Remember back in 2013 when software-defined networking (SDN) was going to change the
world? It’s still the future of the data center, but the revolution is happening slower than
people expected four years ago.
Amidst all of the SDN hype, many companies seem to have lost track of its companion
technology—network functions virtualization (NFV).
Some may think NFV and SDN are the same, but they’re actually complementary. If SDN seems
too far out of reach, you might want to start thinking about laying the foundation for the future
with NFV.
What Is Network Functions Virtualization?
The idea of network functions virtualization originated with service providers that wanted to make it easier to deploy new network services. Typically, they would have to introduce a wide range of new physical devices for routing, switching, security, WAN optimization, and more just to offer new solutions.
With NFV, you consolidate network functions typically deployed with black boxes onto industry-
standard commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) servers. We know that it’s getting increasingly
difficult to introduce new appliances to your physical architecture, so being able to decouple
network functions from dedicated hardware will become more of a necessity than a luxury
soon.
At first glance, this might just seem like a small piece of the software-defined networking promise. However, you can start to deploy NFV as a standalone strategy without actually approaching SDN at first.
The key difference is that SDN focuses on separating the data plane from network control logic
for centralized, automated control over traffic. Network functions virtualization focuses less on
abstraction and more on the data plane itself, leveraging virtual machines and open source
software.
Because there is still debate over open source SDN controller technology, NFV may seem more
approachable as you lay the groundwork for a future 40G/100G data center. Here are just a few
of the possible use cases for virtualized network functions:
- Virtual Switching: Connect physical ports to virtual ports/servers and employ virtualized services and VPN gateways. Stop worrying about physical location and focus more on your network resources.
- Virtual Network Appliances: Simplify your network architecture by bringing network monitoring, load balancing, traffic analysis, and more into virtual machines.
- Virtual Applications: Businesses run on cloud applications and NFV frameworks can help you optimize your network for an increasingly mobile workforce.
Even though NFV was originally created for service providers, data centers of all sizes will have
to pay close attention to the emerging technology as traditional, physical architectures give way
to faster, co-located and virtual alternatives.
Why You Should Start Planning for NFV
Cost efficiency is usually the prevailing motivation for network administrators considering
SDN—and NFV is no different. Shifting to COTS servers and virtual network functions can
certainly reduce both CapEx and OpEx, but you shouldn’t focus solely on cost.
Just because you can reduce costs in the long run doesn’t mean this is a free transition. Luckily,
there are other great reasons to start planning for NFV.
In the wake of digital transformation and the need for companies of all sizes to become more
agile, quick provisioning and flexible scalability are significant benefits of NFV. You might be
talking about a move to 40G or 100G in your data center today—but those speeds are only
going to continue increasing.
Aside from reducing operating expenses, quick provisioning can free up IT resources so you can
focus more on pushing the company forward and less on menial management tasks. For
example, you can use NFV to streamline your chaining at the edge.
Rather than struggling to add new physical appliances on a complicated link, you can virtually
chain the edge with functions like a router, firewall, deep packet inspection, intrusion
prevention and more. There’s just one catch—you can’t forget the visibility plane. If anything,
it’s even more important than in a traditional data center.
The SDN reality is slowly coming to fruition, but if you want to get out ahead of the
competition, implementing NFV in certain areas of your data center can help. If you want to
learn more about how you can prepare for SDN and NFV in a 40G/100G data center, download our free white paper, Architecting Data Centers for SDN and NFV.
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