What Is NFV and Why Databases Are Its Brain?

What is NFV?

NFV (Network Function Virtualization) uses general‑purpose hardware such as x86 servers and virtualization technology to run many network functions as software, dramatically lowering the cost of expensive dedicated equipment. By decoupling hardware and software and abstracting functions, resources can be shared flexibly, enabling rapid new‑service development, automatic deployment, elastic scaling, fault isolation, and self‑healing.

High‑End Boxes vs NFV

For operators, NFV’s top three drivers are elastic business scaling , rapid new‑service launch , and use of generic hardware . Traditional telecom boxes are costly, reliable, but become rigid after a few years, making upgrades slow and expensive. In contrast, IT giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon achieve low‑cost, easily upgradable cloud capabilities on commodity hardware.

Database – The Brain of NFV

To realize NFV, telecom software must be extracted from metal boxes and run on generic hardware or virtual machines while still meeting telecom‑grade performance and reliability. Since specialized hardware naturally offers reliability, software must rely on architectural solutions, chiefly the separation of business logic from state. The state is stored in an independent database that uses replication and persistence to guarantee data safety.

Because business nodes do not hold state, any node failure can be seamlessly taken over by another, providing fault‑tolerance and allowing elastic scaling without state‑synchronization constraints. In IT architectures, state management is delegated to databases that ensure data durability.

Challenge – Unified Database

Different network elements generate distinct data types—session data, user data, and configuration data—requiring varied database capabilities. Operators seek to simplify operations and increase automation, prompting a desire for a unified NFV database that can manage all these data types.

Key to Perfect Evolution

The core of NFV’s transformation lies in the database. It must be distributed, provide cross‑data‑center disaster recovery, support multiple data models, and deliver high performance with ultra‑low latency to meet end‑to‑end telecom requirements. Huawei’s self‑developed GMDB is presented as a database designed specifically for NFV/SDN scenarios.