TECS is a cloud platform developed by ZTE based on OpenStack, which is an open source cloud management platform. TECS stands for Tulip Elastic Cloud System, and it is designed to support the construction and operation of cloud environments based on generic IT hardware. TECS can provide IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) capabilities for various applications and services, such as IT cloud, CT cloud, NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), and 5G/IoT.
The TECS OpenStack architecture consists of the following components:
• The TECS Controller is the core component that provides the basic cloud management functions, such as authentication, authorization, resource orchestration, service catalog, billing, monitoring, etc. The TECS Controller is based on the OpenStack core services, such as Keystone, Nova, Neutron, Glance, Cinder, Swift, etc. The TECS Controller also integrates some ZTE-specific enhancements and extensions, such as ZTE VIM (Virtual Infrastructure Manager), ZTE VNFM (Virtual Network Function Manager), ZTE NFVO (Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator), etc.
• The TECS Compute is the component that provides the computing resources for the cloud environment. It consists of physical servers that run hypervisors (such as KVM or VMware) and virtual machines (VMs) that host the applications and services. The TECS Compute communicates with the TECS Controller through the Nova service to receive commands and report status. The TECS Compute also supports hardware acceleration technologies, such as FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), to improve the performance and efficiency of the VMs.
• The TECS Network is the component that provides the networking resources for the cloud environment. It consists of physical switches and routers that connect the servers and VMs, and virtual switches and routers that create logical networks and subnets. The TECS Network communicates with the TECS Controller through the Neutron service to receive commands and report status. The TECS Network also supports various network functions and services, such as SDN (Software Defined Networking), VPN (Virtual Private Network), LBaaS (Load Balancer as a Service), FWaaS (Firewall as a Service), etc.
• The TECS Storage is the component that provides the storage resources for the cloud environment. It consists of physical disks and arrays that store the data and images of the VMs, and virtual disks and volumes that attach to the VMs. The TECS Storage communicates with the TECS Controller through the Cinder and Swift services to receive commands and report status. The TECS Storage also supports various storage features and functions, such as RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), backup, snapshot, replication, etc.
The TECS OpenStack architecture is used for building and managing cloud environments that can support various scenarios and requirements of different services and applications in the 5G/IoT era. For example, TECS can support eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications), mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications), MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing), etc.