KR20170133781A - Apparatus and Method for Testing and diagnosing Virtual Infrastructure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a virtual network test and diagnostic apparatus, comprising: an NFVI including an NFVI including a physical resource and a virtualization layer for operating the physical resource; and an NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) In the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) framework, a test information registration management unit, which is implemented in the NFV MANO and registers and manages a virtual test environment, a virtual test unit required for testing and diagnosis, and a test script, A test infrastructure unit for configuring a test infrastructure for performing a test and diagnosis on a network service or a virtual network function (VNF) based on the test script; And a test result analyzing section for reporting the result.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for testing and diagnosing a virtual infrastructure,

The present invention relates to a method for testing and diagnosing network services and virtual network functions in a network function virtualization environment.

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology refers to the provision of physical network functions (hereinafter referred to as "PNFs") on a general server. In the NFV environment, the network function is provided as a Virtual Network Function (VNF) in the cloud infrastructure.

Typically, PNF performs testing and verification, such as conformance testing, interoperability testing, and benchmark testing (BMT) in a separate test environment. Based on these results, equipment users can design, build, I will operate. In other words, the network devices that have been tested and verified will be considered to have the same performance, function, or reliability as the test results unless a failure occurs. The operator can operate the network through simple performance and fault monitoring after network configuration .

As described above, the PNF-based infrastructure can predict the overall performance and availability of the infrastructure based on the performance and availability of equipment units. However, it is difficult to apply information about performance or availability obtained in a separate test environment when configuring a communication network based on VNF in an NFV environment.

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for testing and diagnosing virtual infrastructures in a network functional virtualization environment.

The present invention relates to a virtual network test and diagnostic apparatus, comprising: an NFVI including an NFVI including a physical resource and a virtualization layer for operating the physical resource; and an NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) In the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) framework, a test infrastructure, which is implemented in the NFV MANO and registers test scripts, which are virtual test environments, test procedures necessary for testing and diagnostics, and test procedure information for operating a test environment, And a test result analysis unit for reporting the test and diagnosis result, and a test result analysis unit for performing a test and diagnosis on a network service or a virtual network function (VNF) based on the test script do.

The present invention relates to a network function virtualization (NFV) framework including an NFVI including a physical resource and a virtualization layer for operating the physical resource, and an NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) for operating the NFV platform A step of configuring a test infrastructure by registering a virtual test environment for a virtual network test and diagnostic method implemented in the NFV MANO and a test script which is a test procedure information for operating a test environment and a test environment necessary for the test and diagnosis, Performing a test and diagnosis on a network service or a virtual network function (VNF) based on the test script, and reporting the test and diagnosis result.

The present invention provides a method for enabling various levels of testing and diagnostics to be applied to network services (NS) and VNF in an NFV environment.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PNF-based network configuration.
2 is an exemplary view of a case where the same virtual infrastructure as in FIG. 1 is applied to an NFV (or cloud) environment.
3 is a structural diagram of the NFV framework proposed by the ETSI NFV.
4 is a block diagram of a virtual network test and diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of NS generation for NFV service and test environment generation for testing it by applying the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of generating NS for NFV service and generating a test environment for testing the NS by applying the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of testing and diagnosing a virtual network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a diagram showing examples of a real VNF test and a similar VNF test in units of VNF.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout.

In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

The terms used throughout the specification are defined in consideration of the functions in the embodiments of the present invention and can be sufficiently modified according to the intentions and customs of the user or the operator. It should be based on the contents of.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PNF-based network configuration.

Referring to FIG. 1, a switch 130, a router 140, and a firewall 150 are configured between a terminal 110 and a server 120, The performance P and availability R (t) from the terminal 110 to the server 120 can be calculated according to the following Equations (1) and (2), respectively.

&Quot; (1) "

&Quot; (2) "

는 장비 x의 전송률(throughput)이고, <수학식 2>에서

는 장비 x의 t 시간까지의 생존 확률이다.In Equation (1)

Is the throughput of the equipment x, and Equation (2)

Is the survival probability of the equipment x up to t time.

As described above, the PNF-based infrastructure can predict the overall performance and availability of the infrastructure based on the performance and availability of equipment units. However, it is difficult to apply information about performance or availability obtained in a separate test environment when configuring a communication network based on VNF in an NFV environment. 2, the cause thereof will be described in detail.

2 is an exemplary view of a case where the same virtual infrastructure as in FIG. 1 is applied to an NFV (or cloud) environment.

Referring to FIG. 2, two examples are shown for the case where the same virtual infrastructure 200 is realized.

(a) shows a case where three VNFs are installed in a single server 210, and (b) shows a case where VNFs are installed in a plurality of servers 221, 222, and 223, respectively. At this time, the server having the VNF installed has sufficient resources, and the same VNF is assumed to use the same virtual server standard.

As can be expected from this example, even if the virtual server (VM) in which the VNF is installed provides the same performance, the performance of the infrastructure in both cases (a) and (b) switch, physical switch 224, and line, the result is actually different. Likewise, availability will vary due to server availability and network equipment impact.

As a result, in the NFV (or cloud) environment, it is not possible to calculate the performance and availability of the implemented infrastructure using the results of performance and survivability tests in a separate test environment. To solve this problem, Test methods and procedures are required.

As described above, unlike the PNF, it is difficult to use the conformity test, especially the performance comparison test (BMT), which is measured in a separate test environment, for the VNF of the NFV environment.

This is because performance and availability are greatly affected by the virtualization technology, server type, network configuration and location chosen when provisioning the feature to the actual cloud infrastructure (or NFV platform), and the hardware, virtualization software, And the type and arrangement algorithm of the cloud OS (ex. Openstack) used in the Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM).

