NFV vendor netElastic inks 2 new vBNG partnerships

Virtual-router vendor netElastic announced a couple of notable partnerships this week.

SDN network operating software company NoviFlow partnered with netElastic on launching a new, disaggregated vBNG product for network carriers. The companies say that NoviFlow's SDN switches and netElastic's NFV software complement each other for enhanced performance and scalability. In particular, the vBNG solution will be scalable and compatible with pre-existing DPDK and SDN switches and legacy routers that are too costly or burdensome to rip and replace.

"That's what we're hearing carriers ask for," said netElastic CEO Weixiao Liu in a statement.

The new solution will be an extension of netElastic's current vBNG offering—something of a flagship product for the company. A three-year-old startup, netElastic found its first publicly announced customer in CenturyLink; CenturyLink conducted a lab trial of netElastic's vBNG in March 2018 to support its CORD-based broadband services and help it achieve a stated goal of 100% global virtualization coverage in its IP core network before 2020.

Also this week, netElastic entered into another vBNG-related partnership with ODM/OEM-appliance manufacturer Lanner Electronics. NetElastic will use Lanner-made x86 white boxes to deliver vBNG and SD-WAN-specialized virtual customer premises equipment solutions.

"NFV software and white box servers are continuing to replace expensive and inflexible legacy network appliances," said Liu.