Cisco launches new NFV infrastructure solution

Digitisation is driving service providers to find new ways to do things better, faster and with lower costs. To get there, many are moving toward virtualisation and simplified programmability solutions for their networks.

Network functions virtualisation (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN) are the popular software-based approaches that service providers are using to design, deploy and manage their networks and services.

Cisco has introduced its new NFV Infrastructure Solution (NFVI), combining virtual and physical environments, and providing all the necessary compute, storage, and networking infrastructure to run NFV network services.

The new NFV Infrastructure complements existing virtualisation solutions like the Cisco Virtualized Packet Core (VPC), which provides network functions as virtualised services. It combines all mobile packet core services for 4G, 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, and small cell networks into a single solution.

Customers including South Africa’s Vodacom are in the integration phase to use the Cisco VPC, with NFV Infrastructure and Cisco Advanced Services delivery to scale their network capacity and introduce new services faster and more cost-effectively.

Benefits of NFVI:

• It helps to further simplify and automate service providers’ NFV operations to deliver applications and services faster.
• It provides a robust solution with carrier-grade performance, availability, security, and scalability.
• This is a ready-to-go, fully integrated and tested infrastructure.
• Independent EANTC testing validated the Cisco NFV Infrastructure and its openness and interoperability.
• The automated life cycle management of Cisco NFV Infrastructure can significantly lower network total cost of ownership by as much as 40%.

“This solution is another step in delivering on our strategy for an open, modular and expandable network architecture,” said Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president, Cisco Service Provider business, products and solutions. “We are committed to helping our service provider customers embrace the network transformation toward virtualisation with the right foundation to successfully deploy virtualised network functions.”