When combined, SDN and NFV promise to bring an unprecedented level of digital control to global IT networks.
While software-defined networking (SDN) shuns proprietary hardware for an open, programmable global network infrastructure that can be centrally managed, network functions virtualization (NFV) enables features, such as firewall/proxy and acceleration, to be virtualized and delivered either from the network or from customer premise equipment (CPE), enabling zero touch provisioning when additional functionality is required.
Together these technologies make it possible for enterprises to access network capacity on demand via a self-service portal. In addition, routing and security policies can automatically adapt to address real-time congestion, security threats or network outages.
Read more at The New IP.