ADVA Optical Networking worked with Silver Peak and Versa Networks to deploy software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) as part of a broader network functions virtualization (NFV) platform.

ADVA’s new Ensemble SmartWAN platform leverages the company’s Ensemble Connector software to deploy and manage other vendors’ SD-WAN technology. ADVA’s software treats SD-WAN as a virtual network function (VNF). And it also is able to support other VNFs from different vendors.

“We’ve been watching the SD-WAN space for some time and recognize the value that SD-WAN brings,” said Prayson Pate, CTO of the Ensemble Division at ADVA. “However, we strongly believe that there are additional benefits that can be realized through the tight integration between NFV and SD-WAN.”

According to Pate, here is what ADVA is bringing to the table with SmartWAN:

• The ability to quickly and securely deploy SD-WAN on a white box server in a zero-touch fashion. SD-WAN appliances have zero touch, but the VNF versions typically don't.
• ADVA's Embedded Cloud, which deploys OpenStack on the compute node at the customer site. Embedded Cloud addresses some of the shortcomings of OpenStack related to security, scale, and upgrades.
• Underlay networking, which enables direct interfacing to an operator 2547 VPN without the need for a customer edge router.
• The incorporation of SD-WAN into an open multi-vendor platform.

This is called a universal CPE (uCPE) approach where an open hardware device can be used to host multiple VNFs that all run together on a single device, and thus create a rich, service-chained function, said Mark Weiner, chief marketing officer of Versa Networks.

Nav Chander, senior director of service provider marketing at Silver Peak, said in a statement, “There can be no question that there’s a tremendous surge in demand for SD-WAN at the moment. But it’s important to understand what comes next, and that’s where Ensemble SmartWAN comes in.”