Cloud API Support for Self-service Virtual Network Function (VNF) Deployment

The emphasis today in Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is on moving existing monolithic telecommunications services like the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) as a unit to a virtualized infrastructure platform. Yet the next step will involve breaking down the monolithic services into smaller, more modular units called Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) that can be quickly combined into cloud-based innovative service offerings. Current cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) API support for NFV deployments requires extensive configuration despite virtualization, exactly the antithesis of the cloud "as a service" model. This won't support the innovative combination of services envisioned for the next step. Our approach involves enhancing the cloud IaaS networking API to support more dynamic network services. We illustrate this approach with an API for L2 services deployment. We describe a new VNF service, JiffyVPN, which allows a customer to provision an IPsec VPN with Layer-2 (L2) service between data centers or from branch offices to the data center, through a few clicks on a self-serve customer portal. We developed an enhancement to the OpenStack Neutron API, called the Gateway API, that supports stitching virtual L2 networks together, and deployed JiffyVPN on top of it. We conclude with a discussion regarding developing API support for VNFs, and the need for a well-designed set of abstractions and their API implementation.