More and more broadband providers are deploying virtual Broadband Network Gateways (vBNGs). As a result, more people are asking questions about vBNGs. Below are answers to five frequent questions.
1. What is a vBNG and How is It Used?
Broadband network gateways (BNGs), also known as broadband remote access servers (BRAS), are an essential network component since they’re the access point for individuals (subscribers) to connect to the broadband network. The BNG aggregates traffic from many subscribers and routes it to the network of the service provider. Once connected, a subscriber can access the broadband services delivered by their provider.
BNGs also enable service providers to authenticate and authorize users to establish and manage subscriber sessions, and ensure subscribers receive the appropriate services.
Unlike a traditional hardware-based BNG, a software-based (or virtual) BNG separates the data and control planes so that the data plane can be scaled independently from the control plane. Decoupling of the control and data plane allows for flexible capacity expansion without restrictions from either plane. Of course, this greatly increases network scalability.
2. How Do I Deploy vBNG?
Virtual BNGs are software-based solutions, which make them easy to deploy. Traditional BNGs run on proprietary hardware, while virtual BNGs use software running on high-performance x86 servers. By eliminating the proprietary hardware requirement, broadband providers can quickly and easily deploy vBNGs.
Software-based BNGs can also be located at the network edge (closer to subscribers), so service providers can maximize throughput and low-latency applications. vBNGs can be deployed on virtual machines or bare-metal servers.
3. What Kind of Performance Can I Expect?
Internet traffic is continuing to increase, along with the number of internet users as governments and broadband providers bring internet access to more people. To keep up with this demand, broadband providers are focused on BNG metrics such as throughput and cost-effectiveness.
To demonstrate the performance and cost-effectiveness of a virtual BNG solution, Intel and netElastic jointly tested the netElastic Virtual BNG on an Intel® 3rd Generation Xeon scalable processor. The test results showed netElastic vBNG achieved up to 380 Gbps of throughput depending upon packet size, with 128,000 attached devices. This is a new level of performance for vBNGs.
Compared to Intel’s previous CPU generation, the test results also showed an up to 56% increase in compute performance per dollar and up to a 20% increase in packet throughput performance compared to the previous CPU generation.
4. Will vBNG Interoperate with My Existing Network?
Yes. vBNGs have the same protocol support as legacy BNGs, so interoperability isn’t a problem. However, one difference is that virtual BNGs are built on flexible, open software-based architectures. This is particularly important today with the increased level of network traffic and the need for flexible, scalable networks to quickly add capacity.
5. How Much Does vBNG Cost?
One of the primary advantages of vBNGs are lower costs. As previously mentioned, legacy BNGs from router manufacturers bundle BNG software with their dedicated hardware, which increases both capital and operating costs. The significant upfront costs of hardware appliances are made worse by their lack of scalability, which forces you to purchase additional fixed-capacity BNGs when their capacity limit is reached.
Software-based BNGs run on standard, off-the-shelf x86 hardware which lowers costs and facilitates faster times to market. Virtual BNGs running on commodity servers also benefit from the rapid price reductions seen in commercial x86 hardware. For example, netElastic has found their Virtual BNG saves service providers up to 70% in hardware costs, since it runs on commodity x86 servers.
If you have more questions on vBNGs, please read the white paper: Next Generation Virtual BNGs – Is Your Broadband Network Ready?
To receive a live demo of netElastic vBNG, please click here.