Network Edge Architecture
Communication service providers (CSPs) and telcos are mostly interested in network edge solutions because they offer them a way to monetize their investments in 5G infrastructure. While CSPs have built their business on operating physical networks tied to specific geographies, telcos realize that they have access to the same public cloud infrastructure as every other business. That is significant because we will see in this chapter that software is being used to define networks, especially in the era of 5G and beyond.
In Chapter 3, we described the basic edge architecture. In this chapter, we will explore network edge architectures and learn how they address, among other features, security and reliability, latency considerations, and storage constraints. The new paradigm is to place compute power at the network edge, thus making it possible to intelligently manage workload placement. The main topics that will be covered are as follows:
- Network functions...