Re: Has virtualization become obsolete in 5G?

[Mark Tinka <mark.tinka () seacom com>]

On 1/Aug/20 23:53, John Lee wrote:

> In 2000 we put our first pre-standard cloud together with multi
> Gigabit routers and Sun workstations at 45 PoPs in the US, 3 in Asia
> and 6 in Europe and implemented a "cloud" O/S. Our fastest links were
> 10 Gbps. Now we can have 2-50 Tbps per fiber using Superchannel DWDM
> technology between PoP, data centers or cell towers. Network control
> functions can dynamically change by using Dynamic Reprogrammable
> EPROMs from companies like Xilinx and Intel to repurpose firmware
> control and device functions.

I believe that if a system has a single (and often simple) function, as
in the case of DWDM, you can have an off-site control plane to decide
what the network should transport.

The problem with IP networks is that you get multiple services that they
need to carry at various layers of the stack, that it becomes tricky not
to have some kind of localized control plane to ensure the right
intelligence is onboard to advise the data plane about what to do, in a
changing network environment.

While we can do this with a VM on a server, the server's NIC lets us
down when we need to push 100's of Gbps or 10's of Tbps.


> Certain 5G proposals are discussing network slicing et al to
> virtualize control functions that can work better without
> virtualization. Current 5G protocol submissions that I have reviewed
> are way too complex to work out in the real world on real networks,
> maintained by union labor. (This is not a dig at union labor, as they
> are some of the best trained techs.) :)

In a world where user traffic is exceedingly moving away from private
networks and on to the the public Internet, I struggle to understand how
5G's "network slicing" is going to deliver what it promises, when the
network is merely seen as a means to get users to what they want. In
most cases, what they want will not be hosted locally within the mobile
network, making discrete SLR's as prescribed by network slicing,
somewhat useless.

With all the bells & whistles 5G is claiming will change the world, I
just don't see how that will work as more services move into
over-the-top public clouds.

Mark.