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TELCOREL02-BP01 Deploy user plane functions in a distributed architecture and highly available configuration - Telco Lens
Implementation guidance Resources

TELCOREL02-BP01 Deploy user plane functions in a distributed architecture and highly available configuration

Follow a distributed architecture approach to deploy user plane nodes across multiple geographical locations with built-in redundancy. Such a design maintains service continuity through redundant instances and geographical distribution, minimizing the impact of localized failures or outages while optimizing network performance through efficient load distribution.

Desired outcome:

  • Achieve high availability on critical network functions.

  • Minimized impact from localized failures.

  • Optimized network performance.

  • Reduced exposure to regional outages.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Medium

Implementation guidance

Implement a distributed and redundant architecture for the user plane functions that can withstand regional service degradations or outages. This involves deploying redundant instances of user plane network functions across multiple geographical locations. Within each site, utilize strategies such as active-active or active-standby configurations, automated health monitoring, and failover strategy. Comprehensive monitoring and data visualization tools provide visibility into the network's performance and availability, enabling rapid identification and response to potential issues. Geographical distribution of these functions, based on user demands and regulatory requirements enhance the resilience and responsiveness of the telecom infrastructure by reducing exposure in case of failure. Automating failover mechanisms, with thresholds and triggers defined by the network management systems, verifies that the network can quickly recover from failures without disrupting service to end users.

Implementation steps

  • Deploy redundant instances across multiple Availability Zones:

    • Deploy your 5G network architecture across multiple AWS Regions, Availability Zones, and Outposts where possible.

    • Use AWS Auto Scaling and Amazon CloudWatch to monitor and scale your network function instances based on real-time and projected traffic patterns.

  • Implement redundancy patterns:

    • Deploy your user plane functions as Auto Scaling groups with Amazon EC2 instances in an active-active or active-standby configuration.

    • Use Amazon CloudWatch for automated instance health monitoring and failover.

  • Establish monitoring:

    • Deploy Amazon CloudWatch to capture and analyze performance and availability metrics across your distributed instances.

  • Implement geographical distribution:

    • Choose AWS Regions and Availability Zones based on user distribution, regulatory requirements, and disaster recovery needs.

    • Evaluate AWS network connectivity options, such as AWS Direct Connect and Site-to-Site VPN, to optimize inter-region communication.

  • Configure automatic failover:

    • Use Amazon CloudWatch alarms and metrics to define infrastructure and application-level thresholds for initiating automated failover.

    • Integrate with your 5G network management systems to correlate failures and trigger appropriate responses.

Resources

Key AWS services: