Delivering the Future of Networking with Hyper-scalable Connectivity
Liang Dong, Senior Product Manager, Epsilon
In recent years, Service Providers across Asia are looking at capturing new growth opportunities fuelled by the rapid pace of digitalisation in the region. This has led to an increased adoption of some form of cloud services and hybrid cloud strategies. However, it can be a challenge when connecting these infrastructure without the right networking expertise and cloud knowledge.
Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) addresses this challenge through software-defined networking or programmable networking, by enabling connectivity through the platform and the use of API. This presentation will cover the challenges of accessing and connecting to Asian markets and how service providers can leverage on NaaS to deliver connectivity on-demand. You will also learn about:
Landscape of complexity for service providers in Asian markets (including Mainland China)
Traditional networking vs NaaS model
API and Networking – Introduction to Epsilon’s NaaS platform, Infiny
Use case – DCConnect
Infiny demonstration
4. WE ARE A GLOBAL
CONNECTIVITY
PROVIDER
Epsilon is a global connectivity provider that is
simplifying how businesses connect applications and
data in the cloud and around the world through its
Network as a Service (NaaS) platform, Infiny.
We simplify the increasingly dynamic and complex
networking ecosystem by enabling access to on-
demand connectivity. From interconnection of
data centres to clouds and internet exchanges, we
deliver an array of connectivity solutions deployed
across our global private network.
EPSILON TELECOMMUNICATIONS | WHO WE ARE
page 4
• Cloud interconnection specialist and aggregator of
complementary data services
• Wholesale provider of international data, voice and
colocation services
• Global network reach with extensive reach across
Europe and Asia and connectivity into key US and
MEA locations
• Best-in-class Infiny platform for on-demand, self-
service buying and provision of services
• Engineering heritage with over 15 years of
experience and strong partner ecosystem for
continual technology development
Our Company
5. ASIAN ENTERPRISES ARE BEGINNING TO SEE
INTERCONNECTION AS A BUSINESS ENABLEMENT
RESOURCE
Need to deliver digital
transformation to better
serve their own
customers
Increasingly complex
business systems
architectures (hybrid
cloud)
Lack of awareness of
technical infrastructure
Enterprise customers
(having to) become
their own ISPs
DRIVERS
Better access to services & systems
Reduced latency
Scaling capacity & connections
Reduce costs
Transparency of service
Consumerisation characteristics
Geographic coverage
Fast
Reliable
Secure
On-demand
NEEDS
LANDSCAPE
CLOUD
AVAILABILITY IN
LOCAL MARKETS
UNIQUE LAWS AND
REGULATIONS
SKILLS AND
KNOWLEDGE GAPS
COMPLEX AND
EVOLVING SUPPY
CHAINS
6. DEFINING
PROGRAMMABLE
TELECOMS
Presenting telecoms
services and functions
via software defined
networking, programming
languages and interfaces
to developers.
Telecoms as a resource
Exposure to other
development
communities
Enabling independent
development of
applications leveraging
telecoms
A P I
Programmable Telecoms
is democratizing telecoms,
so many more people can
create value and solve
problems using telecoms
A L A N Q U A Y L E
“
“
7. In 1998, BT and other major telcos formed
Parlay, a group with an intention to create
standard APIs for accessing the PSTN.
Parley Parley-X OneAPI
JAIN
ForCES OpenFlow
Independent Telco API’s
IaaS API’s
Paas + SaaS API’s
Community API’s
IX API’s
?
Vendor API’s
Telco Standards API’s
Voice
Voice & Messaging
Data
T H E E V O L U T I O N O F P R O G R A M M A B L E T E L E C O M S
Complex set of grouped API’s has emerged
8. C O M M U N I C AT I O N S A P I G R O U P S
?
Independent Telco APIs
Vendor APIs
Telco Standards APIs IaaS APIs
PaaS + SaaS APIs
Community APIs
IX APIs
9. A P I s
PSTN / IP Service
Aggregation
Voice, Messaging, SIP
trunks, Firewalls etc
Packages Platforms, SDKs, Groupings
Value Added
Services
NFV, Payments, Recording,
forking, translation
Telecom
Application Servers
Freeswitch, Asterisk etc
Networking
L2 Ethernet, L3 VPNs, SD-
WAN etc
S D N E V O L U T I O N
T Y P E S O F S E R V I C E S A N D A P P L I C AT I O N S
TRADITIONAL SERVICE FUNCTIONS
ARE EVOLVING
12. • Self-service network as a service (NaaS)
platform that provides access to on-
demand connectivity with visibility over
network performance.
• Combines global connectivity, a growing
partner ecosystem (including to the
leading clouds) and seamless
orchestration to provide a functional-rich
user experience.
• Access to high performance network and
voice services with scalable bandwidth
capacity
Data Centre Interconnection
Direct Cloud Connectivity
Access to Internet Exchanges
Global Inbound Numbers
Hello Everyone, thank you for joining today’s session. The topic of this session is: Delivering the Future of Networking with Hyper-scalable Connectivity. My name is Liang. I am a product manager in Epsilon and based in Singapore. Let’s get started.
We are covering a few topics today:
Who is Epsilon,
the landscape of complexity for service providers in Asian market,
what is programmable Telecom,
the traditional networking verse Network as a service model.
We also share a use case of API networking with DCConnect, a leading SDN player in Greater China.
We finish the session with a platform demo.
First, let me introduce Epsilon.
We are a global connectivity provider that is simplifying how business connect applications and data in the cloud through our Network as a Service (NaaS) platform, Infiny. We are focused on simplifying connectivity service for our customers and partners. We leverage on API and Software defined networking and continuously invest in research and development to digitize the whole lifecycle of connectivity services into our Infiny platform. With this, customers can focus on their business or digital transformation project.
