TSP lets the penguin in
The 4.0-release (TSP 4.0 Clusterware & OS) of the Ericsson Server Platform (TSP) includes two operating systems, i.e. TelORB and Linux.
Now that the existing operating system, TelORB, has been complemented with Linux, a wide range of standard software is available to application designers.
A test version of TSP 4.0 was released in October 2001 and the PRA will appear in March 2002.
The Linux OS replaces the Solaris OS on the IO processors and the Linux OS can be used as the OS in any number of the TelORB (traffic) processors (except in the two TelORB loaders).
The reason for including Linux in TSP, is to make it easier to use standard software. Many protocols and other datacom software that are needed in the new generation of servers, such as AAA and HSS, already exist on the open market and it is unnecessary to reimplement them. With Linux, a wide range of software is available for the application designers.
TelORB middleware extended
TelORB has been the main operating system in TSP from the start and has covered basic OS functionalities as well as the high availability functions that are necessary for telecom systems. These high-availability functions are often referred to as middleware: MW. TelORB is a distributed OS, which means that it is built to be run on several different processors in a distributed network - a cluster. To manage the cluster, the TelORB middleware consists of functions that supervise the processors, keep track of which processors and processes are running, and reconfigure the system if a processor goes down. This cluster management function, TelORB Clusterware, makes the system robust and provides the means for upgrades during full operation.
Linux, on the other hand, hardly meets the demands of a telecom system, that is, non-stop operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Standard operating systems are not designed for high availability systems such as telecom servers, and Linux is no exception. It provides no support for distribution or robustness, for example. In order to give Linux the characteristics it needs, the TelORB Clusterware has been extended to cover Linux processors in a TSP cluster as well.
Thus, Linux will achieve, to a certain degree, high availability performance. The shared clusterware makes it possible to manage the processors within the system in a unified manner, regardless of whether they are running on TelORB or Linux. It also enables dynamic reconfiguration of the system, for example, it is possible to reconfigure the processors that are running TelORB or Linux without having to make any hardware changes.
Why use a dual OS cluster?
If the TelORB Clusterware can give a standard operating system like Linux telecom properties, why then keep the TelORB operating system? Well, in its every detail the TelORB OS core is optimized to provide excellent telecom properties. For example, it includes a database closely coupled to the OS core. This gives TelORB-based systems extremely high performance, which makes them highly competitive and provides telecom grade properties. The execution performance is much faster with a built-in database than with an external one. This feature is still a benefit of TelORB and cannot be completely mapped on Linux.
TelORB and Linux will complement each other and benefit from their respective advantages. TelORB, which is designed entirely to meet telecom demands, is an exceptionally robust operating system providing absolute telecom grade. Linux, on the other hand, presents a programming environment well known to all application designers. But make no mistake, to reach a true high availability systems level, high availability need to be taken into account when applications are designed. And the applications need to be adapted to the clusterware. Nothing happens by magic!
The dual-OS solution presents three alternative design environments for programmers to work with: a pure Linux environment, for example, for the operations and maintenance interface; a combined Linux OS/TelORB CW environment; and a TelORB OS/TelORB CW environment. The first one presents a completely open domain but has no telecom grade properties. The latter two environments achieve telecom grade to a varying extent and software can be freely moved between them. Thus, TSP 4.0 will provide a powerful application platform for server and controller nodes while combining high availability and openness.
Two main target applications
Two application projects are the main receivers of the TSP 4.0 release:
- The Authentication, Authorization and Accounting server (AAA)
- The Media Gateway Controller Function server (MGCF)
An early test version of the system was delivered in October 2001 to these application projects. TSP 4.0 will reach PRA in March 2002. This release will succeed TSP 3.0, also known as JAP 3.0. JAP will cease to exist as a product name.
Source: network core products r&d journal, No. 2, 2001
http://cncp.ericsson.se/cncp/rdj/current/tsp_linux/index.html
|