<![CDATA[ Latest from Next TV in Opendaylight ]]> https://www.nexttv.com/tag/opendaylight Tue, 26 May 2015 18:30:00 +0000 en <![CDATA[ HP Snaps Up ConteXtream ]]> https://www.nexttv.com/news/hp-snaps-contextream-390879 73Q6ZpUYcSwCxZfnYNfJa9 Tue, 26 May 2015 18:30:00 +0000

Hewlett Packard has struck a definite agreement to acquire ConteXtream, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of OpenDaylight-based software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) products, and a card-carrying member of HP’s  OpenNFV initiative.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal will help HP push further into SDN and NFV, technologies that are factoring into cable product roadmaps as MSOs look add efficiencies to their networks through virtualization and away from purpose-built hardware.  

ConteXtream, maker of an SDN controller platform, claims to have products deployed with wireless and MSO networks spanning more than 50 million subscribers. Telenor Group and Comcast, which is also an investor in ConteXtream and recently became the first service provider member of OpenDaylight, are among ConteXtream’s known deployment partners.

“ConteXtream’s open SDN controller platform complements HP’s NFV expertise and telecommunications and IT experience,” Saar Gillai, SVP and GM, NFV at HP, explained in this blog post about the deal. “This acquisition will further strengthen HP’s leadership in the fast-growing NFV market, which some analysts expect to grow to $11B by 2018.”

Gillai added that ConteXtream will become part of HP’s Communications Solutions Business, and that ConteXtream’s current CEO, chairman, and co-founder, Nachman Shelef, will continue to lead the ConteXtream business within HP. Shelef will report to Gillai.

“We’re moving away from being tied to dedicated machines to having a resource pool with automated, self-service mechanisms,” Gillai noted. “In the networking world, there are countless functions – firewall, caching, optimization, filtering etc. – and a bunch of inflexible hardware to do those things. NFV is about saying, ‘Why can’t we put these various functions in the cloud? Why does each function need to be on specialized and dedicated hardware?’”

Other ConteXtream investors include Verizon, Benhamou Global Ventures, Gemini Israel Funds, Norwest Venture Partners and Sofinnova Ventures. Founded in 2006, ConteXtream has raised $23.8 million via three rounds, according to CrunchBase.

]]> <![CDATA[ Comcast Joins OpenDaylight Project ]]> https://www.nexttv.com/news/comcast-joins-opendaylight-project-390557 np61ciYweFkiq2Ed2rQYLj Tue, 12 May 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Comcast has become the first service provider to join the OpenDaylight Project, an open source platform for software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies aimed at building more automation and programmability into the network.

OpenDaylight also announced that Lenovo has become a member of the initiative.

“We have been testing ODL since the project launched to see where it might fit in and have been impressed by the improvements in functionality and stability with each successive release,” Chris Luke, senior principal engineer at Comcast, noted in this blog post about the MSO’s involvement. “We have also been participating with our partner CableLabs on the OpenDaylight sub-project PacketCable PCMM, which aims to develop a southbound plugin for ODL that can manage service flows across Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) devices.”

“With an ever-growing number of endpoints to manage, evolving our SDN and NFV capabilities becomes increasingly important,” said Rakesh Puri, executive director of network applications and systems at Comcast, in a separate statement.

Comcast, Luke emphasized in the blog, is motivated to reduce the operational complexity of its networks, noting that the near-term work involves making improvements to network automation under the operator’s Programmable Network Platform, a framework that outlines a stack of behaviors and abstraction layers that software uses to interact with the network.

“It is our hope that by harmonizing on a common framework and useful abstractions, more application groups within the company will be able to make use of better intelligence and more easily interact with the network,” noted Luke, who is also part of an OpenDaylight Advisory Group formed to provide technical and strategic guidance to the ODL community on the challenges of running real-world networks. “Longer term, we’re working toward creating an architecture where the core of the network is not intimately involved in the operation of virtual networks.” 

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