Network function virtualization: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|CreationType of functionscomputing which may be chained to deliver communication servicesvirtualization}}

'''Network functions virtualization''' ('''NFV''')<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/nfv |title = ETSI - Standards for NFV - Network Functions Virtualisation &#124; NFV Solutions}}</ref> is a [[network architecture]] concept that leverages IT [[virtualization]] technologies to virtualize entire classes of [[network node]] functions into building blocks that may connect, or chain together, to create and deliver communication services.

NFV relies upon traditional server-[[virtualization]] techniques such as those used in enterprise IT. A '''virtualized network function''', or '''VNF''', is implemented within one or more [[virtual machines]] or [[OS-level virtualization|containers]] running different software and processes, on top of commercial off the shelf (COTS) high-volume servers, switches and storage devices, or even [[cloud computing]] infrastructure, instead of having custom hardware appliances for each network function thereby avoiding vendor lock-in.

For example, a virtual [[session border controller]] could be deployed to protect a network without the typical cost and complexity of obtaining and installing physical network protection units. Other examples of NFV include virtualized [[Network Loadload Balancingbalancing|load balancers]], [[Firewall (computing)|firewalls]], [[Intrusion detection system|intrusion detection devices]] and [[WAN optimization|WAN accelerators]] to name a few.<ref>{{cite web|title=Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Use NFV is present and SDN is future|url=http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/NFV/001_099/001/01.01.01_60/gs_NFV001v010101p.pdf|access-date=6 June 2014}}</ref>

The decoupling of the network function software from the customized hardware platform realizes a flexible network architecture that enables agile network management, fast new service roll outs with significant reduction in CAPEX and OPEX.

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==Industry impact==

NFV has proven a popular standard even in its infancy. Its immediate applications are numerous, such as virtualization of [[mobile base station]]s, [[platform as a service]] (PaaS), [[content delivery network]]s (CDN), fixed access and home environments.<ref>{{cite web|title=Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Use Cases|url=http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/NFV/001_099/001/01.01.01_60/gs_NFV001v010101p.pdf}}</ref> The potential benefits of NFV is anticipated to be significant. Virtualization of network functions deployed on general purpose standardized hardware is expected to reduce capital and operational expenditures, and service and product introduction times.<ref name="benefits">{{cite web|title=What's NFV – Network Functions Virtualization?|work=SDNCentral |url=http://www.sdncentral.com/whats-network-functions-virtualization-nfv/|publisher=SDN Central}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Carrier Network Virtualization|url=http://carriernetworkvirtualization.com/company/network-functions-virtualisation-isg-nfv-etsi/|publisher=ETSI news}}</ref> Many major network equipment vendors have announced support for NFV.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Openwave Exec Discusses the Benefits, Challenges of NFV & SDN |work= Article |url= http://www.sdnzone.com/topics/software-defined-network/articles/359936-openwave-exec-discusses-benefits-challenges-nfv-sdn.htm |date= 12 November 2013 |access-date= 22 November 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214633/http://www.sdnzone.com/topics/software-defined-network/articles/359936-openwave-exec-discusses-benefits-challenges-nfv-sdn.htm |archive-date= 3 March 2016 |url-status= deadusurped }}</ref> This has coincided with NFV announcements from major software suppliers who provide the NFV platforms used by equipment suppliers to build their NFV products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.serviceprovideritreport.com/author.asp?section_id=3098|title=Middleware for the NFV Generation|publisher=Service Provider IT Report|first=Lee|last=Doyle}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.policychargingcontrol.com/1643-wind-river-s-launches-nfv-ecosystem-program-with-initial-five-industry-leaders| title=Wind River Launches NFV Ecosystem Program with Five Industry Leaders|publisher=PCC Mobile Broadband|first1=Ray|last1=Sharma}}</ref>

However, to realize the anticipated benefits of virtualization, network equipment vendors are improving IT virtualization technology to incorporate carrier-grade attributes required to achieve [[high availability]], scalability, performance, and effective network management capabilities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Carrier-Grade Reliability—A "Must-Have" for NFV Success|url=http://electronicdesign.com/communications/carrier-grade-reliability-must-have-nfv-success|publisher=Electronic Design|first1=Charlie|last1=Ashton|date=January 2015}}</ref> To minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO), carrier-grade features must be implemented as efficiently as possible. This requires that NFV solutions make efficient use of redundant resources to achieve five-nines availability (99.999%),<ref>{{cite web|title=5 must-have attributes of an NFV platform|url=http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/techzine/5-must-attributes-nfv-platform/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526044023/http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/techzine/5-must-attributes-nfv-platform/ |archive-date=2015-05-26|publisher=Techzine, Alcatel-Lucent|first1=Andreas|last1=Lemke|work=TechZine - Alcatel-Lucent |date=November 2014}}</ref> and of computing resource without compromising performance predictability.

