Network Function Virtualization

Network Function Virtualization, or NFV, changes where a network function runs and how you operate it. A firewall, router, load balancer, or mobile-core component no longer has to arrive as one vendor appliance. Its software can run on virtualized infrastructure.

That separation matters because a network service combines several concerns. You need the function's behavior, the compute and network resources beneath it, and a way to create, change, heal, and retire the service. NFV gives those concerns a common architecture. It does not promise that every workload has identical performance or that specialized hardware disappears.

The mental model

Start with the network function. In NFV, its deployable implementation is a Virtualized Network Function, or VNF. The VNF runs on NFV Infrastructure, or NFVI. NFVI supplies the compute, storage, and network resources needed to host the workload.