Edgecore is pleased to see ONF creating this new Continuous Certification Program. Addressing ongoing certification of hardware platforms from vendors like Edgecore with the most current software for projects like SEBA simplifies the migration from closed proprietary systems and enables a cloud-like agile development pipeline for operators.
George Tchaparian, President & CEO Edgecore Networks

"Accelleran is pleased to be certifying its E1000 Series small cell and its cloud-native, open and intelligent RAN Controller (dRAX) software with the Aether Edge-Cloud-as-a-Service platform. These products enable cellular connectivity on multiple licensed bands including CBRS. Accelleran has been one of the founding companies of the Aether project and a key promoter of ONF's efforts to build a private enterprise mobile offering. Accelleran is committed to supporting the project and ONF members joining the Aether pilot program as a way to help accelerate the industry's adoption of private LTE." 
Frédéric Van Durme, CEO of Accelleran

"The Continuous Certification Program is the right step forward as we foster a world of open networking. We are excited to become a founding member of the program and look forward to further collaboration."
Jeff Chen, General Manager of the DNI business unit at Delta Electronics, Inc. "

"Inventec is dedicated in providing solutions to the ONF community through active contributions to Stratum. As a founding member, the ONF CC Program provides an excellent platform for community collaboration. We look forward to further collaboration with the industry."
Jack Tsai, Business Group President, EBG at Inventec Corp. "

"MiTAC is a professional IT solution provider, providing total solutions from edge to cloud with advanced R&D, TCO and worldwide operations. With recent recognition of World's 1st SEBA Certificated OCP Solution (MiTAC Tioga Pass E7278 Server), MiTAC is ready to join the ONF Continuous Certification Program. We commit to implement our OCP product into ONF SEBA solution, as well as software certification in parallel to make sure we can deliver the right product to the market at the right time. We are pleased to be a founding participant."
Steven Wen, Senior Director, MiTAC

"Sercomm is active in both the ONF's mobile (Aether) and broadband (SEBA) solutions.  We have our CBRS small cell certifying with Aether and our GPON ONU certifying for use with SEBA.  Furthermore, we are aligned with ONF on developing solutions compatible with the O-RAN architecture and we are collaborating to extend our open interfaces and integrate our RU-DU with ONF's upcoming open source CU implementation."
Ben Lin, Executive Vice President, Sercomm

"STORDIS is proud to be a part of the new ONF Continuous Certification Program. We strive to strongly support the initiative which brings together open hardware and open software and guarantees continuous high quality. We see great potential in ONF's collaboration with the Open Compute Project and we are delighted that our OCP Accepted™ Advanced Programmable Switches (BF2556X-1T and BF6064X-T) in conjunction with ONL/ONLPv2 fully support the ONF's Stratum project and are already permanently installed in the ONF Lab. We look forward to working even closer with the OCP and the ONF to accelerate the adoption of mission critical open networking technologies."
Alexander Jefferies CEO, STORDIS

"Wiwynn is excited to be one of the first to join ONF's Continuous Certification (CC) Program. We have designed our server fleet based on OCP open hardware specs and are committed to providing our customers with ONF Aether and SEBA compatible systems. The ONF CC Program ensures hardware compatibility with the latest updated software releases and provides rapid time-to-market solutions due to its expedited verification processes." 
Dr. Sunlai Chang, Senior Vice President and CTO, Wiwynn

Learn More
The ONF Continuous Certification Program is launching first with support for the Aether, SEBA/VOLTHA and Stratum projects.  Additional program details and the latest program updates can be found here.

About the Open Networking Foundation
The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is an operator led consortium spearheading disruptive network transformation. The ONF Is now  recognized as a leader for open source solutions for operators. The ONF first launched in 2011 as the standard bearer for Software Defined Networking (SDN). Led by its operator partners AT&T, China Unicom, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom, Google, NTT Group and Turk Telekom, the ONF is driving vast transformation across the operator space. For further information visit: http://www.opennetworking.org

Media Contact:
Greg Cross
PR for the ONF
[email protected]

SOURCE Open Networking Foundation

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