Implementation and Deployment of a Server at the Edge Using OpenStack Components

As the 5th telecommunication Generation (5G) deployments are spreading around via various mobile operators, the capabilities behind 5G are becoming more and more understandable. Infrastructure vendors, operators, and end users now have a clear picture of the 5G potential and, for that reason, the research and the development of 5G are surely continuing. The one-to-one mapping between 5G and Software Defined Network - Network Function Virtualization (SDN-NFV) architecture is not in discussion, but the impact of porting SDN-NFV into the Radio Access Network (RAN) is still under investigation. Sometimes, the RAN requirements set strong limitations even in the basic hardware and software setup. For example, the most complete and very well integrated SDN-NFV infrastructure distributions require specific hardware capabilities in terms of available nodes, in contrast with the RAN requirement to be economic, power consumption limited and with limited overhead due to operating system and middleware cost. For that reason, this study uses only a minimal set of OpenStack components in order to evaluate what is the minimal hardware capability needed to set up a basic, but fully working environment for NFV, highlighting the pros and cons of embracing a solution solely based on standard OpenStack components.