Spirent SDN and NFV Test and Monitoring Solutions for SDN and NFV Network Operations

Spirent Solutions

Cloud and IP

Test, measure and validate networks and

deploy services – performance testing and

analysis of virtualization, cloud computing,

mobile backhaul, and Ethernet.

Mobility Core and Edge

High performance, high scale and functional

testing of Mobile, Wi-Fi, IMS and Diameter

for LTE, GSM, UMTS, eHRPD and Wi-Fi

networks.

Application and Security Assurance

Comprehensive network applications and

security assurance during all phases of SDN

and NFV network operations.

Service Assurance

Visibility from provisioning to performance

monitoring and troubleshooting.

Lab Orchestration and Test Automation

End-to-end lab orchestration and test

automation integrated with DevOps

continuous delivery infrastructures, enables

pre-deployment, deployment and post

deployment.

Spirent SDN and NFV

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SDN and NFV networks present new challenges for network operators that are driven by the

increased flexibility and speed of software changes, compared to more rigid hardware-based

network elements.

SDN and NFV network operators require test and measurement solutions to support “pre-

deployment”, “during deployment” and “post-deployment” operations that need to be as

agile, and as interconnected as the SDN and NFV network itself.

ETSI standards indicate test and measurement requirements:

� ETSI-NFV-TST-001 “Pre-Deployment Testing”

� ETSI-NFV-REL-004   “Active Monitoring and Failure Detections”

Network Infrastructure

SDNController

Admin &Application

Southbound SDN Protocols

PERouterCPERouter

DataCenter

ServiceProvider

WAN Cloud

Enterprise

Overlay-MPLS, VXLAN, EVPN, SR

BusinessApplications

Southbound API

Northbound API

VirtualAppliance

vSwitch

VirtualAppliance

VirtualAppliance

VirtualAppliance

SDNController

DC SDNRouter

SDNvRouter

Lab Orchestration andTest Automation Tools

Test Tool Agents (Virtual and Physical)

Cloud & IP Mobility Applicationsand Security

ServiceAssurance

Spirent test and monitoring solutions

Spirent’s test and monitoring solutions encompass a broad range of SDN and NFV

operational test and monitoring requirements including cloud stack layers, NFV elements, IP

infrastructures, mobile virtual core and edge elements, application and security assurance .

Service assurance, and orchestration and test automation requirements.

Test and monitoring solutions for SDN and NFV network operations

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Spirent SDN and NFV

The primary challenges in validating a SDN and NFV Cloud

Infrastructure centers around the need to test each of the system

layers (NFVI, VNFs, Orchestrator, etc.), the interconnections between

NFVs that make up the network and advanced administrative

capabilities that operators need to manage the network. The following

are test and monitoring requirements for SDN and NFV infrastructure

operations:

� APIs, protocols such as OpenFlow, tunneled encapsulations such

as VXLAN, MPLS, GRE, segment routing or EVPN

� Engineering and benchmarking of infrastructure

� Multi-supplier interoperability (commercial vendors and open-

source stacks and VNFs)

� Infrastructure capacity and resilience

� Programmability of the network

� Functional test specific NFV types (i.e. routers, switches, transport

nodes, load balancers , etc.

� Orchestration capabilities of the network

� Controller load sharing and database synchronizations

OrchestrationDimension

Provision VNFs andvirtual test interfaces

StorageDimension

Client Emulation

WorkloadDimension

Application / Service Client Emulation SDN

DimensionOpenFlowEmulation

RoutingDimension

RouterEmulation

Att

ack

/ Thr

eat D

imen

sion

DD

oS, M

alw

are

Emul

atio

n

VirtualDimensionVirtual events:VM migrations

StorageDimension

Hypervisor DatastoreEmulation

L2 / 3 DimensionHost Emulation

Application/Database

MiddlewareSDN Controllers

Storage Virtualization(Guest OS Shares)

Network Virtualization

HypervisorCompute / VM Image Storage

Servers/ DA Storage / NICs

Physical Networking

NAS / SAN Storage

NIC

NIC

Hypervisor

VNFs - vRouter

SpirentTestCenter

Cloud and IP infrastructure

Pre-deployment � Functional tests and RFC compliance testing of each VNF supplier

� Validate the performance and readiness of NFVI to support the VNFs

� Reliability tests, fault injection and recovery � Scalability and benchmark testing to calibrate network infrastructure performance

� Overlay topology tests—EVPN with VXLAN and segment routing

� Validate orchestration functions e.g. MANO

During deployment � Turn-up tests to validate VNFs are functioning including VNF initialization, convergence of routing

After deployment (live) � Continuous Cloud Validation (CCV) � SDN and NFV network monitoring and analysis

Results and measurements (examples) � Functional test reports for VNFs and management functions � Benchmark performance results (e.g. NFVI readiness, VNF capacity and traffic load limits)

� Multi-supplier compatibility results � Reliability and resilience test results

Benefits � Fault isolation between SDN and NFV boundaries � Assurance of quality, reliability, capability, resilience of end-to-end multi-supplier network

� Network engineering rules based on measurement � Capex and Opex savings resulting from improved SLAs and efficiencies

Spirent solutions Available on Spirent Temeva: � Spirent TestCenter � Spirent TrafficCenter � Spirent TestCenter Virtual � Spirent MethodologyCenter � Spirent Professional Services � Spirent CloudStress

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Spirent SDN and NFV

NFV infrastructure is used to support an wide range of mobile

applications and services like: machine to machine, Internet of Things,

Voice, Video, Rich Communications. Some of the key test requirements

are listed below.

� High performance, high scale and mobility testing of Mobile,

Wi-Fi, IMS and Diameter for LTE, GSM, UMTS, eHRPD and Wi-Fi

networks.

� Performance testing of vEPC and VNF edge functions

� Capacity and resiliency

� Protocol testing

� Peer application compatibility testing

� Regression testing gateways, devices and network components

� Network benchmarking and modeling to support network

engineering

� End-to-end network configurations

Landslide(re)defining

Network Element Testing

MobileCore

Wi-FiIMS

Diameter

Applications

Turn-up Testing

Upgrade Validation

Network Health

Fault Isolation

Proof of Concept

Pre-Deployment

Testing

Application Performance

Performance Testing

Feature Development

Testing

SLA Validation

Recreate Live Network Issues

TECHNOLOGY

DEVELOP

DEPLOY

OP

ERA

TE

Mobility Test Solutions

Pre-deployment � Validate vEPC, IMS & Diameter interfaces and protocols � Test vNFI features like relocation and scaling � Proof of concept testing � Validate network resiliency � Traffic prioritization � Benchmark vEPC to support optimizations � Busy hour traffic modelling

During deployment � Turn-up tests for physical and virtual elements � Upgrade validation

After deployment (live) � Live network health testing � Fault isolation � Quality of service � Validation of Carrier and OTT services

Results and measurements (examples) � Validation reports for VNFs and management functions � Benchmark performance results e.g. vEPC and edge VNF capacity and performance

� UE activation rates � QoS and QoE metrics

Benefits � Post service level metrics to MANO � Fault isolation � Eliminate outages due to misconfigurations � Assurance of quality, reliability, capability, resilience of end-to-end multi-supplier network

� Capex and Opex savings resulting from improved SLAs and efficiencies

� Simplify Network Performance Management

Spirent solutions � Spirent Landslide (Pre-Deployment) � Spirent Landslide EDGE & CORE(Deployment & Operations) � Spirent Professional Services

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Spirent SDN and NFV

From an applications and security perspective many of the same

concerns that are inherent in physically constructed networks are the

same for SDN and NFV environments.

� User capacity /concurrencies

� User connection and access capacities

� Application traffic performance (bandwidth, latency and

response times)

� Security—handling of encrypted connections and application

traffic

� Security—mitigation of DDoS attacks

� Security—mitigation of malicious content

� Application performance impact of active virtual fault tolerance—

i.e. v Motion

� All of the above and its impact on overall host system performance

(CPU, memory and storage)

� Comparing SDN and NFV to their physical counterparts (i.e. does a

virtual SLB distribute load in the same manner and capacity)Virtualized Environments

SpirentAvalanche virtual

SpirentAvalanche virtual

SpirentAvalanche virtual

Applications and Security Assurance

Pre-deployment

Test bandwidth, response times, concurrencies, connection rates,

and security efficacy.

North / South Traffic

� Traffic into the virtual or physical environment � Accuracy of polices that restrict protocols / ports used � Inspect incoming requests for security risks � Block and alert for malicious traffic

East / West Traffic

� Test between port groups & security zones � Confirm traffic is correct application � Inspect traffic for security risks

During deployment � Confirm policies are still working during upgrades � Protocol Fuzzing assessments to confirm stability and system robustness

� Security policies attacks mitigation verification

After deployment (live) � Cloud-hosted testing spot checks between specific network points and agents for specific security tests (i.e. Malware protection)

� Security testing has to be ongoing –Attack and other malicious constructs change daily and Spirent provides updated test cases for customer to stay on top of the never ending threat

Results and measurements (examples) � User capacity and concurrencies � Connection rates and access capacities � Encrypted connections and applications traffic performance � DDoS attacks mitigation � Mitigation of malicious/malware content � Comparing SDN and NFV to their physical counterparts

Benefits � Comprehensive network applications and security assurance during all phases of SDN and NFV network operations from pre-deployment, during deployment and after-deployment.

Solutions � Spirent Avalanche, Avalanche NEXT and Avalanche Virtual � Spirent Professional Services for system configuration and training

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Spirent SDN and NFV

From a service assurance perspective automated service

validation testing, SLA monitoring, and troubleshooting tightly

integrated with SDN and NFV orchestration systems are

important to ensure a quality, reliable service.

� Seamless interoperability between physical and virtual test

functions to ensure fault isolation across the hybrid network

� Integration with orchestration systems, existing inventory

and ticketing systems to reduce training requirements on

operations staff

� Automated test workflows based on network standards for

provisioning validation of virtual services ensure reduced

time to revenue for new service deployment

� Scalability to support simultaneous testing of thousands

of services and intelligent management of billions of

KPIs and alarms to enable proactive network and service

performance management

Service Assurance

During deployment � Integration with orchestration & inventory systems for automated service validation

� Service provisioning workflows pass/fail thresholds � Full active on-demand test suites, including � RFC 2544 benchmarking test � Y.1564 Ethernet service activation test � RFC-6349 TCP throughput test � Service Birth Certificate generation and storage � Automated execution of 24x7 performance monitoring after successful turn-up

After deployment (live) � Service troubleshooting test suite including Active and Passive test capabilities

� Scalable 24x7 active performance monitoring thousands of endpoints and billions of KPIs

� Gateways to trouble ticketing systems, inventory systems, orchestration systems, SDN controllers, network elements and existing OSS/BSS systems

� Automated trouble resolution and ticket routing � Validation of end to end service configuration � Rapid, automated fault isolation across a heterogeneous network including physical and virtual network functions and test tools

� Measurement of service performance against stored birth certificate

Results and measurements (examples) � Validation of service configuration on network elements against known good configurations

� Throughput, loss, latency, and jitter measured against Service Level Agreements (SLA) or set thresholds

� Validation of service policing and shaping policies for the service under test

� 24x7 monitoring of service performance (loss, latency, jitter, availability) and violation alarms (SNMP traps, email, texts) sent to northbound systems.

Benefits � Spirent Lumos provides a seamless transition to SDNFV with a robust Network Assurance platform that enables rapid, no-touch service turn-up verification, troubleshooting and 24x7 performance monitoring for hybrid networks; integrating with new SDNFV systems and leveraging the investment in existing network infrastructure

Spirent solutions

Spirent Lumos: � Test & Diagnostics OSS � Performance Monitoring OSS � Web Test Portal � 8500 Virtual Test Head � 7500 Series 1GbE, 10GbE, & 100GbE Physical Test Heads

SystemInterfaces

Hundreds of interfaces to

external systems

Unmatched automation of

assurance workflows

Managing thousands

of test resources

and billions of KPIs

Only platform with virtual & 100G physical

Platform

TestInterfaces

Spirent Lumos: Hybrid Assurance Platform

Orchestration SDNController

OSS / BSS /Analytics

Inventory TroubleTicketing

Spirent Lumos1G/10G/100G

Physical Probes

Spirent LumosLayer 2/3/4Test VNF

Other SpirentTest VNFs

3rd PartyTest VNFs

Open SourceTest VNFs

Assurance trigger detection, test setup and teardown via SDNC or OSS (and Inventory),northbound SLA & KPI delivery, automated workflow-based ticketing interfaces

Test execution, test result management, analysis and aggregation

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Spirent SDN and NFV

To keep up with the higher flexibility and speed of software changes

for SDN and NFV, test automation and orchestration tools are essential.

