Orchestration Progress, Importance For NFV - NFV-SDN Episode 39

On this week's NFV/SDN Reality Check show we look at NFV orchestration development and top news stories of the past week.

Orchestration platforms remain a significant barrier for the development and deployment of virtualized platforms as carriers rely on such platforms to manage network functions in a hybrid environment.

One company that has aggressively targeted the orchestration challenge is Oracle Communications, which recently released an update to its Application Orchestrator platform that includes support for deploying and managing physical network functions and virtual network functions; deploying and managing composite network functions; and can integrate with third-party VNFs using a plug-in development kit that includes an interface designed to help onboard and deploy VNFs and lifecycle management services.

Oracle noted the update follows up on the initial launch of its orchestrator platform in 2014, which rolled out under the pretense of reducing deployment times for operators looking at network functions virtualization and software-defined networking technologies. The company has since launched a number of NFV- and SDN-based products, including an orchestrator update earlier this year.

Chris King, senior director of product marketing at Oracle, joined us on this week’s NFV/SDN Reality Check to discuss the progress being made on orchestration platforms and the importance of that progress towards NFV deployments.

We also look at some of the top headlines across the NFV and SDN space:

--The Linux Foundation continued its push in support of open source standards, announcing an online training course targeting OpenStack software.

The training course, dubbed “OpenStack Administration Fundamentals,” is said to be a self-paced course designed to help prepare for the OpenStack Foundation’s Certified OpenStack Administrator exam. The Linux Foundation noted the course is similar to the existing “Essentials of OpenStack Administration” course, but offered online in a move to lower costs and increase student accessibility. The online course is priced at $499.

The course is set to begin Jan. 19, with students allowed up to 1 year to complete the course work. The next certification exam is scheduled for the second quarter of next year.

The Linux Foundation said the move was necessary as accelerated adoption of OpenStack has resulted in a shortage of qualified OpenStack administrators.

--Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced a deal with Microsoft to use the software giant’s Azure platform as the preferred public cloud partner for HPE customers, and in turn having HPE serve as the preferred infrastructure and services provider for Microsoft’s hybrid cloud offerings.

The collaboration is set to include the introduction of a “hyper-converged” system integrating hybrid cloud capabilities under the HPE Hyper-Converged 250 for Microsoft Cloud Platform System Standard.

The platform is said to provide Azure services to data centers, including self-deployment of Windows and Linux workloads; taps Azure services for backup and disaster recovery; and uses HPE’s OneView for Microsoft System Center for an integrated management platform across all system components.

The two companies are also working on establishing HPE Azure Centers for Excellence in Palo Alto, California, and Houston designed to support hybrid cloud services. HPE said it will also certify an additional 5,000 “Azure Cloud Architects” to extend its enterprise service offerings.

HPE last month was split off from Hewlett-Packard, taking on the hardware giant’s servers, storage, software and network gear business. The newly thinned HP maintains the company’s personal computer and printers business. The move resulted in tens of thousands of job cuts.

A recent report from IDC found HP at the end of the second quarter was the worldwide market share leader in the server business, garnering 25.4% of the $13.5 billion market.

Microsoft in October announced a hybrid cloud solution agreement with Dell that calls for modular Dell infrastructure to include Microsoft Cloud Platform System software and Azure services.

Make sure to check out our next episode of NFV/SDN Reality Check on Dec. 11, when we again look at some of the top news stories of the week and speak with Eileen Healy, spokeswoman for IEEE, and the coming of age of “softwarization” and get some insight into IEEE’s Globecom 2015 event.

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