1 Introduction

This document provides information about the role of Oracle Communications Network Analytics Data Director (OCNADD) in the Network Analytics suite of products, as well as instructions on how to configure and use OCNADD services and managed objects.

1.1 Overview

OCNADD is a specialized Network Data Broker (NDB) in 5G and Diameter Network Architecture.

OCNADD receives network traffic data from various sources: 5G network functions (NFs), non-5G NFs, and Diameter nodes. It performs replication and aggregation on the received data according to rules implemented by the subscribed third-party consumers. OCNADD sends the replicated and aggregated data to the subscribed third-party consumer applications or platforms in a secure manner.

OCNADD ensures data security, low latency, and redundancy while collecting and processing data. It enables Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to correlate and transform the acquired data as per their data feed configuration to create comprehensive dashboards and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), thereby achieving meaningful insights about all functions in 5G Network Architecture. This information can be used for monetizing, providing good quality of service, reducing downtime, easing network scalability, and minimizing losses. The OCNADD-generated data can be beneficial for monitoring and troubleshooting issues during a network failure.

OCNADD performs the following key functions:

  • Data aggregation: Collects and aggregates network traffic data from Diameter nodes, such as vDSR, and multiple NFs including SCP, SEPP, PCF, BSF, and NRF. The NFs can be located at a single site or across different sites. OCNADD routes the consolidated traffic data to third-party consumer applications or monitoring tools that have subscribed to receive the traffic data.
  • Data replication: Routes the consolidated data to multiple third-party consumer applications that use the data for monitoring, troubleshooting, or security purposes. Multiple data feeds are received based on the filtering configurations specified by the third-party consumer applications. OCNADD replicates these feeds to more than one third-party consumer application. It also provides the feed to multiple third-party systems, such as monitoring, troubleshooting, and security tools, with the collected data.

    Note:

    OCNADD supports replication for a maximum of two third-party consumer applications.
  • Synthetic Packet Data Generation: Enables OCNADD to convert incoming JSON data into network transfer wire format and send the converted packets securely to third-party monitoring probes. The third-party probe feeds the synthetic packets to the internal monitoring applications. This feature helps third-party vendors eliminate the need to create additional applications for receiving JSON data and converting it into a probe-compatible format, thereby saving critical compute resources and associated costs.
  • Secure data transport (TLS): Provides secure data communication between producer NFs and third-party consumer applications. Both the incoming data streaming towards OCNADD and the outgoing data streaming towards third-party applications are TLS encrypted.
  • Operational dashboard: Provides a dashboard with various visualization operations and a panel for configuring metrics, KPIs, and monitoring alarms to track the system's health.
  • Data governance: Supports data governance by managing the availability, usability, integrity, and security of data in enterprise systems based on Oracle data standards and policies that control data usage.
  • Health monitoring: Includes a health monitoring functionality to monitor the readiness and liveliness of each microservice instance. The health monitoring feature also provides health reports for each OCNADD service, which can be monitored on demand or periodically using the OCNADD dashboard.
  • Backup and restore: Provides backup and restore functionality to enable high availability and quick recovery from any failures. Configuration backups are taken periodically from the deployed setup so that, if a cluster fails, it can be restored quickly.
  • High availability: The OCNADD instance is deployed in pods within Kubernetes clusters, ensuring high availability of the services. In case of a failure, a new instance of the services is immediately available. If a Kubernetes cluster fails, the OCNADD deployment is restored to a different cluster.
  • Message sequencing: Provides sequenced message delivery to third-party applications with configuration options (TIME_WINDOW, REQUEST_RESPONSE, and TRANSACTION).

Note:

A maximum of two data feeds is recommended if a higher MPS rate is required (e.g., the same as the ingress MPS rate). Additionally, it must be noted that replicated feeds are supported up to a 135 K MPS ingress rate.

1.2 References

Refer to the following documents for more information:

  • Oracle Communications Network Analytics Data Director User Guide
  • Oracle Communications Network Analytics Data Director Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide
  • Oracle Communications Network Analytics Data Director Troubleshooting Guide
  • Oracle Communications Network Analytics Data Director Benchmarking Guide
  • Oracle Communications Network Analytics Suite Security Guide
  • Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, Cloud Native Environment Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide
  • Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core, cnDBTier Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide
  • Oracle Communications Cloud Native Configuration Console Installation, Upgrade, and Fault Recovery Guide
  • Oracle Communications Cloud Native Configuration Console Troubleshooting Guide
  • Oracle Communications Network Analytics Data Director vCollector Installation Guide