An ADTRAN White Paper

Building a Network
with ADTRAN
From Headend to Customer Premises
Building a Network with ADTRAN

“The many skills needed to architect, design,

and configure such a network are a premium
and often needed temporarily to fulfill a
specific project timeline.”

Gigabit deployments are unfolding at an incredible ADTRAN can help you build, plan, or extend your
pace. Service providers, looking to transform the wired or wireless broadband network. We support
internet experience of consumers with life-changing a full spectrum of turn-key services related to field
hyper-speed connectivity, often have the arduous survey, planning, engineering, installation/turn-up,
task of not just laying fiber but also planning, build- and provisioning. As a certified Juniper partner in
ing, and installing the network within. Through this the UK and Ireland, ADTRAN brings expertise to
network, subscribers connect to the Internet and cover all aspects of network design, deployment,
access to many applications and services, includ- and maintenance. With over 35 years of designing,
ing voice, data, and video. manufacturing, and deploying broadband solutions,
ADTRAN has the services, technology, and opera-
The goals of high-performance optimized networks tional expertise needed to successfully elevate your
require a holistic understanding of the end-to-end network, improve operations, and boost subscriber
network and the many ways in which it can be de- experience. Through our partnership with Juniper,
ployed. The many skills needed to architect, design, we to offer expertise across both core and access
and configure such a network are a premium and technologies, providing the necessary resources
often needed temporarily to fulfill a specific project to you to ensure that you have access to experts
timeline. The skills needed to maintain the network when you need them, without exposing yourself to
are fewer and the tasks simpler. These skills are delays and burgeoning costs.
also in short supply, as we see an explosion in the
number of Alternative Network Operators across In this whitepaper, we will provide a set of principles
Europe and a sharp rise in the demand for core and and guidelines to inform a Service Provider and
access network specialist skills. However, many of provide an overview on how to design an end-to-
these demands are temporary. A service provider end network correctly.
shouldn’t have to incur heavy operating expenses
to permanently hire very specialized resources
when they can have access to these services
through a trusted partner.

An ADTRAN White Paper

 From Headend to Customer Premises

ADTRAN- Juniper Partnership

At ADTRAN, we provide a complete portfolio of solu- Benefits of the ADTRAN-Juniper
tions for next generation fibre access systems and a Partnership:
suite of business and residential customer premises
equipment (CPE) and residential gateways (RGs) with
• Market Leadership Together
Wi-Fi 6 capabilities. Our turn-key systems integration ADTRAN and Juniper are a lead-
services cover all aspects of design, integration, and ing provider of complementary
field deployment of fibre access systems. broadband access, aggregation,
and core solutions in Europe.
ADTRAN is a proud Juniper Networks partner for
network gateway and aggregation at the core. As • Broadest Portfolio
the routing and switching platform of choice for Complete end-to-end network
service providers, Juniper products complement solution from the subscriber edge
ADTRANs Broadband Access portfolio to provide a to the core with leading innova-
complete end-to-end best-in-class Service Provider tions in disaggregated SDN-ready
network. ADTRAN’s understanding of the access
networks, 10G PON solutions,
network requirements allow us to understand what
is needed from the aggregation site all the way into and powerful OS solutions with
building - a solid core network that can scale to MOSAIC and JUNOS.
meet ever-increasing demands. • Reliability
Proven solution for high availabil-
ADTRAN became a Juniper Networks partner in
2019 and has already attained Select Partner and
ity, resilience, and performance
Service Provider Plus status. ADTRAN and Juniper with an open, standards-based
have a shared philosophy on open networking. approach
ADTRAN and Juniper together provide an end-to- • Trusted Partner
end solution that is powerful, scalable, flexible, and Decades of operational exper-
reliable to meet service provider’s needs of today
tise in design, manufacture, and
and tomorrow.
deployment broadband solutions.
Building a Network with ADTRAN

Components of an
End-to-End Network
An end-to-end Fibre-To-The-Premise (FTTP) network, in its simplest form, consists of a Layer 3 (L3) Broadband
Network Gateway (BNG), aggregation switches, DHCP servers, RADIUS Servers, DNS servers, a Layer 2 (L2)
Passive Optical Network (PON) access switch, an Optical Network Unit (ONU), a residential gateway with Wi-Fi
routers at the subscriber premises, and a management platform for commissioning and control.

