3/31/2016

NFVandSDN:What'stheDifference?

NFVandSDN:WhatstheDifference?

PraysonPate(https://www.sdxcentral.com/author/praysonpate/)
March30,2013
2:00amPT

Softwaredefinednetworking(SDN)(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whatthedefinitionof
softwaredefinednetworkingsdn/)andnetworkfunctionvirtualization(NFV)
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/whatsnetworkfunctionsvirtualizationnfv/)arehottopics.
Theyareclearlyrelated,buthowexactlyaretheysimilar?Howaretheydifferent?Howdothey
complementeachother?AreyounewtoSDNorNFV?CheckoutSDNCentralsSDN
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whysdnsoftwaredefinednetworkingornfvnetwork
functionsvirtualizationnow/)andNFV(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/whichisbettersdn
ornfv/)Essentialstolearnthebasics.

SDNBornontheCampus,MaturedintheDataCenter
SDNgotitsstartoncampusnetworks.Asresearcherswereexperimentingwithnewprotocolsthey
werefrustratedtheneedtochangethesoftwareinthenetworkdeviceseachtimetheywantedtotrya
newapproach.Theycameupwiththeideaofmakingthebehaviorofthenetworkdevices
programmable,andallowingthemtobecontrolledbyacentralelement.Thisleadtoaformalizationof
theprincipleelementsthatdefineSDNtoday:
Separationofcontrolandforwardingfunctions
Centralizationofcontrol
Abilitytoprogramthebehaviorofthenetworkusingwelldefinedinterfaces

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ThenextareaofsuccessforSDNwasinclouddatacenters
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/editorial/vswitchthenewbattlegroundwhateverydatacenter
operatormustknow/2012/07/).Asthesizeandscopeofthesedatacentersexpandeditbecameclear
thatabetterwaywasneededtoconnectandcontroltheexplosionofvirtualmachines.Theprinciples
ofSDNsoonshowedpromiseinimprovinghowdatacenterscouldbecontrolled.
Interestedinlearningmoreaboutnetworkfunctionsvirtualization
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/flow/nfvnetworkfunctionsvirtualization)andsoftwaredefined
networking(https://www.sdxcentral.com/flow/sdnsoftwaredefinednetworking/)?Besuretocheck
outourpagesonNFVforDummiesSeries(https://www.sdxcentral.com/hpe/nfvfor
dummies/chapter1whatisnfvwhydocspsneedit/),NFVMANO
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/nfvmano/),ETSIISGNFV
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/etsiisgnfv/),OPNFV
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/opnfv/),andVirtualNetworkFunctions
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/virtualnetworkfunction/).

OpenFlowDrivingTowardsStandards
So,wheredoesOpenFlow(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whatisopenflow/)comeinto
thepicture?AsSDNstartedtogainmoreprominenceitbecameclearthatstandardizationwas
needed.TheOpenNetworkingForum(ONF)(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whoisopen
networkingfoundationonf/)[1](https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/white
papers/wpsdnnewnorm.pdf)wasorganizedforthepurposeofformalizingoneapproachfor
controllers(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/sdncontrollers/)talkingtonetworkelements,
andthatapproachisOpenFlow.OpenFlowdefinesbothamodelforhowtrafficisorganizedintoflows,
andhowthoseflowscanbecontrolledasneeded.Thiswasabigstepforwardinrealizingthebenefits
ofSDN.[EditorsNote(11/6/14):InadditiontoONF,theOpenDaylightProject
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/opendaylightproject/)alsoaimstoadvanceopen
standardsandSDNadoption.AnnouncedinApril2013bytheLinuxFoundation
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/listings/linuxfoundation/),theOpenDaylightProjectsgoalistooffera
functionalSDN(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whysdnsoftwaredefinednetworkingor
nfvnetworkfunctionsvirtualizationnow/)platformthatgivesusersdirectlydeployedSDNwithoutthe
needforothercomponents.Inadditiontothis,contributorsandvendorscandeliveraddonsandother
piecesthatwilloffermorevaluetoOpenDaylight(http://www.opendaylight.org/).]

