| Introduction |
| ============== |
| |
| Aether is an open source 5G edge cloud connectivity service that |
| supports enterprise deployments of Private 5G. Information about the |
| Aether project can be found on the ONF website, and an introduction to |
| the Aether architecture can be found in a companion book: |
| |
| .. _reading_private5g: |
| .. admonition:: Further Reading |
| |
| `Aether: An ONF Project <https://opennetworking.org/aether/>`_. |
| |
| L. Peterson, O. Sunay, and B. Davie. `Private 5G: A Systems |
| Approach <https://5g.systemsapproach.org>`__. 2023 |
| |
| |
| Getting Started with Aether |
| --------------------------- |
| |
| There are two ways to get started with Aether: |
| |
| * Deploy and operate Aether on your own cluster with :doc:`Aether OnRamp </onramp/overview>`. |
| |
| * Setup an Aether software development environment with :doc:`Aether-in-a-Box </developer/aiab>`. |
| |
| Other Aether guides included on this site include: |
| |
| * Learn how to :doc:`operate Aether using the ROC </operations/gui>`. |
| |
| * Learn how Aether is :doc:`tested </testing/about_system_tests>`. |
| |
| * Read the most recent :doc:`Release Notes </release/2.1>`. |
| |
| Note that Aether was originally deployed as a centrally-manged, |
| ONF-operated cloud service, with the expectation that organizations |
| would participate in Aether by connecting their site to this |
| operational deployment of Aether.\ [#]_ That deployment is now being |
| deprecated in favor of users bringing up their own Aether sites using |
| :doc:`OnRamp </onramp/overview>`, but the guide describing how to |
| connect an edge site to Aether (still available in `Version 2.1 of the |
| Aether Docs |
| <https://docs.aetherproject.org/aether-2.1/edge_deployment/overview.html>`__) |
| is useful because it highlights many of the operational challenges |
| facing a production deployment of Aether as a managed cloud service. |
| Those challenges motivate many of the operational mechanisms still |
| available in Aether, but now packaged for others to apply to their |
| deployments. |
| |
| .. [#] The original Aether service supported the Pronto research |
| project, with edge clusters built on top of an SDN-controlled |
| and fully programmable switching fabric. That fabric is no |
| longer included in Aether OnRamp. |
| |
| |
| Aether Components |
| ------------------------ |
| |
| Aether uses components from several ONF projects. Information about |
| these projects can be found at the following sites: |
| |
| * SD-Core |
| |
| * `SD-Core Website <https://opennetworking.org/sd-core/>`_ |
| * :doc:`SD-Core Documentation <sdcore:index>` |
| |
| * SD-RAN |
| |
| * `SD-RAN Website <https://opennetworking.org/open-ran/>`_ |
| * :doc:`SD-RAN Documentation <sdran:index>` |
| |
| * SD-Fabric |
| |
| * `SD-Fabric Website <https://opennetworking.org/sd-fabric/>`_ |
| * :doc:`SD-Fabric Documentation <sdfabric:index>` |
| |
| More information about 5G and Aether's architecture can be found in |
| the :doc:`Private 5G: A Systems Approach <sysapproach5g:index>` book. |
| |
| Community |
| --------- |
| |
| Information about participating in the Aether community and |
| development process can be found on the `ONF Wiki |
| <https://wiki.opennetworking.org/display/COM/Aether>`_. Join the |
| discussion about Aether on Slack in the `ONF Community Workspace |
| <https://onf-community.slack.com/>`__. |