Red Hat and Intel have created a cloud-based onboarding service and test bed for virtualized and containerized network functions (VNFs and CNFs). The work is targeted at bridging the gap between VNFs that typically run on virtual machines (VMs) and CNFs that run in containerized environments.

Red Hat noted the move will increase compatibility and reduce the deployment time and complexity of VNFs and CNFs. The initial work will be focused on containers running in a multi-vendor environment.

Mark Longwell, director for Red Hat’s Cloud Platform Business Unit Ecosystem, explained that Red Hat is bringing its experience in delivering NFV workloads on its Kubernetes-based OpenShift platform. The vendor is also delivering configuration and performance recommendations for “containerized workloads, specifically for network functions.”

Intel’s end of the bargain includes network support from its recently updated second-generation Xeon scalable processors, network interface controllers (NICs), and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

Longwell noted the test bed is targeted at companies or organizations that are building VNFs and CNFs and want to have them certified on OpenShift. The efforts are aligned with similar initiatives being conducted under the Linux Foundation.

The plan takes initial work done within the Linux Foundation’s OPNFV group and that is being discussed for adoption in the Common NFVi Telco Taskforce (CNTT) to create the cloud-based onboarding service in a lab test bed. OPNFV’s latest Iruya update included an increased focus on aligning with CNTT work.

“We are looking to reduce the barrier for partners to certify and get scale,” Longwell said. “We will use this environment as our CNTT environment so that partners can be aligned with our certification process and CNTT at the same time.”

CNTT was launched last year as a partnership between the Linux Foundation Networking group (LFN) and industry trade association GSMA. The task force is hosted by GSMA, with LFN providing input and access to testing and verification processes.

The GSMA unleashed the first CNTT data release last September. It included the first set of a common reference model and the first reference architecture.

That certification will also be “complementary to those associated with cloud native and operator certifications.”

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) last year launched a CNF test bed designed to show the ability to run the same networking code running as VNFs on OpenStack and as CNFs on Kubernetes. CNCF Executive Director Dan Kohn explained that the test bed allows for a consistent and reliable method to test network functions from ONAP or an organization’s own networking code as VNFs and CNFs. Those organizations can then compare the performance and resiliency between running on Kubernetes and OpenStack using the same underlying hardware.

Kohn said this move also sets up a future where “Kubernetes will be the universal platform that can abstract the bare metal and any cloud.”

“And on top, all functions can be cloud-native functions,” Kohn said. “This allows for an efficiency advantage in that all OSS and BSS can also run on the same cluster that is running the networking code.”

Other vendors have also jumped into the test bed process.

Red Hat rival VMware last November struck a deal with Nokia to increase interoperability testing of Nokia VNFs and CNFs running on VMware’s Telco Cloud platform. The move was focused on past and ongoing work for running Nokia applications on VMware’s Telco Cloud and HCX application mobility platform. This includes support for application migration, workload balancing, and disaster recovery across data centers and clouds.

VMware had previously signed a five-year deal with Ericsson that includes technical collaboration and interoperability testing across Ericsson’s VNF portfolio, billing and charging solutions, automation, and orchestration, with VMware’s vCloud NFV platform. The companies also announced a certification lab where Ericsson’s VNFs and VMware’s vCloud NFV platform interoperability is tested, certified, system verified, optimized, and documented.

Longwell noted that Red Hat and Intel have been collaborating with competitors in the open source community and “understand that this is a balance. We are creating a framework where we facilitate collaborative learning and scale but also that allows partners to participate in a way that is in line with their own business interests.”