Intel® Select Solution for uCPE

Solution Brief Intel® Xeon® Processor D-2100 Family

Intel® Atom™ Processor C3000

Deploying & Orchestrating ECI’s Mercury™

uCPE on Advantech White Boxes
Overview
Traditional enterprise
Universal Customer Premise Equipment, or uCPE, is taking center stage as WAN architectures are
communication service providers consolidate physical network functions and becoming obsolete. SDN
evolve their Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) offerings to run in more generic, and uCPE herald in a new
off-the-shelf universal platforms. With uCPE, SD-WAN can just as easily be era, one that promises to
deployed as a virtual network function (VNF) complemented by a wide choice of be truly transformational.
other network functions such as a router, firewall or WAN optimization.
A new network is in the
The transition of multiple physical functions into their virtual equivalents and making. One where
serviced by hypervisors executing on standard Intel® processors is now well communication service
understood, with uCPE deployments in small to medium enterprise networks providers can offer
reaching significant volumes on Intel® Atom™ C2000 and C3000 based unique managed or self-
devices. managed services to
enterprise IT
A strong market outlook and uCPE uptake by communication service providers departments, enabling
has led to the introduction of a growing number of hardware and software the remote deployment of
solutions from a vibrant ecosystem of suppliers. Solutions are available that VNFs and instantiation of
dramatically simplify complex networks, allow organizations to reduce their new network service
capital outlays on equipment, and deliver services to end-users in a more chains ‘on the fly’ using
flexible, agile and cost-effective way from a centralized location. state-of-the-art
management and
The benefits of uCPE are transformational for all organizations - uCPE is clearly orchestration tools.
set to play a key role in every company’s Software Defined Networking (SDN)
strategy. This brief describes how
ECI® is leveraging white
The ability to select the right solution from a growing choice of vendors may not box uCPEs from
seem such an easy task, and will depend on multiple factors both technical and Advantech to deploy new
operational as well as economical. Much hinges on in-house capabilities to services from branch
integrate uCPE components and building blocks or conversely the willingness office to regional HQ
to adopt a one-stop solution from a single supplier. This Solution Brief focuses locations.
on the latter, with an open-source software and commercial-off-the-shelf
hardware approach in mind. One that offers a fully validated and supported
solution, while avoiding vendor lock-in by the ability to mix and match vendor
products and white box hardware.

Hardware Highlights Software Highlights

 FWA-1012VC  High performance per NFVi
 Comprehensive zero touch
o Versatile platform for SMB  Small footprint of MANO SW
provisioning
 FWA-3050 microservices based
 Highly secured platforms
o Fully configurable to fit any  Customer profile, SLA,
enterprise deployment  HW and network resource configuration & inventory
 Advanced packet processing Management management
technologies including DPDK  Access SW support capabilities  “Any VNF catalogue”
and Intel® QuickAssist (VDSL,GPON,LTE) (Designer tool)
 Compact designs, reduced  High Availability  Open standard NB/SB REST
size and power footprint  Full lifecycle management APIs
 High scale of uCPEs per VIM  Multi tenancy
 Cloud native orchestration
ENABLING MODERNIZED
become available. In short, Mercury way. Selected VNFs are easily
BUSINESS SERVICES
uCPE is the ultimate vehicle to provisioned, managed, and
deliver modernized business upgraded remotely onto the
One peek into the communications
services, while improving service customers’ Mercury uCPE
closet of a typical business today
providers’ top and bottom lines. appliances. They provide services
brings you face-to-face with a clutter
such as internet access, voice
of single-purpose boxes for edge
Maintaining physical Customer services, L3VPN connectivity, or
routing, cyber security, WAN
Premises Equipment (CPE) is costly other value-added business
optimization, SD-WAN and other
for both service providers and services. As a managed service,
networking functions. Each box is
businesses. It involves hardware Mercury uCPE is a source of new
individually installed, managed, and
from many vendors, truck rolls, revenues for service providers,
upgraded.
manpower, and specialized skill sets beyond connectivity. Mercury uCPE
to install each one physically at the and associated VNFs supports
Not anymore. ECI’s Mercury™
customer site, and to perform diverse configurations. This gives
uCPE streamlines multiple customer
upgrades, patches, and fixes. Then, the agility to deploy network
premises networking functions into a
there is the entire issue of deploying functions based on individual
single software-configurable
new functions and services. customer needs and to optimize
appliance – directly reducing entry
costs. But Mercury uCPE is much cost-performance.
Mercury Universal CPE (uCPE)
more than that. It allows service
revolutionizes this environment BEST-OF-BREED VNFs
providers to combine networking
using network function virtualization
functions flexibly in innovative ways
(NFV), delivering CPE functionality The starting point for Mercury’s
to create value-added service
as software running on commodity value is its library of certified, best-
mixes.
hardware. Mercury is ECI’s NFV of-breed ECI and third-party VNFs.
platform, encompassing These include SD-WAN, edge
These can be tailored to individual
infrastructure (NFVi), VNF software, routing (vRouter), session border
customer needs, expand the
and management and orchestration control (vE-SBC), next generation
services portfolio, and generate new
(MANO). It is compatible with ETSI firewalls (vFW), WAN Optimization,
revenue streams. In parallel, uCPE
NFV specifications to ensure carrier- Enterprise Storage and more.
lowers operational costs through
grade standards. Mercury lets
self-installation capabilities and
customers select and combine best- Mercury is highly versatile and can
centralized management, delivering
of-breed VNFs from a library of run multiple VNFs on the same
remote zero-touch provisioning and
certified ECI or third-party VNFs. For platform simultaneously, and
upgrades, and eliminating truck
uCPE, these may include SD-WAN, sequence the VNFs per service-
rolls. This can even be incorporated
edge routing, cyber security (such chaining rules. This minimizes
into self-service customer portals.
as universal threat management), infrastructure costs and enables
Mercury uCPE is future-proof and session border control, WAN creation of custom-tailored service
can easily incorporate new optimization, LAN monitoring, and packages.
networking functions as they enterprise storage, with more on the
BRINGING SERVICE AGILITY at the network edge, in the access, value of data center virtualization
CLOSER TO THE NETWORK or at the customer premises. close to the end-user when high
Mercury can also deploy VNFs more performance is demanded.
EDGE
centrally in metro POPs, the network
core, or in a data center. Best of all, the entire Mercury family,
ECI’s Mercury Network Function
including MANO, VNFs, and NFVi,
Virtualization (NFV) family
Mercury is fully-compliant with ETSI is totally ETSI-compliant, and has a
empowers your network to respond
Management and Orchestration strong commitment to openness,
quickly to new customer service
(MANO) and is cloud native cutting leveraging software like OpenStack.
opportunities.
edge technology based. NFV This enables easy operational
Mercury lets you mix and match a infrastructure platforms are available integration, end-to-end
rich library of certified ECI and third- as thin or thick appliances. orchestration, and incorporating
party virtualized network functions third-party software.
OPEN INDUSTRY STANDARD
(VNFs) to create differentiable
service value. This drives new ARCHITECTURE
revenues for fixed and mobile
Mercury optimizes for network edge
networks and streamlines
deployments through a family of run-
operations, reducing OPEX.
time NFVi devices based on hyper-
Providing end-users with the best converged computing. This
low-latency service experience, approach combines processing,
Mercury excels at deploying VNFs storage, and networking in a manner
expressly designed to bring the
THE WHITEBOX ADVANTAGE

