SDxCentral
Join Log In
SD-WAN 5G Edge 1 IoT SDN NFV Containers Cloud Security AI Data Center Storage APM/NPM Open Source

Log In to SDxCentral

Log in with your email? Forgot your password?
  • Newsletters
  • eBriefs
  • Podcasts
  • Webinars
  • Videos
  • Directory
  • White Papers
  • Resources
  • Use Cases
  • Support

Join SDxCentral and get information tailored to your particular interests everyday.

Join
Sponsored:
Dell EMC Citrix Riverbed

SD-WAN’s Future Will Rest on the Universal CPE

As-SD-WAN-Evolves-It-Will-Need-to-Support-a-uCPE-Approach
Ali Longwell
Ali LongwellSeptember 26, 2018
11:23 am MT
Email LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Reddit Hacker News

DENVER — As SD-WAN moves past hype and new iterations of the technology begin to emerge, operators and service providers all have different ideas of what’s next for SD-WAN. However, in a panel discussion with service providers, standards bodies, and vendors at Light Reading’s NFV and Carrier SDN event this week, all panelists agreed on one thing — the next phase of SD-WAN will be based on a universal CPE (uCPE) approach.

While this is already being offered in the market, the panelists agreed that this business model works, is buyable, and provides the most value. Currently, there are a number of different deployment options for SD-WAN. Offerings include virtual CPE implementations, off-the shelf uCPE platforms, and fully managed SD-WAN services.

“uCPE is just another word for server virtualization, this isn’t anything new, they weren’t invented by networking departments and models. It’s already been proven to work, [SD-WAN] will go in that direction. It’s just a matter of time,” said Aaron Tomosky, the director of solutions consulting at QOS Networks.

When SD-WAN was first being deployed, suppliers provided a turnkey offering that came pre-integrated and was simple to deploy. These hardware appliances met the needs of end-users, such as connecting and managing connections between branches, but they couldn’t easily be upgraded or deploy new features.  Instead they had to be ripped out and replaced.

But offering SD-WAN as a hardware appliance was a necessary first step for some as it supported the transition from legacy systems until other approaches, including over-the-top (OTT) platforms and uCPE platforms, were fully realized.

However,  as SD-WAN evolves it must fit into a cloud-centric architecture, offering different classes of services, according to Rami Yaron, board director and co-chair at MEF. With the uCPE approach, providers can deploy their virtualized services on a low-cost platform that enables the deployment of a wide-variety of virtual network functions (VNFs). This creates a consistent service offering across platforms as providers can use the same software on every platform.

While OTT solutions can offer some of the needed network agility, including orchestrated services offering on top of the SD-WAN, Yaron noted that this doesn’t have the capability to put VNFs at the edge. “Customers want NFV agility,” he said. Yaron continued that the idea of uCPE is not as a product but as a feature that supports multiple environments, multiple VNFs, and multiple vendors. It’s an open environment to give you NFV agility.

Prayson Pate, the CTO of the Ensemble division at Adva, said that the uCPE business case works because all the network components — VNFs, servers, and platforms — involved keep getting better. Deploying SD-WAN on an open virtual platform allows changes to be easily made, enabling greater agility, he said. Pate noted that uCPE is not a requirement, not today at least, but said that “the path forward is an open platform.”

Jeff Lewis, the vice president of data product management at Comcast Business, said that Comcast is “all in on the uCPE approach.” He noted that this supports customers wanting multiple options for the services and applications, as you can begin to offer multiple VNFs to be layered on top of the SD-WAN. Lewis added that Comcast Business is currently working toward offering three VNFs with its SD-WAN offering.

Related Articles

Netsurion-Replaces-Its-SD-WAN-With-a-Unified-Network-Management-Security-Orchestration-Platform
Netsurion Upgrades Its SD-WAN With a Unified Network Management, Security Orchestration Platform
AT&T’s Extensive SDN Plans Pave Way for 5G
AT&T’s Extensive SDN Plans Pave Way for 5G
Telus: SDN Gives Us a Dynamic, Automatically Controlled network
Telus: SDN Gives Us a Dynamic, Automatically Controlled Network
Comcast-Is-Working-on-a-uCPE-That-Runs-Multiple-VNFs-With-Its-SD-WAN
Comcast Is Working on a uCPE That Runs Multiple VNFs With Its SD-WAN
SD-WAN-There’s-Nothing-Universal-About-the-Universal-CPE
There’s Nothing Universal About the Universal CPE
ONAP Casablanca Shows Up in ‘All the Gin Joints’
ONAP Casablanca Shows Up in ‘All the Gin Joints’
SDxCentral Daily News

Join your Peers! Subscribe to SDxCentral's Newsletter

Article Tags:

ADVA Optical Networking Breaking News Cloud Comcast Business MEF NFV SDWAN uCPE VNF

Ali Longwell

About Ali Longwell

Ali Longwell is an Associate Editor with SDxCentral. Ali recently graduated from the University of Denver, with a B.S. in Journalism and Studies, and a minor in Marketing. She has previously written for Denver lifestyle publications, 5280 Magazine and Denver Life Magazine.

Have a story? Have a News Tip?

Send it to SDxCentral editors as editors@sdxcentral.com.

Subscribe to Get the Daily News!

About SDxCentral

  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Work With Us
  • Editorial Team
  • Careers
  • Legal
  • Support

Engage With us

This material may not be copied, reproduced, or modified in whole or in part for any purpose except with express written permission from an authorized representative of SDxCentral, LLC. In addition to such written permission to copy, reproduce, or modify this document in whole or part, an acknowledgement of the authors of the document and all applicable portions of the copyright notice must be clearly referenced. All Rights Reserved.

© 2012-2019 SDxCentral, LLC, All Rights Reserved. SDNCentral™, the SDNCentral logo, SDxCentral™, SDxCentral logo, SDxNews™, SDxTech™, SDx™, the SDx logo, and DemoFriday™ are trademarks of SDxCentral, LLC in the U.S. and other countries.

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy