I would like to round-out 2021 with a final post on a reference architecture that I have been driving towards all year. This post brings together several themes we have covered since 2019 – on the suitability of Kubernetes as a foundation for Telco 5G workloads.
Why not use VMware hypervisor for 5G deployments
I had covered the limitations of legacy technology from a cloud-native standpoint in the below post. It is still very relevant for practitioners in Telcos looking to build 5G platforms.
https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cio/an-itops-strategy-for-hybrid-cloud-in-a-fortune-5000-enterprise/
Kubernetes as the foundation for 5G Deployments
The 5G network spec from 3GPP brings telco into the cloud-native domain i.e the network becomes a cloud that is scalable, programmable, and dynamic. Unlike 4G LTE, 5G RAN architectures split the gNB base station into Central Units (CUs) and Distributed Units (DUs). This architecture (which can be distributed based on the exact use-case as we will see in the reference architectures) brings about performance management, optimization, and overall system load management. The payoff is that virtual network slices can be provisioned on-demand with business objective-driven QoS guarantees.
Detailed coverage of 5G Architecture is here – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/5g/5g-core-5gc-platform-architecture/
https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/5g/real-world-5g-deployment-architecture/
The following diagram shows a 5G deployment model built on Kubernetes.
Instead of my covering each of the above blocks in the diagram, please find a collection of detailed blog posts –
- Bare metal as a Service – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cloud/the-cloudification-of-bare-metal/
- Multus – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/5g/why-5g-implementations-will-need-a-meta-cni-aka-multus/
- Dataplane acceleration- https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/5g/accelerating-the-5g-dataplane-with-sr-iov-and-dpdk-%c2%bd/
- Key Considerations in designing an enterprise SaaS – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/architecture/key-design-considerations-in-building-a-cloud-native-enterprise-saas/
- https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cloud/my-biggest-kubernetes-lesson-of-2019-your-clusters-need-a-management-plane/
- Key considerations for Kubernetes in Production – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/architecture/7-key-considerations-for-kubernetes-in-production/
- A deep-dive into Service Meshes – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cloud/service-mesh-technology-circa-2020/
Conclusion
We will kick off our blogging journey in 2022 by discussing real-world 5G architectures that can be enabled using the above capabilities.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay