Wind River to create carrier grade NFV-ready server platform with HP

Wind River is working with HP to certify Wind River networking and communications software on Network Equipment Building System (NEBS)-compliant HP ProLiant servers.

Wind River networking and communications products currently in certification with HP include the following:
• Wind River Linux
• Wind River Open Virtualization
• Carrier Grade Profile for Wind River Linux

HP’s portfolio of servers includes carrier-grade NEBS-compliant servers optimized for the needs of telecom service providers and network equipment suppliers. Upon completion of certification testing, Wind River networking and communications products will join the HP certification matrix and distinguished as a preferred software vendor for the communications market. Together Wind River and HP are accelerating network transformation by helping customers become ready to quickly address network functions virtualization (NFV) applications and lower total cost of ownership through the adoption of commercial-off-the shelf (COTS) hardware.

“The carrier network is undergoing a transformation arising from the potential that comes with network functions virtualization (NFV). By taking advantage of a virtualized or cloud environment through NFV, the telecom industry could reap the flexibility, scalability, cost and energy benefits that IT-data centers already enjoy,” said Glenn Seiler, vice president of networking solutions at Wind River. “By combining Wind River’s decades of telecom experience with servers from the market leader like HP, we’re enabling a new generation of carrier grade, NFV-ready servers for the changing telecommunications market.”

“As the telecom and IT industries converge and operators move to an NFV model, service providers need to improve deployment times for new applications, while keeping costs low,” said Werner Schaefer, vice president of network functions virtualization at HP. “HP’s NFV portfolio brings the flexibility and scalability needed to accommodate the modern-day workflow, while Wind River has the telecom expertise and proven technologies to ready customers for the NFV environment.

Wind River Linux delivers a commercial-grade Linux platform and easy out-of-the box user experience with a rich set of capabilities based on the latest open source technologies, fully integrated development tools, worldwide support and maintenance, and expert professional services. Wind River Linux was developed from the Yocto Project development infrastructure. Compatibility with the Yocto Project allows improved cross-platform compatibility and component interoperability.

Wind River Open Virtualization optimizes open source Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology to allow the deployment of network services on virtual machines without the performance loss associated with using traditional, IT virtualization products. Meeting carrier grade requirements, Open Virtualization delivers near-native hardware performance speeds, whereas standard KVM maximum latency is typically several thousand percent higher than native results. Built from a Yocto Project-based infrastructure and delivering carrier grade virtualization, Open Virtualization is a Type 2 hypervisor that leverages the latest open source advancements.

With Wind River Linux as a base, Carrier Grade Profile for Wind River Linux gives customers a turnkey platform that allows them to meet their Carrier Grade Linux requirements. Carrier Grade Profile is formally registered for the CGL 5.0 specification with the Linux Foundation and is the first delivery of Carrier Grade Linux functionalities on top of a Yocto Project Compatible product. This offering enables the next generation of embedded Linux designs that require secure, standards-based, and reliable solutions.