A Dynamic Adjustment Method of Service Function Chain Resource Configuration

• Published in: KSII transactions on Internet and information systems 2021, 15(8), , pp.2783-2804
• Main Authors: Han, Xiaoyang, Meng, Xiangru, Yu, Zhenhua, Zhai, Dong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Methods; Resource allocation; Virtual computer systems; Virtual private networks; Virtualization; 컴퓨터학
• ISSN: 1976-7277; 1976-7277
• DOI: 10.3837/tiis.2021.08.005

In the network function virtualization environment, dynamic changes in network traffic will lead to the dynamic changes of service function chain resource demand, which entails timely dynamic adjustment of service function chain resource configuration. At present, most researches solve this problem through virtual network function migration and link rerouting, and there exist some problems such as long service interruption time, excessive network operation cost and high penalty. This paper proposes a dynamic adjustment method of service function chain resource configuration for the dynamic changes of network traffic. First, a dynamic adjustment request of service function chain is generated according to the prediction of network traffic. Second, a dynamic adjustment strategy of service function chain resource configuration is determined according to substrate network resources. Finally, the resource configuration of a service function chain is pre-adjusted according to the dynamic adjustment strategy. Virtual network functions combination and virtual machine reusing are fully considered in this process. The experimental results show that this method can reduce the influence of service function chain resource configuration dynamic adjustment on quality of service, reduce network operation cost and improve the revenue of service providers. Keywords: Service function chain, Virtual network function, Dynamic adjustment, Vertical scaling, Migration