products products
MGMT &
Orchestration

PE Router
Pods & RG
TA5000/hiX
BNG Core/Edge Transit

SDX OLTs SDX Switch PE Router

Pods & ONTs

Agg Switch PE Router

CCS CCS BNG Core/Edge Peering

Leaf Switch Spine Switch

NetVanta PE Router Services

End to End Solution Sold and Delivered by

ILL728A

The BNG sits at the backbone or physical core The Aggregation Switch aggregates traffic from
of a network. It is a high-capacity device that serves multiple OLT access switches. It links upwards
as the gateway to the Wide Area Network (WAN) to the core layer, and acts as a bridge between
or the internet. A BNG architecture is designed to the core layer switch and the access layer switch.
do the following: Aggregation switch ports tend to be less expensive
than ports on a BNG. VLANs are distributed and
1. Connect with the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) prioritized using VLAN tags (typically S-Tags) and
that needs to be served broadband services. P-bits into the core network.
2. Establish subscriber sessions using IPoE or
PPPoE protocols. The OLT access switch is located at the access
3. Interact with the RADIUS server that authenticates sub- layer for connecting all subscribers to the network.
scribers and keeps an account of subscriber sessions. It converts electrical signals into optical signals
4. Interact with the DHCP server to provide IP addresses that are received and decoded by the ONU, which
to clients. converts it back to Ethernet that is fed into the RG
5. DNS server resolves domains by mapping the name at a home or an enterprise.
of the domain to the IP address.

An ADTRAN White Paper

 From Headend to Customer Premises

Modern Disaggregated Networks

The image below illustrates a traditional telco environment with management silos that limit the ability
to automate servers with vendor- and device-specific APIs.

CLI CLI CLI

XML Netconf Netconf

SNMP SNMP SNMP

TL1 XML TL1

Transport Access CPE

SNMP OSS EMS SNMP OSS EMS SNMP OSS XML

A B C A B C A B C

FTTN Copper or Coax

Metro FTTdp/FTTB
Transport

Data FTTP
Centres

Central
Office ILL733A

Networks of the future will see a shift from closed, vendor-locked systems to open, multi-vendor,
multi-technology networks programmed via SDN controllers as shown in the image below.

Global Control
& Orchestration
Vendor SP 3rd Party
Apps Apps Apps

Open, Programmable API

Open Source SDN Controller (i.e., ONOS and/or ODL)

FTTN Copper or Coax

Metro FTTdp/FTTB
Transport

Data FTTP
Centres

Central
Office ILL734A
Building a Network with ADTRAN

ADTRAN has been investing heavily in disaggregated fibre access systems. These next- generation fibre
systems use the same data centre networking architectural principles that are being upheld by the Open
Networking Foundation (ONF) with the SDN-Enabled Broadband Access (SEBA) Project and their reference
designs. ADTRAN’s SD-Access fibre system covers all types of PON access including GPON, XGS-PON,
NGPON2, and 10G EPON, while also supporting 1/10/40/100G Ethernet aggregation and integrated subscriber
management functions.

Integrated External
Control Plane Model Control Plane Model

E2E Service E2E Service

Management Management
Network Insight Network Insight
& Optimization & Optimization

Network Control Device

Network Control Service Service
Orchestration and Orchestration Abstraction Orchestration
and Orchestration

NETCONF/
YANG

Device
Abstraction
ADTRAN
SDX 6000 vOLTs

Allows more robust traffic management Affords improved network clock sync, security
functions to support latency-sensitive traffic. and advanced Carrier Ethernet functions.

ILL716B

An ADTRAN White Paper

 From Headend to Customer Premises

Building a solid network with ADTRAN and Juniper Networks

ADTRAN has worked with multiple service providers to provide end-to-end solutions using both ADTRAN and
Juniper Networks equipment at the aggregation and core sites. There are many different approaches that
can be taken depending on the layout of various networks.

The combined ADTRAN-Juniper approach is to avoid Layer 2 control protocols between the aggregation and
core layers and instead adapt a Layer 3 approach from day one. As networks grow and scale, managing a
complex Layer 2 network is problematic and fraught with danger. Simple changes in one section of the net-
work can cascade wildly throughout the network resulting in outages and unhappy customers.

ADTRAN and Juniper believe that a better approach is to put Layer 3 devices at the aggregation layer and
build a solid Layer 3 network that can handle multiple paths of different speeds and respond rapidly to chang-
es in the network. Enabling an MPLS network on top of this brings a vast array of possibilities for providing
multiple segregated services to residential or business, retail, or wholesale customers. Layer 2 functionality
such as terminating DHCP/PPPoE customers on a BNG can be achieved by using Pseudowire, L2 VPNs,
EVPNs etc., while offering EPLs and EVPLs to business customers. Advanced business services such as
L3VPNs can also bring a real value-add to the network. All of this comes easily and naturally to an MPLS net-
work, all while maintaining the segregation necessary when multiple services running on top of the network.

