Slide 1

■ Understand the concept of virtual machine.

■ Explain the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors.

■ List and explain the key benefits of NFV.

■ List and explain the key requirements for NFV.

Slide 3

In a traditional network architecture, there are fixed and dedicated hardware to carry out different
networking tasks

The drawback of the traditional model is being hardware-centric to perform services

Drawbacks:
New network services may require additional different types of hardware appliances,
and finding the space and power to accommodate these boxes is becoming
increasingly difficult.
■ New hardware means additional capital expenditures.
■ Hardware-based appliances rapidly reach end of life

in the high-volume multimedia era

Digital networks are becoming larger and more complex, and the degree of virtualization and the
need for maximum flexibility and scalability are also increasing.

The NFV approach moves away from dependence on a variety of hardware platforms. Network
functions virtualization (NFV) is a technique used to virtualize network services such as routers,
firewalls, file services, load balancers and so on that have traditionally been run on proprietary
hardware

virtualization techniques can be used to provide the needed network functionality.

Slide 4
Traditionally ,Each PC or server would run only one OS at a time.
Virtualization is used to efficiently utilize computer hardware. With the help of virtualization, we can
create multiple virtual machines, each with its own operating system (OS) and applications, on a single
physical machine
VM is a virtualized instance of a physical computer that can perform almost all the functions as that of a
computer. Each virtual machine runs its own operating system and functions separately from the other
VMs, even when they are all running on the same host.

They run like individual computers with individual operating systems and applications. They have
dedicated amounts of CPU, memory, and storage which is borrowed from a physical host computer.
Multiple VMs can run on a single host machine.

Slide 5

virtual machine monitor (VMM) , or commonly known today as a hypervisor . This software resides
between the hardware and the VMs. the hypervisor allows multiple VMs to coexist on a single physical
server host and share that host’s resources.

Slide 6

The number of guests that can exist on a single host is measured as a consolidation ratio. a host that is
supporting six VMs is said to have a consolidation ration of 6 to 1, also written as 6:1.

businesses and individuals use vm approach to deal with legacy applications and to optimize their
hardware usage by maximizing the various kinds of applications that a single computer can handle.

Commercial hypervisor such as VMware and Microsoft are widely used in addition to the capability of
running multiple VMs on one machine, VMs can be viewed as network resources.

Server virtualization masks server resources, including the number and identity of individual physical
servers, processors, and operating systems, from server users. This makes it possible to partition a single
host into multiple independent servers, conserving hardware resources. It also makes it possible to
quickly migrate a server from one machine to another for load balancing or for dynamic switchover in
the case of machine failure. Server virtualization has become a central element in dealing with big data
applications and in implementing cloud computing infrastructures.----optional

Slide 9

the hypervisor sits between the hardware and the VMs. The resource sharing is managed by the
hypervisor. By using a hypervisor on a physical computer or server, we can separate the
operating system and applications from the physical system’s hardware. There are two primary
types of

Type 1 hypervisors: They run directly on the physical hardware, taking the place of the OS. We
have to use a separate software product to create and manipulate VMs on the hypervisor.
Type 2 hypervisors: They run as an application within a host OS and usually target single-user
desktops or platforms. With a Type 2 hypervisor, we need to create a VM manually and then
install a guest OS in it.

Container virtualization slide 10

In this approach, software, known as a virtualization container , runs on top of the host OS kernel and
provides an execution environment for applications (Figure 7.4).
Unlike hypervisor-based VMs, containers do not aim to emulate physical servers.
Instead, all containerized applications on a host share a common OS kernel. This eliminates the
resources needed to run a separate OS for each application and can greatly reduce overhead.

Slide 11
Network functions virtualization (NFV) is used to replace the network appliance hardware with virtual
machines where the virtual machines use a hypervisor to run networking software.