� Actively test or monitor any virtual or physical node end-to-end

across the SDN and NFV network.

� Orchestrate all resources and topologies and integrate with OSS/

BSS orchestration frameworks.

� Easy and quick to create automated test cases by network

operator staff who may not be skilled programmers.

� Automation platform technologies with capacity and resilience

suitable for large scale networks operating reliably 365/24/7

� Integrate continuous testing within DevOps continuous delivery

infrastructures accelerating network deployments

Network Infrastructure

SDNController

Admin &Application

Southbound SDN Protocols

PERouterCPERouter

DataCenter

ServiceProvider

WAN Cloud

Enterprise

Overlay-MPLS, VXLAN, EVPN, SR

BusinessApplications

Southbound API

Northbound API

VirtualAppliance

vSwitch

VirtualAppliance

VirtualAppliance

VirtualAppliance

SDNController

DC SDNRouter

SDNvRouter

Velocity and iTest Lab Orchestration and Test Automation Tools

Lab Orchestration and Test Automation

Pre-deployment � Quickly setup replicas of  production network topologies to match the test requirements for any change to the SDN and NFV configurations

� Support creation of automated Maintenance Operating Protocols (MOPs) for NFVs that can be called up during deployment and post-deployment phases of operations

During deployment � Automate MOPS for validation of upgrades, installation and roll-backs of NFV software

After deployment (live) � Automate SLA procedures for SDN and NFV active network monitoring and fault isolation

� Provide a consolidated set of test data for SDN and NFV network monitoring and analysis

Results and measurements (examples) � Automated provisioning � Automated health checks � Automate active/backup switching metrics � Log file analysis � Predictive failure analysis � Resource utilization

Benefits � Reduce automation time from months to minutes � Improve SLAs � Suitable for any level of staff � Capex and Opex savings using resource sharing and test automation

Solutions � Spirent Velocity and iTest for lab automation and test automation � Spirent Professional Services for system configuration and training

Spirent SDN and NFVTest and Monitoring Solutions for SDN and NFV Network Operations

© 2016 Spirent Communications, Inc. All of the company names and/or brand names and/or product names and/or logos referred to in this

document, in particular the name “Spirent” and its logo device, are either registered trademarks or trademarks pending registration in accordance

with relevant national laws. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice. Rev. B | 06/16

spirent.com

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About Spirent

At Spirent Communications we help the world communicate and collaborate faster, better and more often. The world’s leading communications companies rely on Spirent to help design, develop and deliver world-class network, devices and services. Spirent’s lab test solutions are used to evaluate performance of the latest technologies. As new communication services and applications are introduced in the market, Spirent provides tools for service management and field test to improve troubleshooting and quality. Spirent also enables enterprises, institutions and government agencies to secure and manage their networks.

From wireline to wireless to satellite, Spirent offers a complete portfolio of solutions to enhance customer Quality of Experience.

Spirent test and monitoring products

Spirent TestCenter—is a solution to test, measure and validate networks and deploy services—performance testing and analysis of virtualization, cloud computing, mobile backhaul and Ethernet.

Spirent Landslide—offers high performance, high scale and functional testing of Mobile, Wi-Fi, IMS and Diameter for LTE, GSM, UMTS, eHRPD and Wi-Fi networks.

Spirent Avalanche—is a high performance applications and security test solution for network and web application infrastructures and triple-play services ensuring Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE).

Spirent Lumos—is a solution that provides visibility from content origin to customer consumption across the entire lifecycle—from provisioning to performance monitoring and troubleshooting.

Spirent iTest— An integrated test authoring and execution solution for rapidly developing, automating, and maintaining test cases.

Spirent Velocity— A robust virtual/physical testbed orchestration and test case management solution for facilitating lab management and scheduling, as well as, executing and analysis of test cases.

Spirent Professional Services— Provide qualified test experts with hands-on solution knowledge with a ‘deep bench of professionals to deliver solutions

Learn more at www.spirent.com