The diagram below illustrates our typical approach to a residential end-to-end network. PON devices such as
OLTs, or pre-aggregation switches, can be aggregated onto a PE router such as a Juniper MX or ACX Series.
From here, subscribers can be placed into a Layer 2 circuit and brought over the top of an IP/MPLS network
to a centralised BNG. Following dynamic creation of the VLANs (single or double tagged) and successful au-
thentication with AAA servers, the subscriber sessions are anchored on the BNG using Pseudowire Headend
Termination (PWHT). In the event of a link failure, the circuit is simply routed another way across the network
to the BNG, which keeps PPPoE sessions from dropping. To cover a complete loss of a BNG, a hot standby
circuit routed to another BNG can be waiting to take over if the Layer 2 circuit drops.

SDX OLTs PE Router Primary

Pods & RG Pseudowire

Backup
Pseudowire BNG Core/Edge Transit

SDX OLTs SDX Switch PE Router

Pods & ONTs

SDX OLTs PE Router

Pods & RG
BNG Core/Edge Peering

SDX OLTs SDX Switch

PE Router
Pods & ONTs
ILL729A
Building a Network with ADTRAN

Resiliency in the Aggregation Layer

If multiple paths are available from the PON network to the PE Aggregation layer, resiliency can be achieved
in several ways. The first, as illustrated below is to use MC-LAG between the PE routers to have active / stand-
by sessions to the PON equipment. On the uplink side you can then have your active / standby Pseudowire
circuits in place.

SDX OLTs PE Router

Pods & RG
BNG Core/Edge Transit

PE Router

SDX OLTs SDX Switch

Pods & ONTs Active
Pseudowire

PE Router
E
TIV
SDX OLTs SDX Switch AC Standby
Pseudowire
MC-LAG BNG Core/Edge Peering
ST
AN
Pods & ONTs DB
Y
Active
Pseudowire

PE Router ILL730A

An alternative to MC-LAG, is to an EVPN-ESI which would allow an active/active connection downstream to

the PON network. The connections to the BNG could then be built using an EVPN-VPSW service to provide an
active / active connection to the BNG.

SDX OLTs PE Router

Pods & RG
BNG Core/Edge Transit

PE Router

SDX OLTs SDX Switch

Pods & ONTs

PE Router
ACTIVE
VE
TI
SDX OLTs SDX Switch AC
EVPN ESI

IVE

BNG Core/Edge Peering

T
AC

AC
Pods & ONTs T IVE EVPN-VPWS

PE Router ILL731A

An ADTRAN White Paper

 From Headend to Customer Premises

ADTRAN Recommendations for a Robust Network

SERVICE PROVIDER CORE

Juniper MX Platform
ADTRAN recommends Juniper Networks MX platform for
Core Network routing needs. The MX is a robust portfolio of
SDN-enabled routing platforms that provide industry-lead-
ing system capacity, density, security, and performance with
unparalleled longevity. MX Series routers are the key to digital
transformation for service providers.

The MX Series provides a vast range of products from small-l

to very large-scale routing platforms that offer pay-as-you-
grow flex licensing options. The MX Series has comprehensive
Layer 3 routing features that allow it to run many different or
combined functions within your network.

Recommended platforms:
● MX150 ● MX10003
● MX204 ● Virtual MX

Where CGNAT is a requirement the MX240, MX480, or MX960

with the powerful SPC3 card is recommended. The SPC3 card,
along with CGNAT functionality can provide services like State-
ful Firewall, Intrusion Detection (IDS), Traffic Load Balancer,
DNS Request Filtering, and URL Filtering.

PROVIDER EDGE AGGREGATION

Juniper ACX Platform

For aggregation sites, ADTRAN recommends the Juniper ACX
Series of routers. The ACX MEF 2.0-compliant routers support
use cases such as Ethernet business services, residential
aggregation, mobile and industrial networks with solutions that
extend from provider edge to access network.

Recommended platforms:
● ACX 710 Temperature-Hardened Router
Building a Network with ADTRAN

ACCESS AND AGGREGATION

ADTRAN Total Access5000 or SDX Platform

ADTRAN recommends either the SDX portfolio of products
for a disaggregated network or the Total Access5000 portfolio
of products for a chassis-based network. Both offer unique
benefits that cater to the specific needs of a service provider –
the choice between the two is one of preference.

