Liaison statement
Specification of Networking Benchmarks and Measurement Methods for NFVI

1. Overall description:
In May 2017, ETSI NFV approved a new work item for the Testing and Open Source
Working Group (TST WG), titled “Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) Testing
Specification of Networking Benchmarks and Measurement Methods for NFVI”,
designated DGS/NFV-TST009. This work item will specify vendor-agnostic
definitions of performance metrics and the associated methods of measurement
for Benchmarking networks supported in the NFVI. The Benchmarks and Methods
will take into account the communication-affecting aspects of the
compute/networking/virtualization environment (such as the transient interrupts
that block other processes, or the ability to dedicate variable amounts of
resources to communication processes). These Benchmarks are intended to serve
as a basis for fair comparison of different implementations of NFVI, (composed
of various hardware and software components) according to each individual
Benchmark and networking configuration evaluated. The present draft document
takes the existing specifications of IETF BMWG into account, including the key
considerations contributed by the OPNFV VSPERF project. The initial work was to
survey the public literature for relevant benchmarking studies of vSwitches and
other forwarding technologies, and to collect the key learnings for the
new/revised benchmarks and methods (summarized in Annex A). Development of the
normative clauses of the specification has proceeded since September 2017, and
many aspects are now available for wider review. The current plan is to
complete this specification during the first half of 2018.

2. Actions:
Please review the current draft
https://docbox.etsi.org/ISG/NFV/Open/Drafts/TST009_NFVI_Benchmarks and provide
your comments using any convenient means, such as e-mail to the TST WG
leadership or the ETSI Bug Tracker
http://forge.etsi.org/mantis/set_project.php?project_id=153&ref=view_all_bug_page.php

3. Date of next meetings of the originator:
NFV#21 26 February - 02 March, 2018.
NFV#22 14-18 May, 2018
The TST WG holds bi-weekly meetings, and the schedule will be available from
the chairs.