The NFV platform is the foundation for achieving efficient carrier-grade NFV solutions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Why Service Providers Need an NFV Platform | url=https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/NP2013113597EN_NFV_Platform_StraWhitePaper.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526045311/https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/NP2013113597EN_NFV_Platform_StraWhitePaper.pdf | archive-date=2015-05-26|publisher=Intel Strategic paper}}</ref> It is a software platform running on standard multi-core hardware and built using open source software that incorporates carrier-grade features. The NFV platform software is responsible for dynamically reassigning VNFs due to failures and changes in traffic load, and therefore plays an important role in achieving high availability. There are numerous initiatives underway to specify, align and promote NFV carrier-grade capabilities such as ETSI NFV Proof of Concept,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/nfv/nfv-poc|title=NFV Proof of Concept|publisher=ETSI}}</ref> ATIS<ref>{{cite web|title=New NFV Forum Focused on Interoperability|url=http://www.lightreading.com/nfv/nfv-strategies/new-nfv-forum-focused-on-interoperability/d/d-id/710874|publisher=Light Reading|first1=Carol|last1=Wilson|date=16 September 2015}}</ref> Open Platform for NFV Project,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opnfv.org/|title=OPNFV|publisher=Linux Foundation Collaborative Projects Foundation}}</ref> Carrier Network Virtualization Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=http://carriernetworkvirtualization.com/carrier-network-virtualization-awards/|title=Carrier Network Virtualization Awards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607213250/http://carriernetworkvirtualization.com/carrier-network-virtualization-awards/|archive-date=2015-06-07|date=December 2015}}</ref> and various supplier ecosystems.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wind River's Ecosystemic Solution to NFV and Orchestration|url=https://blog.cimicorp.com/?p=1788|publisher=CIMI Corporation Public Blog|first1=Tom|last1=Nolle|date=June 2014}}</ref>

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The behavior of the NFVO and VNFM is driven by the contents of deployment templates (a.k.a. NFV descriptors) such as a Network Service Descriptor (NSD) and a VNF Descriptor (VNFD).

ETSI delivers a full set of standards '''enabling an open ecosystem''' where Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) can be interoperable with independently developed management and orchestration systems, and where the components of a management and orchestration system are themselves interoperable. This includes a set of [[Representational state transfer|Restful API]] specifications<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chatras|first=B.|date=December 2018|title=On the Standardization of NFV Management and Orchestration APIs|journal= IEEE Communications Standards Magazine|volume=2|issue=4|pages=66–71|doi=10.1109/MCOMSTD.2018.1800032|bibcode=2018ICStM...2d..66C |s2cid=59620488|issn=2471-2825}}</ref> as well as the specifications of a packaging format for delivering VNFs to service providers and of the deployment templates to be packaged with the software images to enable managing the lifecycle of VNFs. Deployment templates can be based on [[OASIS TOSCA|TOSCA]] or [[YANG]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etsi.org/newsroom/press-releases/1540-2019-01-etsi-releases-a-standard-for-nfv-deployment-templates|title=ETSI - ETSI releases a standard for NFV Deployment Templates|last=ETSI COMS TEAM|website=ETSI|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etsi.org/newsroom/blogs/entry/sol006-nfv-descriptors-based-on-yang-specification|title=Technology blogs, NFV, MEC, NGP, ZSM, ENI - SOL006 – NFV descriptors based on YANG Specification|website=www.etsi.org|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref>

An [[OpenAPI Specification|OpenAPI]] (a.k.a. Swagger) representation of the API specifications is available and maintained on the ETSI forge [https://forge.etsi.org/gitlab/nfv server], along with TOSCA and YANG definition files to be used when creating deployment templates.

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==Performance study==

Recent performance study on NFV focused on the throughput, latency and jitter of virtualized network functions (VNFs), as well as NFV scalability in terms of the number of VNFs a single physical server can support.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7781548|title=Toward High-Performance and Scalable Network Functions Virtualization|year=2016|doi=10.1109/MIC.2016.111|last1=Wang|first1=Chengwei|last2=Spatscheck|first2=Oliver|last3=Gopalakrishnan|first3=Vijay|last4=Xu|first4=Yang|last5=Applegate|first5=David|journal=IEEE Internet Computing|volume=20|issue=6|pages=10–20|bibcode=2016IIC....20f..10W |s2cid=15518060}}</ref>

Open source NFV platforms are available, one representative is openNetVM.<ref name="OpenNetVM">{{cite journal|title=OpenNetVM: A Platform for High Performance Network Service Chains|url=http://faculty.cs.gwu.edu/timwood/papers/16-HotMiddlebox-onvm.pdf|doi=10.1145/2940147.2940155|doi-access=free|s2cid=13706879}}</ref> openNetVM is a high performance NFV platform based on DPDK and Docker containers. openNetVM provides a flexible framework for deploying network functions and interconnecting them to build service chains. openNetVM is an open source version of the NetVM platform described in NSDI 2014 and HotMiddlebox 2016 papers, released under the BSD license. The source code can be found at GitHub:openNetVM<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/sdnfv/openNetVM|title=GitHub- OpenNetVM|website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref>