Hi,
Its a wonderful topic for discussion, i will try to provide few details which could be useful
Traditional OSS vs Current OSS(in Cloud env):
Traditional OSS had access directly to end equipment through network, so it was easy to manage inventory and end to end management from OSS
OSS function in Cloud scenario is limited to deployment and Elasticity of Virtual Network function, so no control on the HW inventory
Traditional vs Cloud Management:
Traditional management of inventory was based on the network element instances
In Cloud, it has been divided into HW inventory and Virtual function inventory
Then what is the way forward to manage inventory:
Answer comes from the way IT applications are managed currently.
a. Orchestration manages the entire HW inventory and mapping to Network Functions
b. OSS manages the Network function elasticity
Currently there are multiple orchestration vendors available in IT environment and thats an area IT and Telecom converge, the recent collaboration of Nokia and Amazon shows the same, to move towards IT way of managing telecom applications, Telecom applications are complicated than IT applications
This is also an area where major operators are inclined towards for a solution to move to cloud faster
i dint try to answer the question, but wanted to share the direction the solution is heading towards
hope it helps the discussion
Thanks.
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karthik s
Tata Communications Ltd
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-26-2017 04:43
From: Stefano Gufi
Subject: OSS Inventory evolution and NFV/SDN
Mauro, your question are excellent.
At the moment from my point of view is not clear where the Hibrid Service and Resource Inventory should be located, maybe best solution to manage Hybrid, Virtual and Legacy Service is to put it on the Top to work together with E2E Orchestration so that it can route any type of service and related chain ( legacy, Vitual, etc) and show resource trees information
In my opinin make the NFV on boarding on a traditional OSS Network and Resource inventory is not so easy for different reason. First of all NFV is dynamic, so that the Inventory need to be updated from the NFVO with latest information about NFV configuration on different VMs, Data Center, HW and SW resources scaling, etc etc. So i suppose the NFV should be represented in a legacy inventory with a logical, more high level representation. Reconciliation should be good to update informaton regarding NFV dinamics and need an integration with the OSS Legacy Inventory.
Some COTS Network inventory have introduced the possibiity to make the NFV on boarding using for example the TOSCA template, and manage them inside a Network Service.
I think this's a good point for discussion.
Kind Regards
Stefano
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Stefano Gufi
Accenture
Original Message:
Sent: 06-05-2017 10:23
From: Mauro Scarlata
Subject: OSS Inventory evolution and NFV/SDN
Hi all,
the first question raised in my mind is: how a standard Resource Inventory could manage a Virtual Network Elements created as VNF ?
I think VNF should be managed almost in the same way as PNF. What can be different is that VNF will have additional information about the relationship [VirtualDevice][VirtualMachine][PhysicalServers].
Another question I tried to answer is: how can be considered the fact that this Virtual Network Element can moving from a data center to another and contemporarily taking into account all the physical and logical resources (inventory objects) that already refer to that moving NE ?
As far as the links, services and NE connectivity related are not modified, the datacenter moving should be transparent. The only think that can be tracked is the information about [VirtualMachines][PhysicalServers].
It is for sure interesting to centralize all the network information (VNF + PNF) on a same Inventory, but the way to centralize this info seems to be somthing to be better understood in the next future.
A way to mantain a resource Inventory and NFV environmnet aligned could be, for instance, using the discovery module Inventory has.
Does anyone want to share his point of view about that?
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Mauro Scarlata
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
Original Message:
Sent: 04-03-2017 10:45
From: Stefano Gufi
Subject: OSS Inventory evolution and NFV/SDN
Thanks for the feedbacks, i understand the correct approach depends by the ecosystem context, technologies, the type of service, presence of virtualizzation and a lot of variables.
Best solution is traditional OSS Inventory for more traditional service and provisioning, while best solution is catalogue/orchestrator for NFV/SDN for new vitualized service.
But what happen if the Telco is migrating to some NFV USE cases on a multi years roadmap?
For example we've a traditional XDSL/FTTX connectivity Service on a traditional OSS Inventory. The Telco first start a vPE Use Cases project trasformation and after that a vCPE project.
Durig the transition the OSS Inventory cannot be dismissed, i suppose. Do you have to manage both physical and virtual risources on OSS Inventory or the Network modelling have to be splitted between the OSS Inventory and the new catalogue for the virtualizzation?
In terms of datamodel my trail first is made of physical resources, then both physical and virtual, at the end most of them are virtualized
During the transition It make sense have a vPE or vCPE on a traditional OSS Inventory?
Thanks in advance
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Stefano Gufi
Accenture
Original Message:
Sent: 03-28-2017 19:17
From: Carlos Alberto Novoa Velasco
Subject: OSS Inventory evolution and NFV/SDN
Hi Hugo,
The main difference between catalog and inventory would be the information registered in each, it's not that one is the evolution of the other.
The inventory represents all the equipment and data, including quantities, while the catalog would include all the available models, for example:
Inventory:
Cisco Routers:
- 800 Series ISR, quantity: 2, location: Quito, ports available: 3, etc
- 4000 Series ISR ...
- Meraki MX ...
Catalog:
Routers:
Cisco:
- 800 Series ISR
- 4000 Series ISR
- Meraki MX
- ASR 1000 Series
- ASR 9000 Series
Hope this helps.
Thank you
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Carlos Alberto Novoa Velasco
Telefonica Ecuador / Otecel S.A.
Original Message:
Sent: 03-27-2017 04:21
From: Hugo Vaughan
Subject: OSS Inventory evolution and NFV/SDN
Adding to the inventory debate
At what point do we cross over from inventory to catalog?
Do we have a means of distinguishing between the two, and do we need to?
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Hugo Vaughan
IBM Corporation
Original Message:
Sent: 03-24-2017 13:34
From: Stefano Gufi
Subject: OSS Inventory evolution and NFV/SDN
Hi to all,
i'd like to share some reflection about the future role of OSS Inventory with the introduction of Network and Network Function Virtualizzation: SDN/NFV. Part of network resources and node will be virtualized and dynamic.
From my point of view is not clear if the traditional OSS Inventory that support Provisioning, Assurance, Deployment and other Network Process have to be remain a legacy system outside but integrated with the NFV/SDN stack.
The second option is that Inventory must be inserted in NFV/SDN stack and manage all the resources for Orchestrator support, that is to say the resources to create the virtualized network infrastructure but also the resources for the customer service fullfiment. In this option also assurance, deployment function will be virtualized.
I believe that the evolution of the inventory will be crucial for the new mode of network and OSS process management.
What is the way forward in your opinion? Please share your ideas and experiences.
Thanks in advance
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Stefano Gufi
Accenture
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