Network Function Placement for NFV Chaining in Packet/Optical Datacenters

Abstract

In an operator's datacenter, optical technologies can be employed to perform network function (NF) chaining for larger aggregated flows in parallel with the conventional packet-based fine-grained traffic steering schemes. When network function virtualization (NFV) is enabled, virtualized NFs (vNF) can be placed when and where needed. In this study, we identify the possibility of minimizing the expensive optical/electronic/optical (O/E/O) conversions for NFV chaining in packet/optical datacenters, which is introduced by the on-demand placement of vNFs. When the vNFs of the same NF chain are properly grouped into fewer pods, traffic flows can avoid unnecessary traversals in the optical domain. We formulate the problem of optimal vNF placement in binary integer programming (BIP), and propose an alternative efficient heuristic algorithm to solve this problem. Evaluation results show that our algorithm can achieve near-optimal O/E/O conversions comparable to BIP. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm under various scenarios, with comparison to a simple first-fit algorithm.

Semantically Enhanced Mapping Algorithm for Affinity-Constrained Service Function Chain Requests

“…Luizellie et al formalize the NF placement and chaining problem and propose an ILP model to solve it [24]. Xia et al propose a Binary Integer Programming (BIP) model for optimal VNF placement subject to minimizing the expensive optical/electronic/optical conversions for NFV chaining in packet/optical data centers [25]. Sahhaf et al…”

“…Similarly, Equation (23 prevents the internal embedding of the virtual edge (v, w) at that location. Equation (25) stipulates that two virtual edges need to be mapped onto the same virtual path. Equation (24) ensures that the corresponding endpoints of the virtual edge are mapped onto the same host.…”

Network Function Virtualization: A Survey

“…A comprehensive survey [57] reviews papers on resource allocation. For example, Xia et al [58] focused on a service chaining problem in an electrical/optical hybrid data center. They propose a heuristic algorithm for on-demand VNF placement that minimizes the number of optical/electrical/optical (O/E/O) conversions.…”

Algorithms for advance bandwidth reservation in media production networks

“…This calls for heuristics such as those proposed in [163], [164], [165], [132]. For example, Xia et.…”

“…For example, Xia et. al [163] formulate the placement and chaining problem as binary integer programming (BIP), and propose a greedy heuristic to improve computational efficiency. The proposed greedy algorithm first sorts VNFs according their resource demand, and thereafter, VNFs with the highest resource demands are given priority for placement and chaining.…”