Network functions virtualization (NFV) is to be demonstrated for the first time ever in public at a C in Chicago on June 17th. It claims that NFV could make service provision much faster for data centre operators.

NFV vendors Cyan, RAD, Fortinet, and Certes Networks are to work together to create a system in an event sponsored by telco CenturyLink. Each vendor will contribute its own specialization to create the multi-vendor distributed NFV (D-NFV).

It will run RAD’s dedicated customer-edge D-NFV equipment, will be secured by Fortinet’s Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) and Certes Networks’ virtual encryption/decryption engine as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). Cyan’s Blue Planet system will orchestrate the entire ecosystem.

D-NFV allows the placement of VNFs where they will be both most effective and least expensive, including at the customer edge.

Centurylink said this approach makes it easier to roll out new services and create new features without having to push data center capital expenditures upfront or redesign the network.

"The distributed NFV concept supports CenturyLink’s managed services strategy by providing a platform for developing unique NFV-enhanced network services and bringing desired functionality directly to the customer premises,” said James Feger, VP of network strategy and development at CenturyLink.

Distributed NFV is about service agility, said Caroline Chappell, senior analyst at Heavy Reading. It allows service providers to create new revenue streams and get products to market faster by adding virtualized network functions, like firewall and encryption, to existing enterprise services quickly and cheaply.

“This demo shows how multi-vendor integration can drive NFV forward for the industry,” Chappell said.