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diff --git a/docs/requirements/introduction.rst b/docs/requirements/introduction.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0593e07 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/requirements/introduction.rst @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +.. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. +.. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 + +Introduction +============ + +This document represents and describes the results of the OPNFV NetReady +(Network Readiness) project. Specifically, the document comprises a selection of +NFV-related networking use cases and their networking requirements. For every +use case, it furthermore presents a gap analysis of the aforementioned +requirements with respect to the current OpenStack networking architecture. +Finally it provides a description of potential solutions and improvements. + + +Scope +----- + +NetReady is a project within the OPNFV initiative. Its focus is on NFV (Network +Function Virtualization) related networking use cases and their requirements on +the underlying NFVI (Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure). + +The NetReady project addresses the OpenStack networking architecture, +specifically OpenStack Neutron, from a NFV perspective. Its goal is to identify +gaps in the current OpenStack networking architecture with respect to NFV +requirements and to propose and evaluate improvements and potential complementary +solutions. + + +Problem Description +------------------- + +Telco ecosystem's movement towards the cloud domain results in Network Function +Virtualization that is discussed and specified in ETSI NFV. This movement opens +up many green field areas which are full of potential growth in both business +and technology. This new NFV domain brings new business opportunities and new +market segments as well as emerging technologies that are exploratory and +experimental in nature, especially in NFV networking. + +It is often stated that NFV imposes additional requirements on the networking +architecture and feature set of the underlying NFVI beyond those of data center +networking. For instance, the NFVI needs to establish and manage connectivity +beyond the data center to the WAN (Wide Area Network). Moreover, NFV networking +use cases often abstract from L2 connectivity and instead focus on L3-only +connectivity. Hence, the NFVI networking architecture needs to be flexible +enough to be able to meet the requirements of NFV-related use cases in addition +to traditional data center networking. + +Traditionally, OpenStack networking, represented typically by the OpenStack +Neutron project, targets virtualized data center networking. This comprises +originally establishing and managing layer 2 network connectivity among VMs +(Virtual Machines). Over the past releases of OpenStack, Neutron has grown to +provide an extensive feature set, covering both L2 as well as L3 networking +services such as virtual routers, NATing, VPNaaS and BGP VPNs. + +It is an ongoing debate how well the current OpenStack networking architecture +can meet the additional requirements of NFV networking. Hence, a thorough +analysis of NFV networking requirements and their relation to the OpenStack +networking architecture is needed. + +Besides current additional use cases and requirements of NFV networking, +more importantly, because of the **green field** nature of NFV, it is foreseen +that there will be more and more new NFV networking use cases and services, +which will bring new business, in near future. The challenges for telco ecosystem +are to: + +- Quickly catch the new business opportunity; + +- Execute it in agile way so that we can accelerate the time-to-market and improve + the business agility in offering our customers with innovative NFV services. + +Therefore, it is critically important for telco ecosystem to quickly develop and deploy +new NFV networking APIs on-demand based on market need. + +Goals +----- + +The goals of the NetReady project and correspondingly this document are the +following: + +- This document comprises a collection of relevant NFV networking use cases and + clearly describes their requirements on the NFVI. These requirements are + stated independently of a particular implementation, for instance OpenStack + Neutron. Instead, requirements are formulated in terms of APIs (Application + Programming Interfaces) and data models needed to realize a given NFV use + case. + +- The list of use cases is not considered to be all-encompassing but it + represents a carefully selected set of use cases that are considered to be + relevant at the time of writing. More use cases may be added over time. The + authors are very open to suggestions, reviews, clarifications, corrections + and feedback in general. + +- This document contains a thorough analysis of the gaps in the current + OpenStack networking architecture with respect to the requirements imposed + by the selected NFV use cases. To this end, we analyze existing functionality + in OpenStack networking. + +- Beyond current list of use cases and gap analysis in the document, more importantly, + it is the future of NFV networking that needs to be made easy to innovate, quick to + develop, and agile to deploy and operate. A model-driven, extensible framework + is expected to achieve agility for innovations in NFV networking. + +- This document will in future revisions describe the proposed improvements + and complementary solutions needed to enable OpenStack to fulfill the + identified NFV requirements. + |