ETSI GS NFV-IFA 014 V3.2.1 (2019-04)

Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Release 3; Management and Orchestration; Network Service Templates Specification

RGS/NFV-IFA014ed321

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 31-Mar-2019
• Technical Committee: NFV IFA - Interfaces and Architecture
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 05-May-2019
• Completion Date: 01-Apr-2019

Standards Content (Sample)

GROUP SPECIFICATION
Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Release 3;
Management and Orchestration;
Network Service Templates Specification
Disclaimer
The present document has been produced and approved by the Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) ETSI Industry
Specification Group (ISG) and represents the views of those members who participated in this ISG.
It does not necessarily represent the views of the entire ETSI membership.

2 ETSI GS NFV-IFA 014 V3.2.1 (2019-04)

Reference
RGS/NFV-IFA014ed321
Keywords
MANO, network, NFV, service, virtualisation

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3 ETSI GS NFV-IFA 014 V3.2.1 (2019-04)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 6
Foreword . 6
Modal verbs terminology . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 References . 7
2.1 Normative references . 7
2.2 Informative references . 7
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations . 8
3.1 Terms . 8
3.2 Symbols . 8
3.3 Abbreviations . 8
4 Overview . 9
4.1 Network Service Descriptions . 9
4.2 Relation to other ETSI NFV Group Specifications . 10
4.3 Conventions . 10
5 Functional requirements . 11
5.1 Void . 11
5.2 Network Service Descriptor . 11
5.3 Network Service Deployment Flavour . 12
5.4 VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor . 13
5.5 Virtual Link Descriptor . 13
5.6 Physical Network Function Descriptor. 13
5.7 Functional requirements for PNFD archive specification . 14
6 Descriptors formats and contents . 14
6.1 Void . 14
6.2 Information elements related to the Network Service Descriptor . 14
6.2.1 Introduction. 14
6.2.2 Network Service Descriptor information element . 15
6.2.2.1 Description . 15
6.2.2.2 Attributes . 15
6.2.3 Sapd information element . 16
6.2.3.1 Description . 16
6.2.3.2 Attributes . 16
6.2.4 Void . 17
6.2.5 SecurityParameters information element . 17
6.2.5.1 Description . 17
6.2.5.2 Attributes . 17
6.2.6 MonitoredData . 17
6.2.6.1 Description . 17
6.2.6.2 Attributes . 17
6.2.7 VnfIndicatorData . 18
6.2.7.1 Description . 18
6.2.7.2 Attributes . 18
6.2.8 MonitoringParameter . 18
6.2.8.1 Description . 18
6.2.8.2 Attributes . 18
6.2.9 LifeCycleManagementScript . 19
6.2.9.1 Description . 19
6.2.9.2 Attributes . 19
6.3 Information elements related to the Network Service Deployment Flavour . 19
6.3.1 Introduction. 19
6.3.2 NsDf information element . 19
6.3.2.1 Description . 19
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6.3.2.2 Attributes . 20
6.3.3 VnfProfile information element . 21
6.3.3.1 Description . 21
6.3.3.2 Attributes . 21
6.3.4 VirtualLinkProfile information element . 21
6.3.4.1 Description . 21
6.3.4.2 Attributes . 22
6.3.5 AffinityOrAntiAffinityGroup information element . 22