Mercury has been ported to a range

of Advantech White-box uCPE
platforms to meet the needs of
small, medium, and large enterprise
branch offices. For a highly
optimized uCPE processing
solution, Advantech’s FWA-1012VC
brings outstanding performance
processing and power efficiency,
and is available as a 2 to 8 core This versatile 1U rackmount
scalable offering designed to handle platforms offers flexible WAN NFVi
small to medium locations. The connectivity supporting multiple site-  KVM-based hypervisor
system supports flexible RAM to-site communication protocols,  DPDK
capacities with error correcting broadband internet and 4G LTE  OVS and Routed data path
code(ECC), multiple solid state  ECI “Board applications”
through field-replaceable
drives (SSD) via SATA and/or M.2  OpenSatck agents
expansions.
interfaces for reliability and high
Mercury WAN Connectivity
availability, and a wide range of The FWA-3050 can be configured to Options
integrated gigabit Ethernet and 10 meet any enterprise needs thanks to  VDSL/VDSL2/G.fast/GPON
GbE ports with both copper and Advantech Network Mezzanine access
optical SFP connections depending Cards (NMC) that can be populated
on the model. with a choice of 1, 10, 25 or 40GbE Management and Orchestration
interfaces.
The FWA-1012VC offers an optional  All ETSI defined components
integrated Wi-Fi access point and Integrated Intel® QuickAssist provided as bundle or separately
4G/LTE connectivity. The4G/LTE Technology accelerates execution of  Zero touch Provisioning
option can provide failover crypto algorithms including IPSec  Full lifecycle management
protection for the primary WAN without burdening the CPU. As a  Customer management and
connections and can also be used result, secure branch connectivity portal
for higher bandwidth bonding with including end-to-end encryption can  Container based platform
the wireline WAN ports. In addition, be provided without compromising running over ECI PaaS
the FWA-1012VC offers optional VNF performance or increasing
dual-SIM capability for cost. Conclusion
active/standby and an optional cost
saving PoE module that can power Additional IPsec acceleration and Communication service providers
two IEEE PoE+ (25.5W) ports offload can be added by leveraging are planning for the upcoming
without the need for a PoE+ switch. the Advantech PCIE-3020 Intel® network transformation and starting
QuickAssist PCIe adapter. to build the infrastructure that will
All models include an optional run their next-generation virtual and
trusted platform module (TPM) that Technical Highlights software-centric services. With the
acts as the root of trust for security broad choice of components that
certificates. Communication Service Mercury NVE-100 thin Appliance can be used to implement the new
Providers can scale their Mercury FWA-1012VC network infrastructure, validated
uCPE deployments with  uCPE application for SMB
solutions offering optimized
Advantech’s FWA-3050, an Intel®  Up to 4 VNFs @ 250Mbs
performance and functionality will be
Select Solution for uCPE based  6-2 LAN/WAN ports;
WIFI/Wireless modem (optional) key.
on the Intel® Xeon® D-2100
processor, this further scales up Mercury NVE-1000 Thick ECI’s Mercury uCPE running on
whitebox uCPE choice and provides Appliance FWA-3050 open architecture Intel-based white
the extra throughput, VNF  uCPE application for enterprise boxes from Advantech gives service
onboarding and processing  Up to 8 VNFs@ 1Gbs providers and integrators a head-
headroom that CSPs and  8 – 4 LAN/WAN ports; start on fully integrated UCPE
Enterprises need to efficiently WIFI/Wireless modem (optional) deployment, reducing time-to-rollout
address increasing on-premise  Additional GE/10GE ports and and risk when building next-
acceleration HW expansions
workloads. generation network services.
For more information on Advantech and ECI uCPE solutions or to book a demo please contact us at

Email:

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