NFV decouple s network functions, such as Network Address Translation (NAT),

firewalling, intrusion detection, Domain Name Service (DNS), and caching, from
proprietary hardware appliances so that they can run in software on VMs

slide 12
Virtual machine technology, as discussed in Section 7.2, enables migration of dedicated
application and database servers to commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) x86
servers. The same technology can be applied to network-based devices, including the
following:
■ Network function devices: Such as switches, routers, network access
points, customer premises equipment (CPE), and deep packet inspectors (for
deep packet inspection ).
■ Network-related compute devices: Such as firewalls, intrusion detection
systems, and network management systems.
■ Network-attached storage: File and database servers attached to the
network.

Slide 13
In traditional networks, all devices are deployed on proprietary/closed platforms.. Each device
requires additional hardware for increased capacity, but this hardware is idle when the system is
running below capacity.

With NFV, network elements are independent applications that are flexibly deployed on a unified
platform comprising standard servers, storage devices, and switches.
In this way, software and hardware are decoupled, and capacity for each application is increased or
decreased by adding or reducing virtual resources
Slide 14
Nvf standards
Network Functions Virtualization Industry Standards Group
(ISG NFV), created as part of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETSI), has the lead and indeed almost the sole role in creating NFV standards

ISG NFV published the--- first batch of specifications in October 2013, and subsequently
updated most of those in late 2014 and early 2015.
Table 7.1 shows the complete list
of specifications as of early 2015.

Slide 15
Table 7.2 provides definitions for a number of terms that are used in the ISG NFV documents and the
NFV literature in general.

Slide 16
At a top level, the network service consists of endpoints connected by a forwarding
graph of network functional blocks, called network functions (NFs).
Examples of NFs are firewalls, load balancers, and wireless network access points.

In the ArchitecturalFramework, NFs are viewed as distinct physical nodes. The endpoints
include all customer-owned devices.

So, in the
figure, endpoint A could be a smartphone and endpoint B a content delivery network
(CDN) server.

Part a of Figure 7.6 highlights the network functions that are relevant to the service provider and
customer.

The interconnections among the NFs and endpoints aredepicted by dashed lines, representing logical
links. These logical links are supported by physical paths through infrastructure networks (wired or
wireless).

Part b of Figure 7.6 illustrates a virtualized network service configuration that could be implemented on
the physical configuration of part a of Figure 7.6.

VNF-1 provides network access for endpoint A, and VNF-2 provides network access for B.

The figure also depicts the case of a nested VNF forwarding graph (VNF-FG-2) constructed from
other VNFs (that is, VNF-2A, VNF-2B and VNF-2C). All of these VNFs run as VMs
on physical machines, called points of presence (PoPs).

This configuration illustrates several important points.

First, VNF-FG-2 consists of three VNFs even though ultimately all the traffic transiting VNF-FG-2 is
between VNF-1 and VNF-3. The reason for this is that three separate and distinct network functions are
being performed. For example, it may be that some traffic flows need to be subjected to a traffic policing
or shaping function, which could be performed by VNF-2C. So, some flows would be
routed through VNF-2C, while others would bypass this network function.

A second observation is that two of the VMs in VNF-FG-2 are hosted on the same
physical machine. Because these two VMs perform different functions, they need to
be distinct at the virtual resource level but can be supported by the same physical
machine. But this is not required, and a network management function may at some
point decide to migrate one of the VMs to another physical machine, for reasons of
performance. This movement is transparent at the virtual resource level.

Slide 18
The NFV framework consists of three domains of operation:
■ Virtualized network functions: The collection of VNFs, implemented in
software, that run over the NFVI. These are the software applications that run in Virtual Machines and
carry out specific networking functions, such as routing, load balancing, file sharing, directory services,
and IP configuration.

■ NFV infrastructure (NFVI): The NFVI performs a virtualization function

on the three main categories of devices in the network service environment:
computer devices, storage devices, and network devices.