6.3.5.1 Description . 22
6.3.5.2 Attributes . 22
6.3.6 PnfProfile information element . 23
6.3.6.1 Description . 23
6.3.6.2 Attributes . 23
6.3.7 NsVirtualLinkConnectivity information element . 23
6.3.7.1 Description . 23
6.3.7.2 Attributes . 23
6.3.8 LocalAffinityOrAntiAffinityRule information element. 24
6.3.8.1 Description . 24
6.3.8.2 Attributes . 24
6.3.9 NsLevel information element . 24
6.3.9.1 Description . 24
6.3.9.2 Attributes . 24
6.3.10 NsScaleInfo information element . 25
6.3.10.1 Description . 25
6.3.10.2 Attributes . 25
6.3.11 NsProfile information element . 25
6.3.11.1 Description . 25
6.3.11.2 Attributes . 25
6.3.12 Dependencies information element . 26
6.3.12.1 Description . 26
6.3.12.2 Attributes . 26
6.4 Information elements related to the VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor . 27
6.4.1 Introduction. 27
6.4.2 Vnffgd information element . 27
6.4.2.1 Description . 27
6.4.2.2 Attributes . 27
6.4.3 Nfpd information element . 27
6.4.3.1 Description . 27
6.4.3.2 Attributes . 27
6.4.4 Void . 28
6.4.5 NfpPositionDesc information element . 28
6.4.5.1 Description . 28
6.4.5.2 Attributes . 28
6.4.6 CpProfile information element . 29
6.4.6.1 Description . 29
6.4.6.2 Attributes . 29
6.4.7 ConstituentProfileElements information element . 30
6.4.7.1 Description . 30
6.4.7.2 Attributes . 30
6.4.8 CpdInConstituentElement information element . 30
6.4.8.1 Description . 30
6.4.8.2 Attributes . 30
6.5 Information elements related to the Network Service Virtual Link Descriptor . 30
6.5.1 Introduction. 30
6.5.2 NsVirtualLinkDesc information element . 31
6.5.2.1 Description . 31
6.5.2.2 Attributes . 31
6.5.3 ConnectivityType information element . 31
6.5.3.1 Description . 31
6.5.3.2 Attributes . 31
6.5.4 VirtualLinkDf information element . 31
6.5.4.1 Description . 31
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6.5.4.2 Attributes . 31
6.5.5 LinkBitrateRequirements information element. 32
6.5.5.1 Description . 32
6.5.5.2 Attributes . 32
6.5.6 QoS information element . 32
6.5.6.1 Description . 32
6.5.6.2 Attributes . 32
6.6 Information elements related to the PNFD . 33
6.6.1 Introduction. 33
6.6.2 Pnfd information element . 33
6.6.2.1 Description . 33
6.6.2.2 Attributes . 33
6.6.3 Cpd information element . 33
6.6.3.1 Description . 33
6.6.3.2 Attributes . 33
6.6.4 PnfExtCpd information element . 33
6.6.4.1 Description . 33
6.6.4.2 Attributes . 34
6.7 Information elements related to scaling. 34
6.7.1 Introduction. 34
6.7.2 NsScalingAspect information element. 34
6.7.2.1 Description . 34
6.7.2.2 Attributes . 34
6.7.3 Void . 34
6.7.4 VnfToLevelMapping information element . 34
6.7.4.1 Description . 34
6.7.4.2 Attributes . 35
6.7.5 VirtualLinkToLevelMapping information element . 35
6.7.5.1 Description . 35
6.7.5.2 Attributes . 35
6.7.6 NsToLevelMapping information element . 35
6.7.6.1 Description . 35
6.7.6.2 Attributes . 36
Annex A (informative): Support of service function chaining. 37
A.1 Introduction . 37
A.2 IETF SFC concepts . 37
A.3 Use of the NFP Management interface . 39
A.4 Mapping . 39
Annex B (informative): Authors & contributors . 41
Annex C (informative): Change History . 43
History . 44

