How You Can Benefit from Network Function Virtualization (NFV)

As wireless networks become more expansive and complex, IT departments are looking to Network function Virtualization (NFV) as a way to move network functions away from dedicated appliances and towards generic servers. Using standard IT virtualization technology, NFV is designed to take many different types of network equipment and moving it onto specialized servers, and in turn, making the network more agile, efficient, and secure. Below, we’ll take a look at how your business can benefit from network function virtualization.

Accelerating Time-to-Market

Typically, the radio access network of traditional cellular networks is comprised of stand-alone base stations which process and transmit backhaul connections. This Ran architecture has a few limitations however. NFV allows operators to reduce the amount of time to deploy new networking services to support fluctuating business requirements, take advantage of new market opportunities, and improve the ROI of new services.

Agility and Flexibility

This may be the most sought after benefits from NFV deployment. Currently it can take between weeks and months for operators to provision business services. Using NFV, operators can bypass these lengthy deployments since the network services are created through software integration and can be be validated and deployed faster.

Security

Network security is always of the utmost importance for IT departments. If a business can’t rely on the security of their own network, then what else can they rely on? A NFV deployment allows to operators to provision and manage their network while at the same time permitting customers to run their own virtual space and firewall space and firewall securely within the network.

Statistics

In an increasingly mobile workplace, wireless networks have established themselves as the backbone of business. Its effects are so extensive as are its downsides.  Below we’ve collected some of the most prescient information.

1. There are more mobile internet users than desktop internet users; 52.7% of global internet users access the internet via mobile, and 75.1% of U.S. internet users access the internet via mobile.
2. By some estimates, the number of unsecured wireless networks has fallen into the
3. The test revealed that, out of 2133 networks, 61 percent of networks are safely protected with either WPA or WPA2 encryption algorithm.
4. 62 percent of analyzed business networkswere configured to use WPA/WPA2 encryption, while 15 percent were still using the depreciated WEP. In all, 22 percent of the investigated networks were not using any encryption mechanism.
5. 19 percent of home users choose WEP as their favorite encryption technology for their wireless setups.