SDN and NFV: Technology implementation and commercial deployment in full swing

On June 1-2, 2016, with the support of China SDN Professional Committee, ONF, ONF, OpenDaylight, OPNFV, ONOS, and jointly sponsored by Jiangsu Future Network Innovation Institute (FNII) and BII Group, the "2016 Global SDNFV Technology Conference" was held in Beijing Guobin Hotel. The conference brought together top experts from authoritative organizations such as the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, ONF, OpenDaylight, OPNFV, ONOS, and the Linux Foundation, as well as scientific research representatives from domestic and foreign operators, cloud data centers, Internet companies and other application units, as well as nearly 50 guests and nearly 1,000 audiences from major equipment manufacturers, to discuss the practice and deployment of SDN/NFV, and through a variety of presentation forms, professionally, stereoscopically, and vividly demonstrated the latest deployment status and development direction of SDN/NFV technology, helping it to continue to move forward.

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After ten years of development, software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) have gradually passed the stage of concept hype and truly entered the stage of commercial deployment. Almost all mainstream operators, cloud data centers, and Internet companies around the world are conducting research and deployment of SDN and NFV to save more costs while providing more flexible and high-quality services. The latest report from Infonetics, a world-renowned research company, shows that by 2018, the global operator SDN/NFV market size will reach US$11 billion. Therefore, under the trend of cloud computing and network virtualization, SDN/NFV will definitely become the key technology of the future network and have a revolutionary impact on the entire network world.

SDN/NFV technology implementation and integrated development

The emergence of software-defined networking and network virtualization technologies has brought a new era of infrastructure as a service to the entire industry. The barriers between data centers are no longer strict, and network channels are more flexible. The open + open source standardization model will inevitably lower the entry threshold of the market, thus bringing a new wave of application service innovation. Although SDN and NFV are different in technical concepts, they are highly complementary. SDN can bring more flexibility to the network, while NFV can better adapt to the virtualized environment and save a lot of hardware costs. SDN and NFV can work together to provide the best solution. The integration of the two concepts and solutions will inevitably create greater value.

As SDN/NFV technology is truly moving towards commercial deployment, the focus of this conference is also on the practice and deployment of technology. Starting from multiple application scenarios such as operator networks, enterprise networks, and cloud data centers, a comprehensive analysis is conducted from multiple angles such as theoretical discussion, strategy planning, technical practice, and case analysis. It is worth noting that representatives from domestic and foreign operators, Internet companies, large cloud data centers, and equipment companies have brought their latest products, technology platforms, and service experiences in related fields, and have made horizontal summaries and vertical analyses of SDN/NFV applications from a deeper, more critical, and more concrete perspective, which is thought-provoking. Zhao Huiling, executive director of the China Institute of Communications, emphasized in her speech that from 2016 to 2019, SDN/NFV has entered the development stage, including AT&T's Domain 2.0, Vodafone, and the CSO orchestrator project initiated by China Telecom in conjunction with ONF and multiple operators.

The most authoritative voices at home and abroad discuss open source and standards

Another highlight of this conference is that it brought together top experts from five authoritative organizations in the industry, including ONF, OpenDaylight, OPNFV, ONOS, and the Linux Foundation. Dan Pitt, Executive Chairman of ONF, Colin Dixon, Chairman of the OpneDaylight Technical Steering Committee, Marc Cohn, Vice President of Network Strategy of the Linux Foundation, Deng Hui, Director of OPNFV, and Mr. David Lenrow, ONOS Promotion Ambassador, all delivered wonderful speeches at the conference. At the meeting, Dan Pitt, Chairman of ONF, said that open source and standards play a decisive role in network innovation. After several years of development, SDN has also produced many fruitful results. Neela Jacques, Executive Chairman of OpenDaylight, also specifically stated: The growth of China's SDN market is very amazing. China's huge scientific research and innovation capabilities and leadership in the field of SDN are surprising. OpenDaylight is very honored to communicate with you at this conference.

In addition, Liu Yunjie, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of Jiangsu Future Network Innovation Institute, and Hou Ziqiang, member of the Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and member of the Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, discussed the development trends and prospects of SDN/NFV technologies from the perspective of practical application fields such as future networks, 5G and the Internet of Things. Academician Liu emphasized at the meeting that the Internet is facing serious challenges, and the deep integration of the Internet and the real economy is an inevitable trend of development. The future network will usher in development opportunities and become a hot spot of global competition.

The industrial chain is getting stronger and the display forms are getting richer

Unlike previous conferences, this year more and more manufacturers have joined the industry, and the entire industry chain has become stronger. At this conference, Huawei, Ixia, Brocade, FiberHome, Mellanox, Taiwan SDN/NFV Industry Alliance, Spirent, Cemtech, Spruce Networks, IPinfusion, Ruijie, Sonus, Daho and other manufacturers participated in the exhibition, and many of them brought a lot of eye-catching equipment and new technical solutions.

In addition to the increasingly diverse participating manufacturers, the presentation format of this conference is also particularly rich. In addition to the keynote speeches, there are also special sessions such as roundtable forums, white paper releases, SDNFV Fest test forums, controller sessions, test solution sessions, and scientific research and innovation sessions. Focusing on the application and deployment of SDN/NFV technology, the conference approaches from various key angles of the industrial chain and conducts multi-dimensional presentations and explanations.

It is worth noting that the "2016 Spring SDNFV Fest" test event was held two weeks before the opening of the conference (May 16-20), with nearly 30 engineers from 14 companies participating in the test event. The test event was also comprehensively displayed at the Global SDNFV Technology Conference through the SDNFV Fest ShowCase and the test event special session. Representatives from many manufacturers such as Ixia, H3C, Ruijie Networks and Ximai Technology demonstrated their related solutions on site, highly recreating the test site and providing the audience with an optimal platform for close-up experience of SDN/NFV testing.

As Liu Dong, chairman of the conference and chairman of BII, said: In 2016, SDN and NFV entered a critical period of commercial deployment. Almost all mainstream operators, cloud data centers, and Internet companies in the world are conducting research and deployment of SDN and NFV. Major international organizations are also working hard to promote the development of related standards and technologies. SDN/NFV will usher in a golden age. As an important part of the future network, both SDN and NFV are bound to shine in many fields such as high-speed broadband, 5G, and the Internet of Things. With the joint efforts of the entire industry chain, we will jointly build a more secure, reliable, and high-performance future network for the benefit of mankind.