The ETSI Software Development Group for OpenSlice (SDG OSL) is developing an opensource servicebased Operations Support System (OSS) to deliver Network Slice as a Service (NSaaS) following specifications from major SDOs including ETSI, TM Forum and GSMA. See more details [here](https://osl.etsi.org/about/).
The ETSI Software Development Group for OpenSlice (SDG OSL) is developing an open-source service-based Operations Support System (OSS) to deliver Network as a Service (NaaS) following specifications from major SDOs including ETSI, TM Forum and GSMA.
## Usage
## Usage
OpenSlice allows Vertical Customers to browse the available offered service specifications and also allows NFV developers to onboard and manage VNF and Network Service artifacts. It also supports TMFORUM OpenAPIs regarding Service Catalog Management, Ordering, Resource, etc.
OpenSlice can be used in managing 5G network services from the user device to the core network and cloud as well as for Orchestrating cloud resources across private and public clouds for enterprise applications. OpenSlice is capable of supporting most of the features of an end-to-end (E2E) service orchestration framework while many of them will be more mature in future releases. The following figure displays the general usage of OpenSlice.
The following figure displays the usage of OpenSlice.
The image illustrates how OpenSlice supports the idea of an E2E network service orchestration framework by integrating multiple network components and layers, from user devices at the edge to radio, transport networks, core and public cloud services, ensuring seamless, secure, and efficient delivery of network services. Assuming that there are domain controllers for all the above domains OpenSlice can create the end-to-end service via the domain controllers by following the process of creating and deploying the end-to-end service by implementing transformations, and consuming APIs from various network entities.
OpenSlice, in a nutchell, offers user interfaces where users can interact with the framework to order, expose, and manage service catalogs, services and resources that can be ordered, following business logic and policies and exposed through the APIs.
There are two portals offering UI friendly access to users:
### An end-to-end (E2E) service orchestration framework
* The Services portal allows users to access services and service providers to design services.
* The NFV portal allows users to self-manage NFV artifacts and onboard them to a target MANO/NFV Orchestrator.
3rd party applications can use OpenSlice through TMForum Open APIs.
Service Specifications reside into Service Catalogs, grouped in Categories. OpenSlice offers a Service Orchestrator called [OSOM](./architecture/osom.md). OSOM instantiates Service Specifications by requesting Network Services from target MANOs/NFVOs. NFV artifacts reside into a VNF/NSD catalog and are onboarded to a target MANO/NFV Orchestrator. Service Specifications reference NSD from the VNF/NSD catalog.
Customers make Service Orders and OpenSlice instantiates the requested Service Specifications of the Service Order. Running Services instantiated by OpenSlice, reside in OpenSlice Service Inventory. The following picture displays how Service Specifications are related to Running Services and how Running Services relate with instantiated running Network Services. (See also [Service Inventory](./service_inventory.md))
[](./images/service_specification_instantiation.png)
## Service Lifecycle Rules
OpenSlice constains support for defining rules of services, affecting their behavior. See [LCM Rules](./lcm.md).
## Multidomain scenarios and federation
OpenSlice can be used to exchange service specifications/catalogs and make service orders between Organizations as the following figure displays.
[](./images/multi-domain-organizations.png)
An Identity federation is also possible since our authentication service is based on Keycloak (see [OAuth](./architecture/oauth.md)).
See more on [Consuming Services From External Partner Organizations](./architecture/consumingServicesFromExternalPartners.md).
## Live Demo
* OpenSlice demo: <http://portal.openslice.io/>
* OpenSlice Service Catalogs and ordering: <http://portal.openslice.io/services/>
> username=admin, password=openslice <br> or <br>username=admin, password=changeme
An end-to-end (E2E) service orchestration framework is designed to manage and automate the entire lifecycle of services across multiple domains and technologies. For delivering, especially, Network as a Service (NaaS) a comprehensive system is needed that automates and manages the entire lifecycle of network services, from provisioning to monitoring and decommissioning, while ensuring seamless integration, operation, and delivery of services from the initial request to the final delivery, spanning all involved components and layers. Such E2E frameworks enable users to consume network services on-demand, similar to how cloud computing services are consumed. Some key components and features of such frameworks are:
## Video demo
- Service Catalogs including predefined Network Services based on service templates for common network services like 5G core functions, 5G slices, VPNs, SD-WAN, firewalls, load balancers, etc. as well as custom Network services with Options for users to define their own network configurations.
- User Interface (UI) and APIs exposure, offering both a Self-Service Portal that allows users to request, configure, and manage network services as well as APIs for enabling programmatic access to network services for integration with other systems and automation scripts.
- Service Design and Creation tharough service templates based on predefined models for creating services.
- Automation and Workflow Management via Orchestration Engines, supporting Process Automation for automating repetitive tasks and processes, workflow management and orchestration for automating the provisioning, configuration, and management of network services while coordinating multiple workflows to ensure services are delivered efficiently, ensuring that services comply with predefined policies and standards.
- Standardized API exposure for seamless integration with different systems and services and APIs transformation support for converting data formats and protocols to ensure compatibility and information exhange between systems during workflows orchestration
- Service and Resource management and Orchestration while including the capability of multi-domain coordination in managing services/resources across different domains like cloud, 5G core, radios, transport network, and edge including dynamic allocation with adjusting resources based on demand and service requirements. To accomplish the above advanced technologies need to be exploited like, Containerized workloads, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) which uses virtualized network functions to provide services like routing, switching, and security and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) which Controls the network programmatically to dynamically manage traffic and resources.
- Monitoring and Analytics including Service Monitoring while continuously tracking the performance and health of services with capabilities to analyse data to optimize service delivery and predict issues. Real-Time Monitoring is also needed for tracking the performance and health of network services enabling analytics that provide insights for optimization and troubleshooting.
- Security and Access Control for ensuring only authorized users and systems can access network services. while implementing rules and policies to comply with regulatory requirements.
*<https://youtu.be/KU8JPDFFl9A>
### An E2E service orchestration workflow
---
In general an E2E service orchestration workflow includes the following phases:
## Installing
- Service Request: Users or systems request a network service through the self-service portal or API. The request can specify details such as bandwidth, security features, geographic coverage, and duration.
- Service Orchestration: The orchestration engine evaluates the request, determines the necessary resources, and initiates the automated workflows.It interacts with the underlying components (e.g. 5G Core, Radios, Containerized controllers, NFV, SDN controllers ) to provision and configure the required network functions and connectivity.
- Provisioning and Configuration: Services, network resources and network functions (VNFs) are instantiated and configured according to the service request during Service Orchestration through the orchestration engine. Other controllers manage their own domains, for example SDN controllers, manage the flow of data through the network to ensure optimal performance and adherence to policies, RAN controllers manage the RAN resoruces, Containerized controllers manage their workload, etc
- Service Delivery: The E2E network service is activated and made available to the user. Continuous monitoring ensures the service operates as expected, with automatic adjustments made as necessary.
- Lifecycle Management: The orchestration framework handles updates, scaling, and any necessary modifications throughout the service lifecycle.
- At the end of the service period, resources are decommissioned and reclaimed.
See [Deployment/Installation](./deployment.md).
---
### OpenSlice for Service Providers
## Hardware requirements
OpenSlice is used by Service Provider to design Network Services, expose them in Service Catalogues and make them available for Service Order. OpenSlice then can perform the E2E service orchestration workflow.
The complete environment consists of microservices deployed as docker containers. Portainer is also installed to monitor them at port 9000.
There are various portals offering UI friendly access to users acting as Service Providers:
If you would like to operate all APIs, OSOM, the Mysql Server, nginx, etc then you need at least:
* The Services portal allows Service Providers to design and expose services.
* The Resoruce portal allows users to access resource specifications and running resources in resource inventory.
* The NFV portal allows users to manage NFV artifacts and onboard them to a target MANO/NFV Orchestrator.
* The teting portal allows Service Providers to manage test artifacts
* The Products portal allows Service Providers to expose services as products
OpenSlice allows Service Consumers to browse the available offered service specifications in a self-service manner. It also supports TMFORUM Northbound APIs regarding Service Catalog Management, Ordering, Resource, etc.
There are various portals offering UI friendly access to users acting as Service Consumers:
(NOTE: Bugzilla or ELK are not included and we assume they run elsewhere)
* The Services portal allows Service Consumers to select and order predefined services.
* The Resoruce portal allows users to access running resources in resource inventory.
* The NFV portal allows users to self-manage NFV artifacts and onboard them to a target MANO/NFV Orchestrator.
* The testing portal allows Service Consumers to manage test artifacts
* The Products portal allows Service Consumers to expose services as products
However, you may try the front facing services of OpenSlice with a minimum installation on a VM on a laptop with:
3rd party applications can use OpenSlice through TMForum Open APIs.
- 2 cores
- 4GB of RAM
# What's next
## Supported APIs
Quick overview of the supported APIs through our Swagger links:
* The NFV portal part of OpenSlice was initially developed in H2020 European Research project [5GinFIRE](https://5ginfire.eu) by University of Patras, Greece
* The NFV portal part of OpenSlice was initially developed in H2020 European Research project [5GinFIRE](https://5ginfire.eu) by University of Patras, Greece
* OpenSlice core services, APIs was further developed and maintained in H2020 European project [5G-VINNI](https://5g-vinni.eu/) by University of Patras, Greece
* OpenSlice core services, APIs was further developed and maintained in H2020 European project [5G-VINNI](https://5g-vinni.eu/) by University of Patras, Greece
* OpenSlice has been a part off OSM's OSS/BSS ecosystem
* OpenSlice has been a part off OSM's OSS/BSS ecosystem
* OpenSlice is now an ETSI SDG Gropup since 2023
[](https://osm.etsi.org/wikipub/index.php/OSS_BSS)
## Ecosystem
Discover the current OpenSlice ecosystem [here](https://osl.etsi.org/ecosystem/).
## Citation
## Citation
Please cite our [![paper]](https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.03290) if you use Openslice
Please cite our [![paper]](https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.03290) if you use Openslice
