MANO Descriptor Reference

Today’s service providers have a growing interest in migrating custom, proprietary, hardware-based network functions to virtualized hardware in data centers—the cloud. Cloud-based network functions, referred to as virtual network functions (VNFVirtual Network Function (VNF) is an implementation of an executable software program that constitutes the whole or a part of a network function. VNFs can be deployed in a virtualized environment (cloud). Defined by its descriptor file and instantiated by the VNF Manager, the VNF covers VNF components (VNFC), each mapped to a VM that is defined by the Virtual Deployment Unit descriptor (VDUD).s), are the software implementation of network functions that can be deployed on a network function virtualization infrastructure (NFVI).

This cloud model paradigm, Network Function Virtualization (NFV), is an initiative to decouple hardware from software. As a subset of software defined networking (SDNSoftware defined networking is a computer networking approach that lets network administrators manage network services through abstraction of lower-level functionality. SDN addresses the challenge that the static architecture of traditional networks does not support the scalable, dynamic computing and storage needs of data center environments. SDN decouples the control plane (system that decides where traffic is sent) from the data plane (underlying systems that forward traffic to the selected destination).), NFV moves functions from specialized applications that run on COTS equipment (servers, storage, switches) to a virtual cloud environment. With virtualization, you use network resources without having to worry about where assets are physically located or how they are organized.

NFV is fundamentally changing how network services are deployed and managed, by promising agile service delivery, faster development cycles, and optimal resource usage. However, there is an obstacle to broader adoption due to a lack of a standard platform for deploying and managing VNFs and network services. In particular, there is a lack of consistency and openness in management and orchestration tools. The promise of NFV can be realized only if the VNF applications behave in a way that can be easily deployed, scaled, and managed.

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has defined a framework for Network Functions Virtualization and Management and Orchestration Architectures (MANO). These architectures are broadly defined to let vendors interpret and extend in proprietary ways. As a result, SDN/NFV deployments can stall when network operators lack a standard, vendor-neutral way to deploy VNFs, and VNF builders lack a standard platform for delivering VNFs.