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Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Group Specification (GS) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) Network Functions
Virtualisation (NFV).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "shall", "shall not", "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and
"cannot" are to be interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of
provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.

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1 Scope
The present document specifies requirements and templates for describing Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV)
Network Services (NSs) in the form of meta-data.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found at
https://docbox.etsi.org/Reference/.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are necessary for the application of the present document.
[1] ETSI GS NFV 003: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Terminology for Main Concepts in
NFV".
[2] ETSI GS NFV-IFA 011: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Management and
Orchestration; VNF Descriptor and Packaging Specification".
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] ETSI GS NFV 002: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Architectural Framework".
[i.2] ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Management and
Orchestration; Os-Ma-Nfvo reference point - Interface and Information Model Specification".
[i.3] ETSI GS NFV-SWA 001: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Virtual Network Functions
Architecture".
[i.4] ISO/IEC 9646-7: "Information technology - Open Systems Interconnection - Conformance testing
methodology and framework - Part 7: Implementation Conformance Statements".
[i.5] ETSI GS NFV-REL 001: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Resiliency Requirements".
[i.6] IETF RFC 7665: "Service Function Chaining (SFC) Architecture".
[i.7] ETSI GS NFV-IFA 005: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Management and
Orchestration; Or-Vi reference point - Interface and Information Model Specification".
[i.8] IETF RFC 4090: "Fast Reroute Extensions to RSVP-TE for LSP Tunnels".
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3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
For the purposes of the present document, the terms given in ETSI GS NFV 003 [1] and the following apply:
Service Access Point (SAP): connection point where an NS can be accessed
NOTE: A SAP can either provide access to an NS, e.g. to an end-user, or interconnect different NS.
3.2 Symbols
Void.
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in ETSI GS NFV 003 [1] and the following apply:
CDN Content Delivery Network
CM Conditional Mandatory
CO Conditional Optional
CP Connection Point
CPD Connection Point Descriptor
DF Deployment Flavour
DSL Domain Specific Language
E-LAN Ethernet Local Area Network
GS Group Specification
IPV4 Internet Protocol Version 4
IPV6 Internet Protocol Version 6
LAN Local Area Network
LSP Label-Switched Path
MANO Management and Orchestration
MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching
NCT Network Connectivity Topology
NFP Network Forwarding Path
NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor
NS Network Service
NSD Network Service Descriptor
ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit - type 2
PM Performance Management
PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor
RSVP-TE Resource Reservation Protocol Traffic Engineering
SAP Service Access Point
SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor
SFC Service Function Chaining
TE Traffic Engineering
UML Unified Modelling Language
VL Virtual Link
VLD Virtual Link Descriptor
VNFFG VNF Forwarding Graph
VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor
XOR eXclusive OR
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4 Overview
4.1 Network Service Descriptions
The Network Service Descriptor (NSD) is a deployment template which consists of information used by the NFV
Orchestrator (NFVO) for life cycle management of an NS.
An NS is a composition of Network Functions (NF) arranged as a set of functions with unspecified connectivity
between them or according to one or more forwarding graphs. As illustrated in figure 4.1-1, the description of an NS as
used by the NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) functions to deploy an NS instance includes or references
the descriptors of its constituent objects:
• Zero, one or more Virtualised Network Function Descriptors (VNFD);
• Zero, one or more Physical Network Function Descriptors (PNFD) used by the NFVO to determine how to
connect PNFs to VLs;
• Zero, one or more nested NSD;
NOTE 1: The information contained within the PNFD is limited to the description of the connectivity requirements
to integrate PNFs in an NS.
NOTE 2: An NSD references at least either one VNFD or one nested NSD.
• Zero, one or more Virtual Link Descriptors (VLD) used by the NFVO to deploy Virtual Links (VL); and
• Zero, one or more VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptors (VNFFGD).
A VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor (VNFFGD) describes a topology of the NS or a portion of the NS, by referencing
a pool of connection points and service access points, the descriptors of its constituent VNFs, PNFs and of the VLs that
connect them. It may also contain one or more Network Forwarding Path (NFP) descriptors.
NOTE 3: Different VNFFGDs can be contained in a given NSD. Each VNFFGD uses subsets of the lists of VLDs,
VNFDs and PNFDs included in the NSD.
NOTE 4: For a given NS different VNFFGs can result in packets/frames traversing identical sequences of (V)NFs,
depending on the NFP descriptors included in the VNFFGDs.
NOTE 5: In a given VNFFG the connectivity topology represents how the (V)NFs among which packets/frames
can be exchanged are connected to each other. A Network Connectivity Topology (NCT), as defined in
ETSI GS NFV-SWA 001 [i.3] represents a higher logical level connectivity, possibly a global view of
combined connectivity from different VNFFGs of a given NS.
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Figure 4.1-1: NSD overview
4.2 Relation to other ETSI NFV Group Specifications
The concepts of network services and forwarding graphs are described in ETSI GS NFV 002 [i.1].
Instances of objects created according to the templates specified in the present document are exchanged at the
Os-Ma-Nfvo reference point as specified in ETSI GS NFV-IFA 013 [i.2].
The format of the VNF descriptors referenced in a network service template shall comply with the specifications in
ETSI GS NFV-IFA 011 [2].
4.3 Conventions
The attributes of the NSD and associated information elements are described in the tables provided in clause 6. Each
table has 5 columns, with the following significance:
• The "Attribute" column provides the attribute name.
