Telstra partners with HP for network function virtualisation

HP has announced a partnership with Telstra, F5 Networks, and Alcatel-Lucent startup Nuage Networks to design a proof of concept (PoC) for a multi-vendor network function virtualisation (NFV) solution, certified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

NFV is a technology used by telecommunications providers to virtualise their networking services, providing them with a faster, more scalable, and cost-effective solution.

HP's OpenNFV virtualisation framework provides an end-to-end networking service, from ordering to deployment, operations, provisioning, and management, with ISO seven-layer stack fulfilment.

It is open to equipment providers, software vendors, and systems integrators, allowing telcos to choose between the vendors and components on offer that are most appropriate for their needs.

"No one vendor can provide all the necessary components of NFV," explained Mallik Tatipamula, VP of Cloud Solutions for F5 Networks.

"Service providers are looking for vendors that take leadership roles within emerging NFV ecosystems by partnering with other technology companies and standards bodies."

Under the ETSI PoC #38 project announced on Monday at the SDN and OpenFlow World Congress in Düsseldorf, HP's Helion CloudSystem framework has been paired with F5 Networks' virtualised network functions, as well as Nuage Networks' virtual services platform.

Telstra's involvement in the proof of concept provided an opportunity for the telco to test the use and implications of software-defined networking-led NFV for network fault correction.

"Telstra has a strong working relationship with HP and other organisations, with the goal of furthering our NFV strategies and programs through proof of concepts and field trials," David Robertson, Telstra Operations director of Transport and Routing Engineering for Networks, said.

"Partnering with multiple vendors helps us to deliver impactful virtualisation and orchestration capabilities within a flexible architectural framework. As service providers look to build seamless application delivery networks, vendors that have qualified their technologies with the industry's standardisation groups are seen as more attractive to customers."

HP argued that any telcos using the system would see an improvement in communications by moving from proprietary appliance architecture to more flexible and scalable multi-vendor open solutions.

"By working with HP OpenNFV ecosystem partners, such as F5 Networks, Nuage Networks, and Telstra, our open platform approach supports the multi-vendor environment communication service providers require, helping them progress from proof of concept to implementation," Werner Schaefer, vice president of NFV at HP, said.

HP announced a series of NFV kits in May, including a starter kit, compute kit, control kit, and storage kit, to simplify its NFV offering. It also launched its NFV Director 3.0 software for analytics and network management, which uses HP's Vertica big data software.

The computing giant is set to split into two companies at the beginning of next month, with HP Enterprise to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 2.

HP will make between 25,000 and 30,000 redundancies as part of the process, with HP Enterprise tipped to deliver $2.7 billion in annual cost savings, and $700 million per year on an ongoing basis.

HP has projected its Enterprise business to bring in $50 billion in annual revenue.