Nokia adds assurance capabilities to carrier SDN Network Services Platform

Nokia says it has added assurance capabilities to its Network Services Platform (NSP) to support carrier software-defined networking (SDN) initiatives. The new capabilities aim to enable operators to establish and maintain healthy SDN multivendor, multilayer networks and services in the face of unpredictable demand and traffic patterns.

The new automated, dynamic assurance capabilities enable the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) and analytics to trigger changes at the SDN control layer without the need for manual intervention. They also improve visibility into potential problems within multivendor SDN networks and assess their overall impact. The capabilities also can drive SDN control policies that can redirect paths, traffic, and bandwidth at any layer -- flow, IP, Ethernet, or optical -- and across both physical and virtual domains, Nokia asserts

"Service assurance is a critical requirement for successful SDN-based automation and optimization in the WAN (a.k.a 'carrier SDN'). Without adequate assurance capabilities, uptake of carrier SDN has been slow, particularly for complex multi-domain, multi-vendor networking applications," says Dana Cooperson, research director, Network, Software and Virtualization, at Analysys Mason. "CSPs [communications services providers] are recognizing the need for integrated assurance and asking vendors for solutions. In this market context, Nokia's announcement of NSP with assurance is both important and timely."

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