NFVCreatedbyServiceProviders
WhereasSDNwascreatedbyresearchersanddatacenterarchitects,NFVwascreatedbya
consortiumofserviceproviders.[EditorsNote(11/6/14):Serviceprovidersattemptedtospeedup
deploymentofnewnetworkservicesinordertoadvancetheirrevenueandgrowthplans,andthey
foundthathardwarebasedapplianceslimitedtheirabilitytoachievethesegoals.Theylookedto
standardITvirtualizationtechnologiesandfoundNFVhelpedaccelerateserviceinnovationand
provisioning.Withthis,severalprovidersbandedtogetherandcreatedtheEuropean
TelecommunicationsStandardsInstitute(ETSI)(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/whoisetsi
networkfunctionsvirtualizationnfv/).ThecreationofETSIresultedinthefoundationofNFVsbasic
requirementsandarchitecture.]TheoriginalNFVwhitepaper[2]

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(http://portal.etsi.org/nfv/nfv_white_paper.pdf)describestheproblemsthattheyarefacing,alongwith
theirproposedsolution:
NetworkOperatorsnetworksarepopulatedwithalargeandincreasingvarietyofproprietary
hardwareappliances.Tolaunchanewnetworkserviceoftenrequiresyetanothervarietyand
findingthespaceandpowertoaccommodatetheseboxesisbecomingincreasinglydifficult
compoundedbytheincreasingcostsofenergy,capitalinvestmentchallengesandtherarity
ofskillsnecessarytodesign,integrateandoperateincreasinglycomplexhardwarebased
appliances.Moreover,hardwarebasedappliancesrapidlyreachendoflife,requiringmuchof
theprocuredesignintegratedeploycycletoberepeatedwithlittleornorevenuebenefit.

NetworkFunctionsVirtualisationaimstoaddresstheseproblemsbyleveragingstandardIT
virtualisationtechnologytoconsolidatemanynetworkequipmenttypesontoindustrystandard
highvolumeservers,switchesandstorage,whichcouldbelocatedinDatacentres,Network
Nodesandintheenduserpremises.WebelieveNetworkFunctionsVirtualisationis
applicabletoanydataplanepacketprocessingandcontrolplanefunctioninfixedandmobile
networkinfrastructures.
[EditorsNote(11/6/14):ETSIcontinuestoaddressNFVinnovation.InSeptember2014,theLinux
Foundation(http://www.linuxfoundation.org/)announcedanotheropensource
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/flow/sdnnfvopensource/)referenceplatformtheOpenPlatformfor
NFVProject(OPNFV)(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/opnfv/).OPNFVwillworkclosely
withETSIandotherstopressforconsistentimplementationofopenstandards.]

SDNversusNFV
Now,letsturntotherelationshipbetweenyouSDNandNFV
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/whichisbettersdnornfv/).TheoriginalNFVwhitepaper
[2](http://www.tid.es/es/Documents/NFV_White_PaperV2.pdf)givesanoverviewoftherelationship
betweenSDNandNFV:
AsshowninFigure1,NetworkFunctionsVirtualizationishighlycomplementarytoSoftware
DefinedNetworking(SDN),butnotdependentonit(orviceversa).NetworkFunctions
VirtualizationcanbeimplementedwithoutaSDNbeingrequired,althoughthetwoconcepts
andsolutionscanbecombinedandpotentiallygreatervalueaccrued.

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Figure1.NetworkFunctionsVirtualisationRelationshipwithSDN
NetworkFunctionsVirtualisationgoalscanbeachievedusingnonSDNmechanisms,relying
onthetechniquescurrentlyinuseinmanydatacentres.Butapproachesrelyingonthe
separationofthecontrolanddataforwardingplanesasproposedbySDNcanenhance
performance,simplifycompatibilitywithexistingdeployments,andfacilitateoperationand
maintenanceprocedures.NetworkFunctionsVirtualizationisabletosupportSDNby
providingtheinfrastructureuponwhichtheSDNsoftwarecanberun.Furthermore,Network
FunctionsVirtualizationalignscloselywiththeSDNobjectivestousecommodityserversand
switches.