■ NFV management and orchestration: Encompasses the orchestration and

lifecycle management of physical/software resources that support the infrastructure
virtualization, and the lifecycle management of VNFs. NFV management
and orchestration focuses on all virtualization-specific management tasks
necessary in the NFV framework.
 MANO - It stands for Management, automation, and network orchestration. It is used to provide the
framework for managing NFV infrastructure and for providing network functionality. It deals with all
NFV-related tasks which include chaining, connectivity, and lifecycle management. It is also
responsible for managing, monitoring, and optimizing NFVI hardware and virtual resources.

Slide 19
If NFV is implemented efficiently and effectively, it can provide a number of benefits
• It is used to reduce (CAPEX) Capital Expenditure by lowering the need for purchasing hardware.
• Reduces OpEx by implementing network functions as virtual appliances
• It can invent and roll out services very quickly as per the demand.
• It allows the benefits of virtualization and cloud computing such as orchestration, automation,
hardware independence, and scaling.
• Allows multiple users and tenants to use a single platform.
• It is flexible as it quickly scales up or down services to address the changing demands.
• Service can be introduced based on geography or customer sets.

Slide 20
NFV must be implemented in such a way that it meets all the requirements and challenges:

• Portable: It should have the ability to load, execute and move NFVs across multivendor
environments.
• Performance: NFV framework should be able to define the infrastructure requirements of a VNF so
that it can be sized for a given performance target while the corresponding resources are allocated
and shared in the infrastructure.
• ■ Migration and coexistence with respect to legacy equipment: The NFV architecture must support a
migration path from today’s proprietary physical network appliance-based solutions to more open
standards-basedvirtual network appliance solutions.

■ Management and orchestration: A consistent management and orchestration

architecture is required. NFV presents an opportunity, through theflexibility afforded by software
network appliances operating in an open andstandardized infrastructure, to rapidly align management
and orchestrationnorthbound interfaces to well defined standards and abstract specifications.
•
• Security: It implements appropriate measures to resolve the security vulnerabilities introduced by
the virtualization layer and protect data stored on shared storage resources.
• Resilience: In case of failure, it should have the ability to limit disruption and come back to a minimal
or normal acceptable stage to deliver services.
• Integration: It should be able to integrate with legacy network architectures and link to existing
operational systems.
• Scalability: It can add or remove resources as per need.

Slide 21
Figure 7.8 also defines a number of reference points that constitute interfaces between
functional blocks. The main (named) reference points and execution reference points
are shown by solid lines and are in the scope of NFV. These are potential targets for
standardization. The dashed line reference points are available in present deployments
but might need extensions for handling network function virtualization. The dotted
reference points are not a focus of NFV at present.
The main reference points include the following considerations:

■ Vi-Ha: Marks interfaces to the physical hardware. A well-defined interface

specification will facilitate for operators sharing physical resources for different
purposes, reassigning resources for different purposes, evolving software
and hardware independently, and obtaining software and hardware component
from different vendors.

■ Vn-Nf: These interfaces are APIs used by VNFs to execute on the virtual
infrastructure. Application developers, whether migrating existing network
functions or developing new VNFs, require a consistent interface the provides
functionality and the ability to specify performance, reliability, and scalability
requirements.

■ Nf-Vi: Marks interfaces between the NFVI and the virtualized infrastructure
manager (VIM). This interface can facilitate specification of the capabilities
that the NFVI provides for the VIM. The VIM must be able to manage all the
NFVI virtual resources, including allocation, monitoring of system utilization,
and fault management.

■ Or-Vnfm: This reference point is used for sending configuration information

to the VNF manager and collecting state information of the VNFs necessary
for network service lifecycle management.

■ Vi-Vnfm: Used for resource allocation requests by the VNF manager and the
exchange of resource configuration and state information.

■ Or-Vi: Used for resource allocation requests by the NFV orchestrator and the
exchange of resource configuration and state information.

■ Os-Ma: Used for interaction between the orchestrator and the OSS/BSS
systems.

■ Ve-Vnfm: Used for requests for VNF lifecycle management and exchange of
configuration and state information.

■ Se-Ma: Interface between the orchestrator and a data set that provides information
regarding the VNF deployment template, VNF forwarding graph,
service-related information, and NFV infrastructure information models.