Verizon announced it has completed its Network Function Virtualization (NFV) OpenStack cloud deployment across five of its U.S. data centers. The company worked with Big Switch Networks, Dell and Red Hat to develop the OpenStack pod-based design that reportedly went from concept to deployment of more than 50 racks in five production data centers in less than nine months.
Deployments are currently in progress in additional domestic data center and aggregation sites, with international locations to be deployed over the next several months, according to the company. Verizon also says the design also will be adopted in edge network sites by the end of the year.
The project is based on OpenStack with Red Hat Ceph Storage and a spine-leaf fabric for each pod controlled through a Neutron plug-in to Red Hat OpenStack Platform. The multi-vendor deployment leverages Big Switch’s Big Cloud Fabric for SDN controller software managing Dell switches, which are orchestrated by Red Hat OpenStack Platform.
The project was developed to address five areas: resiliency at scale; no bandwidth bottlenecks; logical network design flexibility; reduced operational complexity; and integrated security and visibility.
“This NFV project is another step in building Verizon’s next-generation network — with implications for the industry. New and emerging applications are highlighting the need for collaborative research and development in technologies like NFV,” Adam Keppel, VP, network technology planning at Verizon, says. “We consider this achievement to be foundational for building the Verizon cloud that serves our customers’ needs anywhere, anytime, any app.”
Kyle Forster, co-founder at Big Switch Networks says that more than ever before, it’s imperative that collaborations develop to design, build and deploy pod designs that are agile and resilient. “As OpenStack proves itself under intense conditions like those created by large-scale NFV workloads, it is increasingly important for an open and collaborative environment to deliver positive results,” Forster notes.
Executives from Verizon, Big Switch, Dell and Red Hat are slated to speak about the project at the OpenStack Summit in Austin this week.
