netElastic vBNG Helps Fiber Broadband Providers Achieve Terabit Speeds

Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth states that a high-end user’s connection speed grows by 50% per year. In looking at data from 1983 to 2023, it’s remarkable how closely the actual data fits the 50% annualized growth stated by Nielsen’s law. Even with minor yearly variations, Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth has held true throughout a 40-year period.

What does this mean for broadband network planning? It means a greater emphasis on network scalability, flexibility, and agility.

Virtualization and Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth

Software-based (or virtual) networks are designed for greater scalability and flexibility. This makes them ideal to deliver future-proof bandwidth speeds and capacities. And when service providers begin to virtualize their networks, one of the first network functions they look to virtualize are broadband network gateways (BNGs).

Virtual broadband network gateways aggregate traffic from many subscribers and route it to the network of the service provider, performing subscriber management functions such as authentication, authorization, and accounting of subscriber sessions. Once connected, a subscriber can access the broadband services delivered by their provider.

The Importance of vBNGs in Broadband Network Performance

vBNGs play a crucial role in ensuring optimal network performance. They act as a bridge between the service provider’s network and the subscriber’s devices, facilitating seamless connectivity and delivering high-speed internet services. And the performance of vBNG directly impacts overall network efficiency and the end-user experience. 

A high performance vBNG can ensure low-latency, high-speed internet services, and efficient resource utilization. On the other hand, poor performance can lead to network congestion, service degradation, and dissatisfied customers.

One of the key aspects of vBNG’s role in network performance is its ability to efficiently manage subscriber sessions. With the increasing number of connected devices and the growing demand for bandwidth-intensive applications, vBNG plays a critical role in ensuring smooth and uninterrupted connectivity for end-users. By establishing and managing sessions between subscriber devices and the network, vBNG enables broadband providers to allocate resources effectively and prioritize traffic based on predefined policies.

Joining Forces to Drive vBNG Performance

Given the importance of high-performing vBNGs, Intel and netElastic have been working together to raise the bar on vBNG performance. In recent tests conducted by Intel, netElastic vBNG reached 1 Terabit of throughput on a 2 RU server powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors. This is a new level of performance for vBNGs.

While not all service providers may need 1 Terabit of throughput today, given Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth, the bandwidth demands of tomorrow may require all of that capacity in the future. Intel’s recent tests prove that at these Terabit performance levels, netElastic vBNG should be considered when maximum performance and scalability are needed.