Network as a service (NaaS) is a platform that imparts the networking infrastructure to those who do not desire to develop their own one. NaaS also entails the provision of network services to customers from third parties. It comprises services like Data Centre and Wide Area Networking Connectivity, Bandwidth on Demand, among other applications. The product can be bought for many users for a specific time. A Global Communications platform lets you connect yourself or your customers globally via an on-demand network orchestration ability.
Features of NaaS
- It enables the customers to access the internet directly in a safe way. It also allows you to conduct custom routing protocols.
- NaaS gives network service to the customer with the aid of a virtualised network and provides the user with a virtual environment.
- It has remote access functionality. The user can access data from any location, no matter what the time.
What NaaS Requires
A crucial requirement of NaaS is the integration with existing DC hardware. Another requirement is that it should expose a high-level programming model. The last condition is that it should support several applications that run simultaneously. It is known as scalability and multi-tenancy isolation.
Three Things for Successful Deployment of NaaS
A NaaS offering generally has three major components that are crucial for a successful deployment. These are mentioned below.
- Connectivity – This element revolves around giving network links having a predefined quality of service (QoS) and bandwidth. It can be based on wireless, wireline, IP/MPLS, SD-WAN, or mobile 5G. IDC estimates that the market for SD-WAN or software-defined wide area networks will hit the $4.5 billion mark in 2022.
- Self-service portal – The self-service portal is a crucial ability that assists businesses in connecting to a branch office. Companies can gain accessibility to the environment of virtual network functions in actual time. Following the establishment of connectivity, the network operations manager can start managing their separate network services and value-added services through the NaaS platform and unified virtual network functions marketplace. The users can change, adjust, and scale their networks according to their requirements. Options like redirecting traffic to an efficient route using SD-WAN technology or setting a local area breakout for a particular branch can be conducted using a self-service portal.
- VAS and virtual network function marketplace – This element allows for purchasing virtual network functions and value-added services, computing, and networking resources by the NFV orchestrator. The solution also supports continuous service delivery by integrating with CRM, billing, service catalogue, and network inventory.
Architecture of NaaS
NaaS architecture allows the network devices in it to run tenant code. A NaaS box is the component that is accountable for the tenant code execution. These boxes can be incorporated into the same switch hardware. They can also be implemented as another device, which is connected with the aid of high-bandwidth links. These boxes hold in-network processing components, which perform the application-specific processing of the packets that travel within them.
NaaS is a novel digital business technology method that is changing the way businesses develop, take in, and adapt network and connectivity abilities. Service providers can utilise it internally to provide network services for the IT team and externally to allow customers to purchase network resources and connectivity as a service. A Global Communication platform offers organisations a centralised source to buy and deploy connectivity for digital services and the cloud worldwide. It thus makes networking streamlined and customised.
