OPNFV, an integrated open platform for facilitating network functions virtualization (NFV) deployments, recently had a chance to participate in the first ETSI NFV Plugtests, held Jan. 23 to Feb. 3 in Madrid, Spain. Designed to perform interoperability testing among different telco vendors and open source providers, the event brought together a diverse group of industry representatives—including those from several open source organizations—ready to get their hands dirty and dive into interoperability testing. Participation in these types of test sessions, particularly in conjunction with others organizational players in the ecosystem (in this case, ETSI), shows that via greater interoperability, OPNFV is ready for complex deployments that ultimately bring the industry closer to a truly plug-and-play, end-to-end virtual network.
Representatives from OPNFV member organizations Ericsson and Intel were on-site to conduct a series of tests leveraging OPNFV as an NFV platform under different deployment scenarios. Combined, both groups executed 32 successful, approved tests with OPNFV in just under 10 days –an incredible feat! (For a test session report to be “approved,” it needed to be performed by a Management and Orchestration (MANO) provider with a VNF on a particular VIM & NFVi. All three parties—the MANO, VNF and VIM & NFVI providers—needed to approve the report to merit successful completion.)
The OPNFV project itself, as well as Ericsson and Intel, are very pleased with outcome, which speaks to the value of the OPNFV community’s efforts in the broader NFV landscape. Participation in the ETSI Plugtests (as well as OPNFV’s own Plugfests) is a great starting point to broaden OPNFV’s testing scope and capabilities across the industry, learning new lessons each time.
While the teams were able to accomplish a great deal during the event, there is still much to be done. For example, there were additional tests focused on specific hardware capabilities that the team was not able to execute due to incompatibilities of the virtualized system, as well as a failed attempt to run an additional OPNFV service function chaining (SFC) deployment but did not have the time. In the future, a longer pre-testing phase should allow more time to prepare the proper configuration, any needed workarounds, and have additional discussions with supporting vendors.
All in all, it was a successful 10 days and the OPNFV technical community is happy with what was accomplished. This has been a great achievement for the OPNFV project since it demonstrates maturity of the OPNFV platform, which is now ready for complex deployments. Moreover, it is a clear demonstration that open source Management and Orchestration (MANO) projects are ready to integrate with OPNFV. Additionally, Ericsson was approached by several VNF providers who asked for help with side testing—a testament to a streamlined process.
More details on the OPNFV test sessions that took place during the ESTI Plugtests are outlined on the OPNFV blog.
If you would like to get involved in OPNFV, or join open source NFV testing efforts in general, visit https://www.opnfv.org/community/get-involved.
