English

VNF Overview

date_range 26-Jun-18

A virtualized network function (VNF) is a software application used in a Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) implementation that has well defined interfaces, and provides one or more component networking functions in a defined way. For example, a security VNF provides Network Address Translation (NAT) and firewall component functions.

For Contrail Service Orchestration (CSO) in a centralized deployment model, you design network services for customers based on VNFs. Each VNF used in the network service is deployed in its own virtual machine (VM). The connections between VNFs depend on how VIMs define them over the NFV Infrastructure (NFVI).

For CSO in distributed deployment model, the Open vSwitch (OVS) bridges are used within the NFX hypervisor.

You can specify the following required resources for a VNF package when you create it in Resource Designer.

Number of virtual CPUs
Virtual memory (MB)
Virtual disk capacity (MB)
License cost

CSO supports a range of Juniper Networks and third-party VNFs. Vendors can provide multiple versions of a VNF that offer differentiated performance. You can see available VNFs and their specifications and resource requirements in the VNF catalog of the Network Service Designer tool. Table 1 lists the VNFs that are currently supported by CSO.

Table 1: VNFs Supported by CSO

Vendor Name	VNF Name	Network Functions Supported	Deployment Model Support	Element Management System Support
Juniper Networks	vSRX vSRX managed by Junos Space vSRX on uCPE	Network Address Translation Demonstration version of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Firewall Unified Threat Management (UTM)	Centralized deployment Distributed deployment	EMS microservice
Linux	IP Table	NAT Firewall	Centralized deployment	EMS microservice
Linux	HAProxy	Load Balancer	Centralized deployment	EMS microservice
Cisco	Cisco1000v	Firewall	Centralized deployment	Junos Space Network Management Platform
Riverbed	Riverbed Riverbed-NFX150	WAN optimization	Distributed deployment Note: Supported on NFX150 and NFX250 platforms only	EMS microservice
Fortinet	Fortinet-no-oam Fortinet-oam	Firewall without WAN optimization	SD-WAN deployment Distributed deployment Note: Supported on NFX150 and NFX250 platforms only	EMS microservice
Ubuntu	Ubuntu-fw Ubuntu-fw-NFX150	Firewall without WAN optimization	SD-WAN deployment Distributed deployment Note: Supported on NFX150 and NFX250 platforms only	EMS microservice

VNF Overview

Related Documentation

Stay in touch

Helped me install or use the product
Accelerated my deployment

Discuss the product with a co-worker
Make a purchase inquiry