We were founded in 2003 and our headquarter is in Singapore. Let us share with you the landscape of API and telecom in Asia.
According to the Global Interconnection Index report by Equinix, APAC is the second fastest growing region for Interconnection bandwidth. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is projected to be 47% between 2019 to 2023. Enterprise in Asia are seeing the interconnection as a business enablement resource. While this is exciting, the Enterprise needs to have a clearly defined strategy to navigate the complex landscape and fulfill the needs of its stakeholders. In Asia, enterprises start to migrate to local cloud regions instead of North America region as before. There are unique rules and regulation in each market unlike Europe and North America. Interconnection knowledge gaps are especially prominent and local connectivity market is challenging due to the not fully liberalized telecom market.
Although there are many challenges, interconnection is addressing the needs for better access to services, reduced latency and reduce cost and so on. These are key business enablement resources. Is there a better way to embrace the challenges and opportunities? Yes, there is.
Defining programmable Telecoms. As Epsilon is a telecom service provider, the strategy is clear. We need to support programmable telecom. With programmable telecom, more stakeholders can create value and solve problems using telecom service. We need to present telecom services and functions via Application Programming Interfaces to the development community and enable independent development of applications leveraging telecom.
Programmable Telecom or API are not new concepts. In the 1980s, telecom industry is looking for intelligent networks. In the 1990s voice functions API starts to emerge. Parley is the first bold step to present functions to developers instead of telecom experts. In early 2000, Java APIs for Integrated Networks (JAIN) is published. Then the development continues to provide additional programmable functions such as messaging and voice. Intelepeer is a pioneer in this area in 2003 and Twilio has build many use cases and success stories using voice and messaging APIs. The data networking evolves its programmability also over this period. We have seen Forces, Forwarding and Control Element Separation working group from IETF in 2004, IETF is Internet Engineering Task Force, the leading standards organization. This is the first step to drive the separation of data plane and control plane. And it builds the foundation of Software defined networking. Openflow in 2008 as an industry standard SDN implementation build more programmability in the data networking. We are now at a point where we have evolved to sets of API’s supporting voice, messaging and data services.
There are about 7 sets of APIs having emerged. There are Telco Standards. These are developed by industry bodies such as MEF and TMforum. Independent Telcos – developed by the Telcos like Epsilon, Telstra and others. Vendors APIs – developed by the equipment and software manufacturers, like Juniper and Arista. There are also IX API by Internet Exchanges, Cloud service API covering IaaS, PaaS and SaaS and community API for specific requirements. We are excited to contribute and participate in these sets of APIs development and adoption.
We have covered an overview of programmable telecom and sets of APIs in the market. Let’s see how API is differentiating a traditional network model and a network as a service model.
The traditional service functions are evolving from old technology such as ATM and Frame-relay to IP and MPLS. But it is separated by different layers on the left, such as different packages, different value-added services and so on. It poses challenges to operator and consumer to efficiently and effectively utilize the resource with automation. With API and SDN adoption, these services have evolved to be easily consumable on the right, such as analytics, orchestration and full lifecycle management.
With adoption of NaaS model powered by API compared to traditional network model, customers enjoy the six characteristics of controllability. The telecom services are visible, configurable, priceable, orderable, deployable, and manageable. These characteristics would cover the whole lifecycle of telecom service and make it easily accessible. We are happy to see the progress in the industry and our customers and the community are getting a better, easier and accessible telecom services.
We have covered a lot on the market dynamics on telecom API. Let us give you a quick overview of an example, Infiny by Epsilon.
Infiny is a network as a service (NaaS) platform that provides access to on-demand connectivity with visibility over network performance. Infiny is providing global connectivity through Epsilon network and partner ecosystem. Data and voice services are available in Infiny. The most common use cases are Data center interconnection, Cloud Connect, Remote Peering with Internet Exchange and Voice number ordering and porting.
This is an overview of Infiny enabled services. It is an end-to-end global connectivity and intelligent communications platform for all your data and voice needs. You can interconnect with over 200 data centres on Epsilon’s network and extend access multiple Cloud Service Providers and internet exchanges from anywhere around the world.
That is an overview of Infiny, Epsilon SDN platform. We are presenting a telecom API use case with DCConnect, a leading SDN player in Greater China and ASEAN region.
Since 2018, Epsilon and dcconnect partner to interconnect software-defined networking platforms and drive SDN adoption in China. The partnership is the first time two SDN platforms have been interconnected in China via a bi-lateral API Integration. DCConnect’s customers in China can gain instant and seamless access to Epsilon’s Global Fabric when they use DCConnect’s SD-Cloud Express platform. It enables users to interconnect with Epsilon’s network and reach to the global locations, whether it is a Data center, commercial building, cloud location and Internet exchange point. DCConnect also enables Epsilon’s customers and partners to interconnect in major cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Infiny users can instantly connect to China national wide SDN network with extended access to more than 118 data centres and 11 Cloud Providers, including Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Tencent Cloud and Huawei Enterprise Cloud,
We have covered the Asia market landscape, market evolving to a programmable telecom powered by API and comparison of traditional networking model and a NaaS model. We also shared a use case that we have developed with DCConnect on API integration. Now it is time for an Infiny demo.
That is all for today. We have covered the interconnection in Asia, programmable telecom and adoption in the market. Epsilon’s API story on Infiny and DCConnect integration. We finish the session with a Cloud Connect demo. We hope you find the session useful and do get in touch with us on any questions. Finally, we want to thank everyone for your time today and wish you stay safe and take care. Bye bye.