# Cloud-Enabled Deployment of 5G Core Network with Analytics Features
## 4 The Testbed  
In this section, we introduce the testbed for cloud-enabled 5 GCN deployment, supporting network slicing and virtualization of NFs. This testbed represents a significant technical contribution to our work. Its primary objective is to create an environment conducive to experimenting with cloud-based 5G core deployments and to facilitate future research in this domain. The 5 GCN network functions are deployed as separate processes on virtual machines. NFs of a 5 GCN are hosted on virtualized nodes using a type-2 hypervisor. In this study, we opted for VirtualBox as the hypervisor due to its straightforward setup and configuration. Its user-friendly nature enabled us to focus on the core research aspects without being encumbered by complex infrastructure setup. Additionally, VirtualBox is widely utilized in academic and experimental settings due to its flexibility, making it well-suited for rapid prototyping and testing. Furthermore, the use of VirtualBox does not limit the adaptability of our testbed. The deployment is designed to be easily transferable to other hypervisors, including server-level virtualization platforms and cloud-based environments. This flexibility ensures that future enhancements can incorporate more advanced features and achieve improved performance for large-scale deployments. The platform for hosting 5G Core and Access Networks consists of three VMs. Each virtual machine is equipped with a northbound interface for remote access by the host. The actual communication related to 5 GCN is handled via data interfaces, with traffic routed through an internal virtual router. This networking architecture is typical for cloud environments. The separation of interfaces is purely illustrative, as both types employ the same networking type: a host-only network. This network emulates a physical Ethernet switch, enabling bidirectional communication between VMs while dropping all traffic routed to the internet [37]. Open5 GS has been chosen as the fifth-generation mobile core network framework due to its suitability for deploying private 5G networks, particularly in cloud environments. Its architecture facilitates automated deployments across heterogeneous infrastructures without imposing restrictions on the operating system kernel version, additional kernel modules, or the deployment order of network functions. Such limitations are present in other popular open-source 5G core implementations like Free5 GC. Furthermore, Open5 GS benefits from active development and community support, making the configuration of network functions more straightforward compared to Free5 GC. The decision to use Open5 GS is also driven by its comprehensive and precise documentation, the extensive range of services provided by its network functions, and robust community backing for the project [38]. By default, 5 GCN functions are designed to run as programs in the Linux environment. Currently, Open5 GS has been tested and verified to function properly on several operating systems, including Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, openSUSE, Fedora, and Mac OSX [23]. The framework can also be implemented on virtual machines hosted by a hypervisor of choice. Depending on the test scenario, NFs may be distributed across multiple virtual machines. In such cases, proper routing between them must be ensured, meaning the IP addresses of NFs' SBI should be accessible. The Open5 GS implementation of the 5G Core requires an ordered execution of NFs; specifically, the NRF must be operational before deploying other network functions to facilitate NF and service discovery. Each NF shares and consumes services using a dedicated SBI interface [21], which Open5 GS by default exposes via the loopback interface of the commodity server on which it runs. If the NFs are distributed across multiple VMs for virtualization, the SBIs' IP addresses should be accessible through either the hypervisor or an external router. The Unified Data Repository (UDR) is of high significance regarding service exposure through SBI.