Sandvine has unveiled a new product, Sandvine Traffic Steering Engine that has been engineered to solve the challenges that face communications service providers (CSPs) looking to deploy Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Service Function Chaining (SFC). Sandvine’s Traffic Steering Engine builds upon its Policy Traffic Switch.
NFV is a carrier-led effort to move away from proprietary hardware, motivated by the desire to dramatically increase agility, enable faster service launches, and dramatically reduce the cost of deployment. Service Function Chaining is a technique for selecting and steering data traffic flows through various ‘service functions’, allowing operators to deploy a wide range of services for their subscribers that improve and protect overall Internet experience and increase ARPU.
For example, operators may use Service Function Chaining to intelligently steer relevant traffic through service functions like, network security, parental controls, and traffic optimization solutions. Sandvine’s Traffic Steering Engine enables the deployment of these types of functions in Gi-LAN, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), and fixed-line environments.
Sandvine said that the Traffic Steering Engine enables CSPs to deploy Service Function Chains in a straightforward, standards-compliant manner. The company claims that unlike alternatives, the Traffic Steering Engine delivers carrier-grade scale and reliability in a completely virtualized solution.
Sandvine engineered the Traffic Steering Engine to fulfil the proposed Service Function Forwarder (SFF) role of the IETF standard, as well as the proposed Traffic Steering Support Function (TSSF) from the ETSI/3GPP standards, making its function essential for operators interested in deploying NFV and Service Function Chaining using industry standards.
Don Bowman, CTO Sandvine
Sandvine has been at the forefront on NFV deployments, with approximately 10% of our customers and partners now deploying or trialing our products virtually in the data plane. This experience in the early stages of NFV market adoption has allowed Sandvine to develop our Traffic Steering Engine to meet the needs of large operators looking to capitalize on the benefits of NFV and fulfill the vision of Service Function Chaining at a massive scale.
