Management and Orchestration

Description

Management and Orchestration (MANO) is a critical architectural framework defined by 3GPP and ETSI NFV for automating the end-to-end lifecycle of network services composed of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) and Physical Network Functions (PNFs). It is the brain behind Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), enabling operators to deploy and manage software-based network services with agility and efficiency. The MANO framework consists of three primary functional blocks: the NFV Orchestrator (NFVO), the VNF Manager (VNFM), and the Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM). These components work in concert to translate high-level service requests into actionable commands across compute, storage, and network resources.

The NFV Orchestrator (NFVO) is responsible for the lifecycle management of network services (NS). It receives service deployment requests, often described in a topology and orchestration specification template (like TOSCA), and coordinates the instantiation, scaling, updating, and termination of the constituent VNFs. The NFVO manages the service catalog, validates resource availability, and handles cross-VNF dependencies. The VNF Manager (VNFM) oversees the lifecycle of individual VNF instances, such as software installation, configuration, scaling, and healing. Each VNF may have a dedicated VNFM, or a generic VNFM can manage multiple VNFs. The Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM) controls the NFV Infrastructure (NFVI), which includes hypervisors, containers, physical servers, and networks. Popular VIMs include OpenStack and Kubernetes. The VIM allocates and monitors virtual resources (vCPU, vRAM, vStorage) as instructed by the NFVO/VNFM.

MANO operates through a series of reference points (interfaces) such as Os-Ma-nfvo (between OSS/BSS and NFVO), Or-Vnfm (between NFVO and VNFM), and Vi-Vnfm (between VNFM and VIM). The process begins when an operator or customer requests a new network service via an Operations Support System (OSS). The NFVO validates the request, checks resource availability via the VIM, and then instructs the VNFM to instantiate the required VNFs. The VNFM, in turn, works with the VIM to provision virtual machines or containers, load the VNF software images, and configure networking. Throughout the service lifetime, MANO monitors performance and faults, triggering auto-scaling or healing actions as defined in policies. This automation is fundamental for supporting dynamic services like network slicing, where isolated logical networks must be created and modified on-demand for different tenants or use cases.

Purpose & Motivation

MANO was created to solve the operational complexities introduced by network virtualization. Traditional telecom networks relied on proprietary, hardware-based appliances that were manually provisioned and managed, leading to long deployment cycles (months) and high capital and operational expenditures. The shift to software-based VNFs running on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware promised agility and cost savings but required a new management paradigm. Without automation, managing hundreds of virtual instances would be impossible at scale. MANO provides the necessary orchestration layer to realize the full benefits of NFV.

The framework addresses key challenges such as service agility, resource optimization, and multi-vendor interoperability. It enables operators to rapidly launch new services, scale resources elastically based on demand, and reduce manual errors through automation. Historically, each network function had its own element management system (EMS), creating silos. MANO introduces a standardized, unified approach to manage the entire service chain. Its development was motivated by the need to support emerging technologies like 5G, which require network slicing, edge computing, and ultra-low latency services that demand dynamic, programmable infrastructure. MANO is thus a cornerstone for transforming telecom networks into flexible, cloud-native platforms.

Key Features

• End-to-end lifecycle automation for network services and VNFs
• Modular architecture with NFVO, VNFM, and VIM components
• Support for multi-domain and multi-vendor orchestration
• Integration with OSS/BSS and policy management
• Auto-scaling, healing, and performance monitoring capabilities
• Standardized templates (e.g., TOSCA-based descriptors) for service definition

Evolution Across Releases

Defining Specifications