Overview of 9 Open-Source Resource Orchestrating ETSI MANO Compliant Implementations: A Brief Survey

Cloud computing, Network Function Visualization (NFV), and programmable infrastructures such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN) are transforming ICT business models. These technologies work in an integrated pattern to deliver full management of network service lifecycles at reasonable costs. Coordinating resource control and service creation across these technologies is currently a grand challenge. This is commonly known as network Management and Orchestration (MANO). To date, there has been several research and development efforts dedicated to orchestration platforms, to enable automatic deployment and operation of end-to-end communication services. In this paper, we present a feature-based comparison of popular open-source MANO projects. Each of these projects is mapped to the ETSI NFV MANO reference standard, that specifies the key functional blocks required for network service orchestration in virtualized environments. Our results show that ONAP and OSM orchestration platforms are fully compliant to ETSI NFV MANO and support multi-technological domains (i.e. SDN and NFV). It was established that ONAP, although complex, is much more complete than OSM, and has been adopted by a larger group of global service providers.

I. Introduction

A major topic in the telecom industry today is how to deploy and operate an affordable, efficient, scalable, and automated network infrastructure. One of the biggest hurdles is being able to offer highly reliable services while maintaining business agility and ensuring swift deployment of new services at minimal costs. A potential solution to this predicament is a combination of software defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), and cloud computing.