blocks can be chained so that a processing pipeline is built. This is called “service chaining” and allows the reuse of highly specialized and efficient blocks to build complex functionalities.
Considering the management operations, clearly NFV requires the network to instantiate, monitor, repair, and bill for the services it offers. NFV targets indeed the large carrier scenario, being it a data center manager, or an internet service providers. These functionalities are allocated to the orchestration layer, which must manages VNFs irrespective of the actual hardware and software technology sitting below.
NFV is a means to reduce cost and accelerate service development and deployment. Instead of requiring the installation of expensive hardware with dedicated functionalities, service providers rely on inexpensive network devices, storage systems, and servers to run virtual machines that implement the desired network function. When a customer asks for a net functionality, the service provider can simply spin up a new virtual machine to implement that function. This has also the benefit to reduce the dependency on dedicated hardware devices, and improve robustness via migration capabilities that move services in case of failures or maintenance operations.
Clearly, NFV calls for standard to allow interoperability of solutions. Since 2012, over 130 of the world's leading network operators have recently joined together to form a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Industry Specification Group (ISG) for NFV (https://www.etsi.org/technologies/nfv). NFV is also fundamental in the 5G arena, where all the advanced functionalities offered by the network like network slicing, edge computing, or decentralized radio management functions are implemented on the top of NFV.
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8 8 Claise, B., Bryant, S., Sadasivan, G. et al. (2008). RFC 5101: specification of the IP flow information export (IPFIX) protocol for the exchange of IP traffic flow information. Request for Comments, IETF.
9 9 Paxson, V., Almes, G., Mahdavi, J., and Mathis, M. (1998). RFC 2330: framework for IP performance metrics. Request for Comments, IETF.
10 10 Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., and Zekauskas, M. (1999). RFC 2679: a one‐way delay metric for IPPM. Request for Comments, IETF.
11 11 Hedayat, K., Krzanowski, R., Morton, Al. et al. (2008). RFC 5357: a two‐way active measurement protocol (TWAMP). Request for Comments, IETF.
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17 17 Moy, J. (1998). RFC 2328: OSPF version 2. Request for Comments, IETF.
18 18 Vasseur, J.P., Shen, N., and Aggarwal, R. (2007). RFC 4971: intermediate system to intermediate system (IS‐IS) extensions for advertising router information. Request for Comments, IETF.
19 19 Shalunov, S., Teitelbaum, B., Karp, A. et al. (2006). RFC 4656: a one‐way active measurement protocol (OWAMP). Request for Comments, IETF.
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32 32 Bjorklund, M. (2010). RFC 6020: Yang ‐ a data modeling language for the network configuration protocol (NETCONF). Request for Comments, IETF.
33 33 Yavatkar, R., Pendarakis, D., Guerin, R. et al. (2000). RFC 2753: a framework for policy‐based admission control. Request for Comments, IETF.
34 34 Martin‐Flatin, J.‐P., Znaty, S., and Hubaux, J.‐P. (1999). A survey of distributed enterprise network and systems management paradigms.