SDNandNFVWorkingTogether?
LetslookatanexampleofhowSDNandNFV(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whysdn
softwaredefinednetworkingornfvnetworkfunctionsvirtualizationnow/)couldworktogether.First,
Figure2showshowamanagedrouterserviceisimplementedtoday,usingarouteratthecustomer
site.

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Figure2:ManagedRouterServiceToday
NFVwouldbeappliedtothissituationbyvirtualizingtherouterfunction,asshowninFigure3.Allthat
isleftatthecustomersiteisaNetworkInterfaceDevice(NID)forprovidingapointofdemarcationas
wellasformeasuringperformance.

Figure3:ManagedRouterServiceUsingNFV
Finally,SDNisintroducedtoseparatethecontrolanddata,asshowninFigure4.Now,thedata
packetsareforwardedbyanoptimizeddataplane,whiletherouting(controlplane)functionisrunning
inavirtualmachinerunninginarackmountserver.

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Figure4:ManagedRouterServiceUsingNFVandSDN
ThecombinationofSDNandNFVshowninFigure4providesanoptimumsolution:
Anexpensiveanddedicatedapplianceisreplacedbygenerichardwareandadvancedsoftware.
Thesoftwarecontrolplaneismovedfromanexpensivelocation(indedicatedplatform)toan
optimizedlocation(serverinadatacenterorPOP).
Thecontrolofthedataplanehasbeenabstractedandstandardized,allowingfornetworkand
applicationevolutionwithouttheneedforupgradesofnetworkdevices.

Summary
Thetablebelowprovidesabriefcomparisonofsomeofthekeypoints:
Category

SDN

NFV

ReasonforBeing

Separationofcontroland
data,centralizationofcontrol
andprogrammabilityof
network

Relocationofnetwork
functionsfromdedicated
appliancestogenericservers

TargetLocation

Campus,datacenter/cloud

Serviceprovidernetwork

TargetDevices

Commodityserversand
switches

Commodityserversand
switches

InitialApplications

Cloudorchestrationand
networking

Routers,firewalls,gateways,
CDN,WANaccelerators,SLA
assurance

NewProtocols

OpenFlow

Noneyet

Formalization

OpenNetworkingForum
(ONF)

ETSINFVWorkingGroup

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AdditionalNetworkFunctionsVirtualizationResources:
WhatisNFVMANO?(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/nfvmano/)
SDxCentral2015NetworkFunctionsVirtualizationReport
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/reports/networkfunctionsvirtualizationreport2015/)
SDxCentral2015VirtualEdgeReport(https://www.sdxcentral.com/reports/sdnvcevcpesdwan
reportdownload/)
WhichisBetterSDNorNFV?(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/nfv/whichisbettersdnornfv/)
SDN,NFVandNetworkVirtualizationDefinetheWaveofNewIP
(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/sdnnfvnetworkvirtualizationdefinenewipinfrastructure/)
WhySDNorNFVNow?(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whysdnsoftwaredefined
networkingornfvnetworkfunctionsvirtualizationnow/)
WhatisSoftwareDefinedNetworking?(https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/sdn/whatthedefinition
ofsoftwaredefinednetworkingsdn/)

References
[1].SoftwareDefinedNetworking:TheNewNormforNetworks
(https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/whitepapers/wpsdnnewnorm.pdf)
[2].NetworkFunctionsVirtualisation(NFV)AnIntroduction,Benefits,Enablers,Challenges&Callfor
Action(http://portal.etsi.org/nfv/nfv_white_paper.pdf)
[3].NetworkFunctionVirtualizationorNFVExplained
(http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/Network_Function_Virtualization_or_NFV_Explained)
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