All test indicators showed industry-leading results, which means the solution is ready for commercial use.
Enterprises are accelerating their digital transformation and gradually migrating their production systems to clouds, with 74% of them choosing multi-cloud connections.
This poses new requirements on bearer networks. In this context, Huawei launched the intelligent cloud-network solution, which aims to accelerate digital transformation across various industries.
The European Advanced Networking Test Centre (EANTC) in Berlin has accumulated extensive experience conducting tests. It aligned real scenarios of commercial use to comprehensively test this solution and its core products — NetEngine and ATN series routers — by focusing on key features such as super capacity, flexible connection, deterministic experience, and intelligent operation and maintenance (O&M).
Construction of an E2E 400GE network featuring super capacity and unified bearer
With the FMC trend, as well as DC cloudification and downward movement, 100GE for the access layer and 400GE for the aggregation and core layers are becoming prevalent. Against this backdrop, 400GE full-distance optical modules, mini-BNGs, and new access devices with ultra-high forwarding capabilities were tested.
SRv6-based 400GE line-rate forwarding proved the end-to-end 400GE networking capability of NetEngine series routers. 400GE optical modules support transmission capabilities at 10km, 40km, 80km, and 120km, meeting customers’ requirements for different transmission distances in various countries and regions. This demonstrates Huawei’s strong R&D strength in optical modules.
The BNG capabilities of the industry-leading box-shaped all-service routers NetEngine 8000 M14 and F1A proved their excellent user access capabilities and large session specifications, technically guaranteeing downward BNG deployment and improved user experience.
The 1U box-shaped ATN 910 series supports 880Gbps line-speed forwarding. One such box can provide access for mobile, home, and enterprise private line services, ensuring 10GE/25GE to sites for the future mobile bearer and supporting high-bandwidth private lines for government and financial sectors.
SRv6 enables flexible cloud-network connections
Cloudification of new services, such as smart manufacturing, telemedicine, and autonomous driving, requires deterministic bandwidth and latency as well as network connections with higher reliability.
In this regard, the test verified the capabilities of the SR/SRv6 Flex-Algo technology, which enables intelligent path selection without a controller and supports path computation for different services in specific topologies based on latency, TE metric, IGP cost, or SRLG.
In addition, this technology supports topology-specific TI-LFA and micro-loop avoidance, with less than 2ms packet loss during service switchover, and no packet loss during service switchback.
On top of that, this test verified the SRv6 header compression and BIERv6 inter-AS forwarding capabilities. The former proved to be effective in improving SRv6 transmission efficiency, while the latter showcased SRv6’s multicast capabilities.
Furthermore, considering that traditional networks and services will continue to exist in the long term, SRv6 EVPN interworking with the traditional VPN was tested, verifying that SRv6 EVPN — featuring powerful smooth evolution capabilities — can seamlessly interwork with traditional networks.
Numerous slices over one network ensure deterministic experience on the cloud-network
The development of B2B industry applications boosts the demand for private lines. Currently, most industries require service slices with 10Mbps-level bandwidth.
However, most slicing technologies can provide only slicing granularity at the Gbps level, which means that they cannot be commercialised on a large scale. In addition, only a few dozen slices can be provided on average in the industry.
As such, customers in the same industry have to share one slice, which in turn results in poor user experience. In this test, Huawei demonstrated its industry-unique network slicing technology, which can create over 1000 slices, with a slicing granularity at the Mbps level.
While strictly guaranteeing bandwidth, the slicing solution fully meets the differentiated SLA requirements of different industries by providing one slice for each customer from each industry.
ADN framework-powered NCE-IP enables network as a service and intelligent cloud-network O&M
With the cloudification of numerous enterprises, networks need to match the agility of clouds, enabling service provisioning within minutes while changing traditional complaint-driven O&M to proactive O&M.
Huawei’s iMaster NCE-IP is an industry-leading network automation and intelligence product that integrates management, control, and analysis functions.
Within the intent-driven ADN framework, which follows the intent-driven perception, analysis, decision-making, execution, and experience loop, iMaster NCE-IP provides network capabilities as services, enabling IP networks to achieve intelligent O&M throughout their lifecycles.
Using key technologies such as iFIT, SRv6-based intelligent path computation, and open and programmable technologies, this test verified the service intent-driven automatic loop-closure capabilities, such as loop-closure of on-demand traffic load balancing, automatic optimisation of deteriorated service quality, and DevOps for fast service rollout and adjustment.
Carsten Rossenhoevel, co-founder and managing director of EANTC, spoke highly of Huawei’s performance in this test, noting how the company demonstrated its strong software, hardware, and control system capabilities.
He commented on how Huawei has always been an advocate and pioneer of SRv6 and other technologies, as well as on the fact that Huawei further supplemented commercial deployment scenarios based on live network requirements.
He also stated that all the test cases proved Huawei’s intelligent and highly scalable cloud-network solution supports smooth evolution and provides industry-leading capabilities, meaning the solution is suitable for both the carrier and enterprise markets.
“An advocate and pioneer of SRv6 and other technologies, Huawei demonstrated its strong software, hardware, and control system capabilities, and supplemented commercial deployment scenarios based on live network requirements”, said Rossenhoevel.
“All test cases proved Huawei’s intelligent and highly scalable cloud-network solution. It supports smooth evolution and provides industry-leading capabilities, meaning the solution is suitable for both carrier and enterprise markets.”
The success of the EANTC test demonstrates the leading competitiveness of Huawei’s IP network products and solutions in the cloud era. Looking into the future, Huawei will continue to improve the capabilities of the intelligent cloud-network solution, helping carriers capitalise on connectivity to achieve greater business success.
EANTC’s test report is available at https://eantc.de/test_reports/huawei_intelligent_ip_cloud_network_solution.html