Total Access 5000 is a Multi-Service Access and Aggregation

Platform. It is among the most widely deployed platforms and
supports most network topologies, including star, ring, and
chain. It is a highly extensible platform that provides nonblock-
ing multi-terabit architecture supported by resilient 100GE
network interfaces.

Recommended chassis-based platform:

● TA5000 8-port Combo PON OLT
● TA5004 8-port Combo PON OLT

SDX 6300 Series OLTs are disaggregated OLT solution that

belong to ADTRAN’s SD-Access suite of devices. SD-Access
takes an open, microservices architecture that affords service
providers the freedom to choose best-of-breed elements
that expedite the creation of new customer applications and
broadband technology introductions while reducing overhead
costs, network inefficiencies. and time- to-market delays.

Recommended disaggregated platform:

● SDX 6320-16 Combo PON OLT
● SDX 6312-4 Temperature-Hardened Combo PON OLT
● SDX 8210-54 Aggregation Switch or Leaf Switch
● SDX 8305-20 Aggregation Switch or Spine Switch

An ADTRAN White Paper

 From Headend to Customer Premises

Growing your network

Using a combined ADTRAN-Juniper solution enables you to scale your network as network build and subscriber
numbers increase.

The Juniper Networks MX platform has network-wide Subscriber Access licenses that you can purchase in incre-
ments of 1,000 or 10,000. Being network-wide, these licenses are agnostic to the configuration of MX routers as
BNG or the location of subscriber connections – only the total number of subscribers matters. Hence, you don’t
have to over provision the licenses to cover failures in the network.

The Juniper ACX platform acts as a PE or Aggregation switch. It offers Flex licenses to allow you to start with
restricted throughput and increase to a full throughput license when required. The licenses have a term of three-
or five-years initially, with a one-year renewal term. The subscription costs also include the basic support costs for
the term. You can optionally add hardware replacement support on top e.g., same day/next day.

The ADTRAN Fibre Access suite of products allows you to scale your network as you grow. You can start by having
a single OLT uplinked into a PE /BNG. You can then continue to uplink OLTs into your PE until it reaches capacity.
You can add aggregation switches to your central aggregation site. Aggregation ports are cheaper than ports on PE
devices, so it makes sense to do this as you scale.

If an individual satellite site grows, an aggregation switch could also be added to “pre-aggregate” before hitting
the main aggregation site.

When you reach a critical mass, you can then make the solution more resilient by having a Spine/Leaf architecture
for aggregation. Adding a second PE router above this adds resilience back into the core network. This is achieved
using MC-LAG or EVPN on the PE router.

There are multiple deployment methods that ADTRAN has investigated. Each deployment method is tailor-fit to the
specific needs of a service provider. These include the deployment of OLTs in a ring using ERPs or, ELPs with one
or two OLTs having a direct connection to the uplink device, as well as a modified daisy-chaining approach where
multiple OLTs are connected in a star topology.
Building a Network with ADTRAN

Bringing it together
ADTRAN employees hold Juniper Networks Cer- Past projects have seen us design and install
tifications in Sales, Pre-Sales, and Post-Sales, is a several ADTRAN / Juniper Networks with EX and
requirement for being a Select Juniper Networks QFX switches, ACX, MX routers acting as MPLS
Partner. It also brings a wealth of knowledge and Core routers and BNGs. We have also performed
experience in selecting, designing, installing, and integration work in which our SDN platform Mosaic
commissioning Juniper Networks equipment. Our controls a Juniper MX router acting as BNG for
sales and engineering team boasts more than 15 end-end orchestration. The beauty of this is that the
years’ experience working with Juniper Networks different families all run JUNOS, and all have pow-
products and has the expertise to assist you in erful automation capabilities so operating Juniper
choosing the right product to suit your budget for Networks devices should hold no fear.
current and future demand.
ADTRAN would be delighted to work with you to
select, design and install an end-to-end network
that will enable you to exceed your revenue and
performance targets with an ADTRAN - Juniper
Networks solution.

ADTRAN, Inc. Canada—Montreal, Quebec AD11197B

901 Explorer Boulevard +1 877 923 8726
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adtran.com/contactus [email protected] For specific warranty information, visit www.adtran.com/warranty

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Any export, re-export, or transfer of the products contrary to law is prohibited.
For more information regarding exportation of ADTRAN items (e.g. commodities,
technology, software), please visit www.adtran.com/exportlicense.

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