Enea, flexiWAN and Intel Partner to Enable Open Source, Secure SD-WAN

PoC at SDN NFV World Congress demonstrates a complete uCPE-based solution optimized for open source SD-WAN and security applications

Enea has announced a joint Proof of Concept (PoC) with flexiWAN and Intel, demonstrating a reference solution for secure SD-WAN based on open source applications. It will be showcased at the SDN NFV World Congress in The Hague, October 14-17.

Communication service providers and enterprises are looking for ways to innovate and increase flexibility of their SD-WAN solutions. This can be achieved by combining white box uCPE appliances with open source applications running as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs).

An open solution facilitates innovation for VNF vendors and enterprises building their own applications, as it enables integration with full control of the code base, and is not dependent on any commercial software vendor‘s roadmap.

The joint solution demonstrates a secure, multi-vendor, SD-WAN deployment with service-chained, open source SD-WAN and security VNFs, white box hardware and an open virtualization and management platform.

It includes the following main components:

•flexiWAN: a centrally-managed SD-WAN open source VNF with integration points for third party logic,
•pfSense: an open source firewall and network security VNF,
•Enea NFV Access: a uCPE virtualization platform, optimized for SD-WAN and vCPE use cases,
•Enea uCPE Manager: centralized uCPE management with automation, lifecycle management VIM, and VNF management,

“Open source VNFs together with our cost-efficient, low-power Intel Atom processors significantly reduce the cost barriers for service providers entering the market and pave the way for uCPE based SD-WAN”, said Bob Ghaffari, General Manager, Network Communications Division, Intel. “Enea and flexiWAN show that their customers can have an extensible and future-proof platform ready for the innovations that will form tomorrow’s enterprise network.”

“We are pioneering the second wave of SD-WAN with our open source model, making it possible for enterprises and service providers to manage and control their networks and data. Together with Intel and Enea we show a complete, open source, secure, SD-WAN reference design for uCPE”, said Amir Zmora, CEO of flexiWAN.

Adrian Leufvén, SVP OS Business Unit at Enea, said: “This PoC is a good example of an open and flexible for SD-WAN solution, based on combining uCPE with cost-effective software components. This is how networking at the customer premise is transforming right now and we are proud that Enea NFV Access plays a central role in this important evolution.”