Are you hearing the term NFV(Network Functions Virtualization) for the first time? Don't worry. I 'm also hearing it for the first time. Wikipedia defines NFV as a network architecture concept that proposes using IT virtualization related technologies to virtualize entire classes of network node functions into building blocks that may be connected, or chained, to create communication services.
Arno is the first of many river-themed releases to build upon the
promise of OPNFV—a carrier grade, integrated, open source platform to
accelerate the introduction of new NFV products and services. An article published in opensource.com, gives a brief intro about Arno.
SDN and NFV are part of a transformational shift in the telecom industry towards network and application virtualization, enabling companies' need to be flexible in order to meet changing demands. Jonathan Gershater explained it well in his recent article, How telecoms can escape vendor lock-In with open source NFV.Without cross-collaboration from the industry, individual vendors implement their own NFV solutions, which makes cross-industry interoperability difficult and instead fragments resources. Service provider applications have different demands than most IT applications, so an open platform with continuous testing for carrier-grade service performance is important.