NFV is way to reduce cost and accelerate service deployment for network operators by decoupling functions from dedicated hardware and moving them to virtual servers.
Today’s telecom networks are primarily built using specialized, often proprietary, equipment. (In the telecom industry, proprietary often means a technology or solution that is owned by a single company.) Some examples of typical telecom equipment are routers, switches, base stations, firewalls, voice gateways, and IMS and Mobile Packet Core. These types of equipment are typically monolithic in design; that is, they consist of hardware, software, and associated management systems. This type of architecture often leads to silos of operations, vendor lock-in, and the inability to respond to changing demands in an agile way.
NFV redefines the way typical network functions are delivered and operated in a CSP network.
The NFV reference model comprises of three main subsets: NFVI, VNFs, and NFV Management & Orchestration (MANO).
NFV transformation promises to bring major business, technology, and operational benefits to increase carriers’ competitiveness: