There has been one major shift in the air for many telecommunications firms, and it all revolves around a pair of three-letter acronyms: software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). But setting up SDN and NFV can be somewhat difficult, and there are plenty of vendors looking to establish a beachhead in these new markets. To help counteract that, meanwhile, there is one new option that takes open source philosophy and applies it to these new technologies in the form of Arno, said to be the first open source NFV platform.
Arno is part of the OPNFV Project , which represents an open source platform designed to more readily introduce NFV products and services at a carrier-grade quality level with full integration. Arno itself was meant for those looking to bring in NFV deployments in an operation, or performing other functions like developing virtual network functions (VNF) applications or just running some early tests to see what kind of impact NFV might have on an organization's operations.
To that end, Arno comes equipped with a basic NFV Infrastructure (NFVI) build, as well as the necessary Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) components of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) NFV architecture. These components together help bring an NFV system into place more rapidly and with less difficulty, meaning a likely reduction in expense. Additionally, reports note that the newest Arno comes with a set of automated build scripts to make building the platforms easier, as well as a set of deployable images and even an automated toolchain for building and deployment.
Image via Shutterstock Since there were three separate community labs involved in Arno's construction, according to reports, the end result is that the product should move easily into other environments. But this won't be the end of Arno's development; reports further note that the future offerings from the OPNFV platform will be based around the lessons gathered from Arno itself. OPNFV reportedly plans to engage in biannual releases so as to help improve release quality from there.
It's hard to fault OPNFV's stance on this one; it's planning aggressive releases, regular learning, and plans to continually refine its release until it's reached its pinnacle, and that's a strategy that should pay off in the long run with a high-quality release. It's easy to just release a product and never update it, going for the low-hanging fruit in a market, but OPNFV's Arno looks like it's more interested in fundamentally transforming a market than it is taking advantage of it. That's good news for everyone with an interest in NFV; Arno's not only going to be good today, but it's likely to be good six months from now, a year, and beyond.
Edited by
Dominick Sorrentino
