Network Function Virtualization

Chapter 3Network Function Virtualization

Network function virtualization (NFV) represents a significant transformation for telecommunications/service provider networks, driven by the goals of reducing cost, increasing flexibility, and providing personalized services [10]. It is rapidly emerging as the de facto approach operators will use to deploy their networks. The promise of NFV will play out over the next several years, and several challenges need to be addressed to make that happen. Telcos have transitioned most of their communications to standard IP networks and are now starting to migrate most of their computing to industry standard servers. NFV leverages on cloud computing principles to change the way NFs such as gateways and middleboxes are offered. Different from today's tight coupling between the NF software and dedicated hardware, the loosely coupled software and hardware in NFV can reduce the upgrade cost and increase the innovation flexibility. In addition, with the advent of 5G technology, there is a push toward developing novel real-time services in the areas of mobile payment, augmented reality, autonomous driving, and Internet of things (IoT) [10].

Typical network functions (e.g., server load balancing (SLB), and firewalling) in large-scale enterprise networks today are generally provided on large vendor-proprietary devices. These are complex to operate and manage, expensive to procure and maintain, and are typically very underutilized. They also do not lend ...