Network function virtualization: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:04, 1 April 2021

Revision as of 04:41, 1 April 2021

Line 9:

==History==

In October 2012, a group of telecom operators published a [[white paper]]<ref name="white">{{cite web |title=Network Functions Virtualization— Introductory White Paper |publisher= ETSI |date= 22 October 2012 |url= https://docbox.etsi.org/isg/nfv/open/Publications_pdf/White%20Papers/NFV_White_Paper1_2012.pdf |access-date= 20 June 2013 }}</ref> at a conference in [[Darmstadt, Germany]], on [[software-defined networking]] (SDN) and [[OpenFlow]]. The Call for Action concluding the White Paper led to the creation of the Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Industry Specification Group (ISG) <ref>{{cite web |title = Network Functions Virtualisation |work= ETSI Standards for NFV |url= https://www.etsi.org/technologies/nfv |access-date= 30 June 2020 }}</ref> within the [[European Telecommunications Standards Institute]] (ETSI). The ISG was made up of representatives from the telecommunication industry from Europe and beyond.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Tier 1 Carriers Tackle Telco SDN |date= 22 October 2012 |first1=Ray|last1=Le Maistre |work=Light Reading |url= http://www.lightreading.com/software-defined-networking/tier-1-carriers-tackle-telco-sdn/240135217 |access-date=20 June 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Latest Agenda at SDN & OpenFlow World Congress |publisher= Layer123.com |url-status=dead |url= http://www.layer123.com/sdn-agenda/ |archive-date= October 14, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121014053339/http://www.layer123.com/sdn-agenda/ |access-date= 20 June 2013}}</ref> Since the publication of the white paper, the group has produced over 100 publications.<ref>{{cite web |title=Standards for NFV: Network Functions Virtualisation |publisher= NFV Solutions |url=https://www.etsi.org/technologies/nfv |website=ETSI |language=en-gb}}</ref> In 2016, one high performance open source version of NFV is released. openNetVM is a high performance NFV platform based on DPDK and Docker containers.<ref name="OpenNetVM">{{cite journal|url=http://faculty.cs.gwu.edu/timwood/papers/16-HotMiddlebox-onvm.pdf |title=OpenNetVM: A Platform for High Performance Network Service Chains|doi=10.1145/2940147.2940155|s2cid=13706879}}</ref>

==Framework==

Line 58:

The NFV platform is the foundation for achieving efficient carrier-grade NFV solutions.<ref>'Why Service Providers

Need an [https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/NP2013113597EN_NFV_Platform_StraWhitePaper.pdf NFV Platform'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526045311/https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/NP2013113597EN_NFV_Platform_StraWhitePaper.pdf |date=2015-05-26 }}, 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>[http://www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/nfv/nfv-poc NFV Proof of Concept]</ref> ATIS<ref>'New [http://www.lightreading.com/nfv/nfv-strategies/new-nfv-forum-focused-on-interoperability/d/d-id/710874 NFV Forum] Focused on Interoperability', Light Reading, Carol Wilson, September 16, 2015</ref> Open Platform for NFV Project,<ref>OPNFV, Linux Foundation Collaborative Projects Foundation webpage</ref> Carrier Network Virtualization Awards<ref>[http://carriernetworkvirtualization.com/carrier-network-virtualization-awards/ Carrier Network Virtualization Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607213250/http://carriernetworkvirtualization.com/carrier-network-virtualization-awards/ |date=2015-06-07 }} 2014, December 2015</ref> and various supplier ecosystems.<ref>'{{cite web|title=Wind River’sRiver'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>

The vSwitch, a key component of NFV platforms, is responsible for providing connectivity both VM-to-VM (between VMs) and between VMs and the outside network. Its performance determines both the bandwidth of the VNFs and the cost-efficiency of NFV solutions. The standard [[Open vSwitch]]'s (OVS) performance has shortcomings that must be resolved to meet the needs of NFVI solutions.<ref>[{{cite web|url=http://networkheresy.com/2014/11/13/accelerating-open-vswitch-to-ludicrous-speed/ '|title=Accelerating Open vSwitch] to "Ludicruos Speed", |work=Network Heresy: Tales of the network reformation, |first1=Justin D |last1=Pettit,|date=11 November 13, 2014}}</ref> Significant performance improvements are being reported by NFV suppliers for both OVS and Accelerated Open vSwitch (AVS) versions.<ref>'{{cite web|title=Wind River Delivers Breakthrough Performance for [Accelerated vSwitch Optimized for NFV|url=http://www.windriver.com/news/press/pr.html?ID=12801 Accelerated vSwitch] Optimized for NFV' |publisher=Wind River News Room, |date=May, 2014}}</ref><ref>'{{cite web|title=6WIND Announces [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11768622.htm Open vSwitch Acceleration] for Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform', |url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11768622.htm|publisher=PRweb, |date=April, 2014}}</ref>

Virtualization is also changing the way [[availability]] is specified, measured and achieved in NFV solutions. As VNFs replace traditional function-dedicated equipment, there is a shift from equipment-based availability to a service-based, end-to-end, layered approach.<ref>'NETWORK{{cite FUNCTIONSweb|title=Network [Functions Virtualization Challenges and Solutions|url=http://www.tmcnet.com/tmc/whitepapers/documents/whitepapers/2013/9377-network-functions-virtualization-challenges-solutions.pdf VIRTUALIZATION] CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS', TMCNET webpage, |publisher=Alcatel-Lucent Strategic paper, |year=2013}}</ref><ref>'{{cite web|title=NFV: The Myth of Application-Level High [Availability|url=http://www.windriver.com/whitepapers/nfv-myth-app/ Availability] {{Webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005122643/http://www.windriver.com/whitepapers/nfv-myth-app/ |archive-date=2015-10-05 }}', |publisher=Wind River White Paper, |date=May 2015}}</ref> Virtualizing network functions breaks the explicit coupling with specific equipment, therefore availability is defined by the availability of VNF services. Because NFV technology can virtualize a wide range of network function types, each with their own service availability expectations, NFV platforms should support a wide range of fault tolerance options. This flexibility enables CSPs to optimize their NFV solutions to meet any VNF availability requirement.

==Management and orchestration (MANO)==

[[ETSI]] has already indicated that an important part of controlling the NFV environment be done through automation and orchestration. There is a separate stream MANO within NFV outlining how flexibility should be controlled.<ref>[{{cite web|url=http://network-functions-virtualization.com/mano.html |title=Mano at |publisher=network-functions-virtualization.com ]}}</ref>

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|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>

Line 128:

==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/abstract/document/7781548/?reload|title=true 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|s2cid=15518060}}</ref>

Open source NFV platforms are available, one representative is openNetVM.<ref>http: name="OpenNetVM" //faculty.cs.gwu.edu/timwood/papers/16-HotMiddlebox-onvm.pdf</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}}</ref>

==See also==