TMCnews Featured Article
October 02, 2012
Network Shifts Support Robust Telecom Platform Deployment
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Telecom platform deployment is changing due to virtualization and technological hardware improvements in the industry. In addition, there is a push for more scalable and flexible solutions. The private cloud environment has benefited from virtualization, and telecom platform deployment is seeing changes in virtualization offerings due to what designers of hardware and software are able to achieve.
According to this NEI (News - Alert) blog, these deployments are actually easier now in the private cloud, which is also able to utilize the existing hardware in the data center. The challenge for the enterprise is to decide whether or not the private cloud is the right deployment option to fit their needs for the long-term.
It was once fairly uncommon in telecom platform deployment projects to have processors with multiple cores, massive memory capabilities, or a single board computer (SBC) in the mix. Today, these are commonplace as telecom platform deployment projects now have SBCs with 128 gigs of memory in the motherboard.
At the same time, the industry is seeing a shift toward architecture capable of supporting 40G Ethernet. With these kinds of advances, the industry is moving toward incredible performance in the data and control planes, as well as better performance in cryptography and deep packet inspection.
Intel (News 
- Alert) has developed the VT-x, which brings added value to the virtual machine environment. Intel’s Xeon processor utilizes the AES-NI instructions, which has the capability to triple some encryption processing. The Nitrox III from Cavium is also reaching the 20 to 40 gig encryption speeds that will bring great value to telecom platform deployment.
There are few, if any, performance penalties building up in the private cloud where virtual machines are running the show. Users are seeing security enhancements in their telecom platform deployment projects, and they are also seeing direct assignments from virtual machines to I/O devices.
What virtualization brings to telecom platform deployment is better application performance. Deployments operating without virtual machines see performance peak with processors using between two and six cores, which means the ATCA SBC isn’t being used to its full capacity. One way around this issue is to juggle the applications so that there is an equal mix of I/O- and CPU-intensive processes underway at the same time, keeping a constant level of performance online with the stand-alone applications.
Telecom platform deployment projects where virtual machines are used in the private cloud give architects the ability to develop uniform environments. Plus, the deployments that utilize the latest hardware run more smoothly and quickly. The more advanced hardware gives many vendors the ability to bring applications into the system while using computing elements that are similar, preserving current investments while capitalizing on the benefits of next generation capabilities.
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Edited by Jamie Epstein
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