ETSI industry group publishes six NFV specifications

NSS Labs puts SD-WAN products to the test

A testing lab that has previously assessed next-generation firewalls is now turning its attention to SD-WAN. NSS Labs Inc. said public testing will focus on SD-WAN aspects such as the WAN edge, traffic optimization and security, according to a company statement. These are features more frequently touted as drivers for SD-WAN adoption.

The company, based in Austin, Texas, intends to extract practical testing data about SD-WAN products that will provide enterprises with helpful information to support purchasing decisions, it said in a statement. SD-WAN products will be rated as recommended, neutral or caution, based on NSS Labs' established security measurements, according to a company blog. The public test results will then be published in the company's research library.

This is currently the first version of the SD-WAN public testing group, and the company is asking for input from enterprises and vendors in the SD-WAN market.

"We encourage and invite enterprises and vendors to collaborate with us regarding use cases and the test methodology to help highlight the strengths and differentiation available in the SD-WAN market," said Jason Brvenik, NSS Labs' CTO, in a statement.

NSS Labs has previously tested security components like next-generation firewalls, data center firewalls and advanced endpoint protection.

NEC/Netcracker teams up with Telco Systems for NFV service chain

NEC/Netcracker and Telco Systems are targeting NFV service chaining in data centers and on customer premises with an integrated NFV offering for service providers. The companies will showcase their combined service Oct. 9 to 13 at the SDN NFV World Congress in The Hague, Netherlands.

NEC/Netcracker brings to the partnership its full-stack network as a service (NaaS) offering, which provides VNF onboarding, a digital marketplace, service design and more. Telco Systems offers NFVTime, a suite that provides preconfigured VNFs, security functions, SD-WAN support and management and orchestration.

NFVTime will fully integrate into NEC/Netcracker's NaaS ecosystem program, according to a joint statement. The program uses universal customer premises equipment as the host for the deployed VNFs.

"Together, NEC/Netcracker and Telco Systems are collaborating in the NaaS market and developing solutions that enable service providers to quickly launch new multivendor value-added services at the network edge," said Aidan Dunleavy, Netcracker's director of partner alliances, in a statement.