By: Kari Lehmussaari, Product Line Manager Head for Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia June 21, 2024
Cloud-native functions (CNFs) offer flexible deployment options
As cloud-native networks advance and the telecom industry moves toward advanced 5G services, IT platforms have shifted toward horizontal cloud infrastructures. These scalable and shared cloud platforms support a range of applications and services across different layers of the network. They also accommodate a variety of workloads, eliminating the need for extensive custom integration.
A key ingredient to these developments has been cloud-native network functions (CNFs), which offer flexible deployment options, including subscription-based models and best-of-breed IT platform solutions that outperform vendor-specific cloud platforms and provide enhanced security, operational efficiency, and reliability in the network.
CNFs include containers, which hold all the necessary dependencies needed to execute an application, and are typically built using a microservices architecture, where complex applications are broken down into smaller, independent services.
The adoption of common horizontal cloud infrastructures, such as from Red Hat OpenShift, Google Cloud Platform, and VMWare Cloud, is providing operators several key advantages. These include simplified migration of applications across platforms, avoidance of vendor lock-in and the complexities of associated with custom integration, and more agile, cost-effective network deployment options.
This is particularly valuable in an era where network complexity and costs have never been greater.
Traditionally, migrating applications between different environments or vendors entailed substantial technical challenges and risks. However, by harnessing cloud-native horizontal cloud infrastructures, those issues are mitigated.
This enables operators to achieve improved security through harmonized practices over the whole horizontal domain; increased operational efficiency through automation applied more uniformly across varied applications sharing the same cloud infrastructures; and enhanced reliability through cloud native architecture and design.
With cloud-native networks, IT platforms have become more adept at accommodating diverse network workloads, while streamlining the deployment process and enhancing operational efficiency.
More deployment options and interoperability
Central to that streamlining process has been the emergence of subscription-based models and best-of-breed IT platform solutions. These deployment options offer operators greater flexibility and scalability to adapt to their evolving business needs.
Among their advantages, subscription-based models allow operators to access network functionalities on a pay-as-you-go basis, reducing upfront capital expenditures and aligning costs with usage. Similarly, best-of-breed IT platform solutions allow operators to leverage the most suitable technologies for their specific network requirements, rather than being locked into vendor-specific cloud platforms.
CNFs have facilitated the adoption of common horizontal cloud infrastructures through the applications’ own cloud-native maturity. This flexibility gives operators greater control over their network deployments through reduced dependency on specific vendors.
Among the operators illuminating that point is Deutsche Telekom, whose adoption of Red Hat OpenShift for its CNF deployments enables the German operator to run its network functions as containers on a common horizontal cloud infrastructure for improved resource utilization and scalability.
Greater efficiencies and uptake for telcos and beyond
Telcos are under constant pressure to reduce operational costs while improving service delivery. Vertically-integrated hardware and software systems have traditionally been expensive to maintain and scale. By contrast, horizontal cloud infrastructures allow operators to use shared cloud platforms serving multiple vendor applications, which significantly reduces capital and operational expenditures.
Additionally, horizontal cloud platforms offer a shared, more flexible, and agile approach to managing network functions and services. As learned during modern IT deployments, this commonality enables operators to rapidly deploy new services and scale and adjust resources based on demand and market conditions.
The deployment of 5G networks and the rise of edge computing require more dynamic and distributed computing capabilities. Horizontal cloud infrastructures provide the necessary foundation to support these technologies. For example, edge computing benefits from the distributed nature of cloud resources, allowing operators to process data closer to where it is generated, reducing latency, and improving the customer experience.
Underscoring their attractiveness, cloud-native networks have become increasingly rolled out in various industries.
Sectors such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing are now utilizing cloud-native architectures to modernize their IT infrastructure and drive digital transformation initiatives. Case in point: Financial institutions are leveraging cloud-native technologies to improve the agility and scalability of their banking systems for faster transaction processing, as well as enhanced customer service and regulatory compliance.
In conclusion, the evolution of cloud-native network deployments is an important shift in IT platforms and network architectures. By facilitating seamless interoperability and compatibility across network workloads and offering flexible deployment options, cloud-native networks provide operators with increased choice, agility, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness – strengthening service delivery and quality for their customers.
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