DALLAS and YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists from
AT&T, IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Applied Communication Sciences
(ACS) announced a proof-of-concept technology that reduces set up
times for cloud-to-cloud connectivity from days to seconds. This
advance is a major step forward that could one day lead to
sub-second provisioning time with IP and next generation optical
networking equipment and enables elastic bandwidth between clouds
at high connection request rates using intelligent cloud data
center orchestrators, instead of requiring static provisioning for
peak demand.
The prototype was built with contributions and expertise from
AT&T, IBM and ACS, and the work was performed under the
auspices of the U.S. Government's DARPA CORONET program, which
focuses on rapid reconfiguration of terabit networks.
"The program was visionary in anticipating the convergence of
cloud computing and networking, and in setting aggressive
requirements for network performance in support of cloud services,"
said Ann Von Lehmen, the ACS program
lead.
AT&T was responsible for developing the overall networking
architecture for this concept, drawing on its industry leadership
in bandwidth-on-demand (BoD) technologies and advanced routing
concepts. IBM provided the cloud platform and intelligent cloud
data center orchestration technologies to support dynamic
provisioning of cloud-to-cloud communications. ACS contributed its
expertise in network management and innovation in optical-layer
routing and signaling as part of the overall cloud networking
architecture.
Cloud computing already has widespread impact across how we
access today's applications, resources, and data. Today's
traditional cloud computing model is built on the premise of
automation and lower operational costs, which requires dynamic
provisioning of resources. However, the traditional cloud-to-cloud
network is static and creating it is labor intensive, expensive and
time consuming.
In response to the rapid advent of cloud-based services and
explosion in data center size and scope, Cloud Service Providers
(CSPs) have installed automatic and intelligent resource management
systems within their data centers. For example, these systems can
load balance both processor and storage resources, as well as
perform massive transfers of data among multiple data centers.
"These shifts have driven the need to develop rapid and high
rate bandwidth-on-demand in the Wide Area Network (WAN)," said
Robert Doverspike, executive
director of Network Evolution Research at AT&T Labs. "By
combining software defined networking (SDN) concepts with advanced,
cost-efficient network routing in a realistic carrier network
environment, we have successfully demonstrated how to address this
need."
This prototype was implemented on OpenStack, an open-source
cloud-computing platform for public and private clouds, elastically
provisioning WAN connectivity and placing virtual machines between
two clouds for the purpose of load balancing virtual network
functions. The use of flexible, on-demand bandwidth for cloud
applications, such as load balancing, remote data center backup
operation, and elastic scaling of workload, provides the potential
for major cost savings and operational efficiency for both CSPs and
carriers.
"This technology not only represents a new ability to scale big
data workloads and cloud computing resources in a single
environment but the elastic bandwidth model removes the
inefficiency in consumption versus cost for cloud-to-cloud
connectivity," said Douglas
Freimuth, IBM Research Senior Technical Staff Member and
Master Inventor. "IBM Research brought a unique understanding of
both cloud environments and networking infrastructures which made
us an ideal collaborator for this project."
Instigated in 2007, the DARPA CORONET program seeks to develop
the target network architectures and technologies needed to build
next-generation bandwidth on demand services. During Phase 3 of the
multi-phase project, which was completed at the end of May, the
current group of collaborators brought together the necessary
cutting-edge research and industry expertise to potentially deliver
this technology from a research lab to commercialization.
The DARPA long-term commitment to research was vital to
kick-start these ideas and this current proof-of-concept trial is a
key enabler along the path to commercialization in the
telecommunications industry.
Further reinforcing the industry need for this type of
technology, AT&T recently announced its vision for the network
of the future – titled the User-Defined Network Cloud. This
transformative initiative to move to a cloud-based architecture
will utilize SDN tools in the WAN to create a programmable network
that is more flexible, efficient and aware of applications.
Complementary BoD capabilities are already commercially
available between AT&T's network enabled cloud solution,
AT&T NetBond – which allows network capacity to scale or
contract on demand based on the cloud workload's needs – and public
cloud services, such as IBM's Cloud Managed Services. When coupled
together, these solutions enable highly secure, reliable and
dynamic connectivity between a customer's MPLS-VPN network and
IBM's public cloud services.
How it Works
In the demonstration, the IBM cloud platform and orchestration
technology manages the life cycle of Virtual Machine (VM) network
applications on OpenStack software to automatically monitor server
load and request both cloud-to-cloud network bandwidth from a SDN
WAN Orchestrator developed by AT&T and compute resources as
needed for VM migration.
The AT&T SDN WAN Orchestrator automatically routes data
server connection requests across the appropriate network layer:
IP/MPLS, subwavelength or Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing
(DWDM). Rapid, robust provisioning protocols developed by ACS are
integrated with commercial transport DWDM network elements to set
up and tear down connections as needed.
In the demo, setup times as short as 40 seconds were achieved,
with sub-second provisioning times possible with next generation
DWDM equipment (called ROADMs). This approach also takes BoD into a
truly dynamic regime, by enabling the high-connection request rates
that will be required in future cloud service
environments.
"The DARPA CORONET program has created a truly innovative
solution that will enable dynamic cloud services of the future. By
delivering highly efficient bandwidth sharing, this technology will
significantly reduce costs for both carriers and cloud providers.
It truly is a major step forward for the industry," states
Matt Goodman, DARPA Program
Manager.
About Applied Communication Sciences (ACS)
Drawing on its Bell Labs
heritage, Applied Communication Sciences delivers advanced
research, consulting and engineering to enable government agencies,
utilities and commercial enterprises to fully exploit the future of
communications and information technologies. ACS excels at
creating innovative technologies and services to solve the most
difficult and complex information and communications problems. The
company is headquartered in Basking
Ridge, NJ, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The SI
Organization, Inc.
For more information about Applied Communication Sciences, visit
www.appcomsci.com.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding
company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its
subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are
the providers of AT&T services in the
United States and internationally. With a powerful array of
network resources that includes the nation's most reliable 4G LTE
network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high
speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile
Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide
of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in
the most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with
the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company's suite of
IP-based business communications services is one of the most
advanced in the world.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and
services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is
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© 2014 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein
are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T
affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the
property of their respective owners.
Reliability claim based on data transfer completion rates on
nationwide 4G LTE networks. 4G LTE availability varies.
About IBM Research
Learn more about IBM Research at www.research.ibm.com.
For more information:
IBM Research
Fiona Doherty
Tel: 914-945-2319
fhdohert@us.ibm.com
AT&T
Natasha Collins
Tel: 214-665-1327
natasha.collins@fleishman.com
ACS
Craig Vielguth
Tel: 908-748-2600
cvielguth@appcomsci.com
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO
SOURCE IBM; AT&T; ACS (Applied Communication Sciences)