Definition

network functions virtualization (NFV)

Network functions virtualization (NFV) is an initiative to virtualize network functions previously carried out by proprietary, dedicated hardware.

The concept, which was presented by a group of network service providers at the SDN and OpenFlow World Congress in October 2012, and is being developed by the ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) for Network Functions Virtualization. If successful, NFV would decrease the amount of proprietary hardware that’s needed to launch and operate network services because network functions previously carried out be routers, firewalls, load balancers and other dedicated hardware would now be hosted on virtual machines (VMs).

This was last updated in March 2013
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

Email Alerts

Register now to receive SearchSDN.com-related news, tips and more, delivered to your inbox.
By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Privacy

More News and Tutorials

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.

Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com