• The "Qualifier" column indicates whether the support of the attribute is mandatory, optional or conditional.
• The "Cardinality" column contains the minimum and maximum cardinality of this information element
(e.g. 1, 2, 0.N, 1.N). A cardinality range starting with 0 indicates that the attribute needs not always to be
included.
• The "Content" column provides information on the type of the attribute values. It can be the name of an
Information Element, a primitive type (Identifier, DateTime, etc.) or a generic UML type (String, Integer,
etc.). If a cell in the "Content" column is marked as "Not specified", this means that the specification of the
type is left to the data model design stage.
• The "Description column" provides a brief explanatory description and additional constraints.
The following notations, defined in ISO/IEC 9646-7 [i.4], are used for the qualifier column of information elements:
• M mandatory - the attribute shall be supported.
• O optional - the attribute may, but need not, be supported.
• CM conditional mandatory - the attribute shall be supported under certain conditions. If the specified
conditions are met then the attribute shall be supported. These conditions are specified in the Description
column.
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• CO conditional optional - the attribute may, but need not, be supported under certain conditions. If the
specified conditions are met then the attribute may, but need not, be supported. These conditions are specified
in the Description column.
The following notation is used for parameters that represent identifiers, and for attributes that represent identifiers in
information elements and notifications:
• If parameters are referring to an identifier of an actual object, their type is "Identifier".
• If an object (information element or notification) contains an attribute that identifies the object, the type of that
attribute is "Identifier" and the description states that the attribute is the identifier of that particular notification
or information element.
EXAMPLE 1: Identifier "resourceId" of the "NetworkSubnet information element" has type "Identifier" and
description "Identifier of this NetworkSubnet information element".
• If an object (information element or notification) contains an attribute that references another object or objects
defined in an ETSI NFV Group Specification (GS), the type of the attribute is "Identifier", followed by the list
of objects it references.
EXAMPLE 2: "Identifier (Reference to Vnfc)" or "Identifier (Reference to Vnfc, VirtualLink or VirtualStorage)".
4.4 Various levels of NFV entities
For NFV management and orchestration, there are four basic levels of entities:
• Descriptors - general type definitions for things such as NSs, VNFs and VLs.
• Descriptor objects - an instance of a descriptor, e.g. an instance of an NSD (not an instance of an NS
instantiated according to this NSD):
- A descriptor object may provide (among other things) value ranges and default values for the attributes
in the associated NFV entity class.
- In the present document, the creation of subclasses of generic descriptors (e.g. NSD_x as a subclass of
NSD) has been avoided, since this approach would create a proliferation of descriptor classes.
• NFV entity classes - these are classes that represent various NFV entities such as NS, VNF and VL. There is
one-to-one mapping between the set of descriptor objects and the set of NFV entity classes. An example of
NFV entity class is CDN NS.
• NFV entity instances - these are instances of a given NFV entity class. An NFV entity instance is used to
represent the current state and attribute values for a given NFV entity. Each NFV entity instance is bound by
the associated descriptor object, e.g. value ranges and default values for attributes. More than one NFV entity
instance can be created from the same associated descriptor object. An example of NFV entity instance is
CDN NS instance.
Each level puts constraints on the subsequent levels.
Information in a lower level does not appear in a higher level, e.g. NFV entity instance information does not appear in
the associated NFV entity class, descriptor object or descriptor.
5 Functional requirements
5.1 Void
5.2 Network Service Descriptor
Table 5.2-1 specifies general requirements applicable to the templates for NSD instances.
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Table 5.2-1: NSD requirements
Numbering Requirement description
NST_NSD001 The NSD shall reference the VNFDs applicable to its constituent VNFs.
NST_NSD002 The NSD shall include the VLDs applicable to the VLs used by the NS to interconnect its
constituent NFs.
NST_NSD003 The NSD shall reference the PNFDs applicable to its constituent PNFs.
NST_NSD004 The NSD shall specify the Service Access Points (SAPs) of the NS.
NST_NSD005 The NSD shall include the descriptors of the VNFFGs applicable to the NS. See note 1.
NST_NSD006 The NSD shall support the capability to include or reference NS life cycle management scripts
describing how to react upon specific life cycle events, fault detection, performance threshold
crossing detection and other events that can occur at the NFVO reference points.
NST_NSD007 The NSD shall support the capability to provide monitoring parameters to be tracked during the
lifetime of an NS instance. See note 2.
NST_NSD008 The NSD shall support the capability to describe one or more NS DF(s).
NST_NSD009 The NSD shall support the capability to describe auto scale rules, associating criteria to scaling
actions (e.g. removing existing VNF instances from an NS instance).
NST_NSD010 The NSD shall include security information enabling validating its authenticity and integrity.
NST_NSD011 The NSD shall support the capability to reference NSDs used to instantiate nested or
appended NSs. See note 3.
NST_NSD012 The NSD shall include a globally unique identifier for identifying each descriptor instance.
NOTE 1: An NS might have multiple graphs, for example, for:
1) Control plane traffic.
2) Management plane traffic.
3) User plane traffic.
NOTE 2: These can be used for specifying different Deployment Flavours (DF) for the NS in the NSD or in
determining the need to scale-out.
NOTE 3: NSs are composable, i.e. they can include other NSs (a.k.a. nested NS) or other NSs can be appended
to them.
5.3 Network Service Deployment Flavour
Table 5.3-1 specifies general requirements applicable to the templates for describing NS DF.
Table 5.3-1: NS DF description requirements
Numbering Requirement description
NST_NSF001 An NS DF description shall describe how many instances of each constituent VNF are required.
NST_NSF002 An NS DF description shall reference a VNF flavour to be used for each constituent VNF.
NST_NSF003 An NS DF description shall enable describing affinity and anti-affinity rules between the different
instances of a constituent VNF.
NST_NSF004 An NS DF description shall enable describing affinity and anti-affinity rules between the
...