Management and Orchestration (MANO) is a key framework in the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture. It governs the deployment, operation, and management of services within the NFV environment. MANO ensures that Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) are efficiently instantiated, scaled, and terminated on the NFV Infrastructure (NFVI). Let’s explore MANO in more detail:
Components of MANO:
- NFV Orchestrator (NFVO)It oversees the high-level orchestration and management of network services. It’s responsible for onboarding new network service descriptors, creating and terminating network services, and global resource management.
- VNF Manager (VNFM)Manages the lifecycle of VNF instances. This includes tasks such as instantiation, scaling, updating, and termination of VNFs. VNFM often interfaces with VNFs using standard management interfaces.
- Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM)Manages and controls the NFVI’s compute, storage, and network resources. It’s essentially the interface between the NFVO/VNFM and the NFVI.
Functions:
- Resource OrchestrationAllocates the necessary resources on the NFVI for VNFs and ensures efficient utilization of these resources.
- Lifecycle ManagementManages the entire lifecycle of network services and VNFs, from instantiation to termination.
- Network Service Catalog ManagementMaintains a catalog of available network services, their templates, and descriptors.
Benefits:
- AutomationSimplifies the deployment and scaling of network services, reducing manual interventions and errors.
- FlexibilityEnables dynamic allocation and reallocation of resources based on network demand.
- EfficiencyEnsures optimal resource usage by placing and scaling VNFs effectively.
- Unified ViewProvides a consolidated view of the entire NFV environment, enabling easier management and diagnostics.
Challenges:
- InteroperabilityWith multiple vendors offering NFV solutions, ensuring seamless interoperability between different components can be challenging.
- ComplexityThe dynamic nature of NFV and the numerous components involved can make the management and orchestration landscape quite complex.
- StandardizationWhile organizations like ETSI have provided guidelines for NFV and MANO, the complete standardization across vendors is still a work in progress.
Relationship with Other NFV Components:
- NFVI: MANO interacts directly with the NFVI through the VIM to allocate or free up resources for VNFs.
- VNFs: MANO manages the lifecycle of VNFs, ensuring they’re deployed, scaled, and terminated as needed.
In the evolving telecommunications and networking landscape, MANO plays a pivotal role. It’s the brain behind the NFV operations, making the vision of flexible, software-driven, and efficient networking a reality. The continuous evolution and improvement in MANO frameworks are critical for the broader adoption and success of NFV in the industry.
Key terms in plain language
Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.
Cloud Computing
Computing resources—such as applications, servers, storage, or databases—delivered from remote infrastructure and scaled as requirements change.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Cloud-based servers, storage, and networking that customers configure and manage without owning the underlying data-center hardware.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Software accessed as an online service instead of being installed and maintained entirely on the customer’s own computers or servers.
Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)
A plan and service for restoring applications, data, and operations after an outage or disruption. DRaaS provides recovery infrastructure through a managed cloud service.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
The systems and policies that determine who a user is, what resources they may access, and how that access is authenticated and reviewed.
API
An application programming interface is a defined way for software systems to exchange data or request functions from one another.