Therefore, in practice, the test for VNF should be performed after realization (instance creation) for actual use, and the test should always be performed again after the new creation, movement, and recovery of the VNF instance. Therefore, in the NFV environment, the VNF is required to be capable of performing various tests rapidly from time to time.

In the ETSI NFV standard, a related method is not proposed, and the present invention proposes an apparatus and a method that can easily perform the NS or VNF test and diagnosis in consideration of the ETSI NFV standard.

3 is a structural diagram of the NFV framework proposed by the ETSI NFV.

Referring to FIG. 3, the NFV framework proposed by the ETSI NFV includes an NFVI 310 including a physical resource and a virtualization layer for operating the NFV, and an NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) 320 ), And VNF is operated using virtualized resources. Here, detailed description of each component of FIG. 3 will be omitted.

However, it is proposed that a test and diagnostic apparatus of a virtual network according to an embodiment of the present invention is implemented or interworked in the NFV MANO 320. [

4 is a block diagram of a virtual network test and diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a virtual network test and diagnosis apparatus 400 includes a test infrastructure unit 400, an automatic test execution unit 420, a test result analysis unit 430, And an information registration management unit 440.

These devices provide virtual test environment registration, test script registration functions for virtual test environment registration, testing and diagnostics.

The test environment registration registers information constituting the infrastructure and functions for the test. When registering a descriptor (NS, VNFD, ...) of the NFV, a test environment descriptor (Descriptor) is registered. If necessary for configuration of the test environment, the virtualized tester of the virtualized form can be registered, and the operator can register and manage the test script necessary for the function and performance test through the test information registration management unit 440.

In order to realize this, the test information registration management unit 440 can register the tester VNF through the VNF package management function provided by the Orchestrator.

(Test environment, virtual tester, test script) in the test information registration management unit 440 in the case where the function of registering the tester VNF is not in the NFV MANO (ex: cloud application environment) You can register the tester image directly to VIM (or Cloud OS).

When the test and diagnosis are instructed by the operator or the like, the test infrastructure unit 410 inquires the NFV Orchestrator or VNFM about the NS to be tested or the VNF to be tested, respectively, Infrastructure. At this time, the virtual resources and the virtual tester are installed in cooperation with the VNFM and the VIM to configure the test infrastructure. When the installation of the test environment is completed, the automatic test execution unit 420 transfers the stored test script directly to the virtual tester VNF (applicable to the Ex cloud and the NFV environment) or through the VNFM (applicable only to the NFV environment) And transmits the result to the test result analysis unit 430. [

The test result analysis unit 430 analyzes the received test result and automatically generates a test and diagnosis result report, and then the test infrastructure unit 410 removes the configured test infrastructure.

Through this interlocking relationship and procedure, the virtual infrastructure test and diagnostic device 400 will perform various tests on NS and VNF.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of NS generation for NFV service and test environment generation for testing it by applying the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the NS generation is a task performed in the existing NFV MANO 320. If a test is to be performed before or during operation of the NS, the test environment is configured and tested. After termination, remove it.

The configuration of the test environment includes a virtual tester installation, expansion and connection of a virtual network, and the like. The configuration of the test environment is performed by the test infrastructure unit 410 included in the device 400.

In addition, although an example in which a virtual tester is installed on the generator side 511 and the receiver side 512 is shown, the virtual tester may be configured to generate and receive data in one virtual tester. Also, although it is shown that the testers 511 and 512 are installed in two different hosts 540 and 550, a tester may be installed to share a host in which the existing VNF is installed, There may be cases where software is installed in the virtual server (VM) of the VNF. Particularly, FIG. 5 shows an example taking an active measurement method into consideration, but a passive measurement method can also be applied, which will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of generating NS for NFV service and generating a test environment for testing the NS by applying the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a virtual tester 611 having only a receiving function is installed in a test environment, and traffic is replicated through an existing traffic path to be transmitted to a virtual tester 640. The work is performed by the test infrastructure construction unit 410.

The automatic test execution unit 420 performs a test using a virtual tester (511, 512 in FIG. 5 or 611 in FIG. 6) installed by the test infrastructure unit 410. The automatic test execution unit 420 controls the execution of various tests corresponding to the corresponding VNF or NS do. Accordingly, the apparatus 400 can register a test script for operating a virtual tester and a test environment to perform tests on different VNF or NS through the test information registration management unit 440, ). Conformance testing, commercial operability testing, detailed procedures or test suites for BMT are not mentioned separately as they are not relevant to the gist of the present invention.

In one embodiment, a method of registering test-related information in addition to existing VNF package information in a method of registering a test script will be described. By registering the test environment, tester and test script in VNF unit similar to the NS unit test, the VNF unit test can be performed by the operator at any time.

In the ETSI NFV, the VNF is received from the vendor in a package form and registered in the device 400 for use. Such a package file includes at least one of a manifest file, a VNF descriptor file, a VNF image file, and other security related files.

Further, in order to perform the test and diagnosis automatically or automatically according to the operator's need, the registered VNF is added as at least one of a descriptor for constructing a VNF test infrastructure, an image file for a VNF test machine, and a VNF test script file at the time of registration of the corresponding VNF You can register.

Using the registered information, NFV MANO 320 (in particular VNFM) can perform tests and diagnostics in NS or VNF units.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of testing and diagnosing a virtual network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the apparatus 400 configures a virtual test environment (S710). At this time, the virtual tester may be installed in the same host where the VNF is installed, or may be installed in another host. In addition, there may be more than one virtual tester, and it is also included in the form of software that is installed in existing VNF.

Then, the device 400 performs the test and diagnosis in the configured virtual test environment (S720). When the function or the performance test is performed on the actually operating NS or VNF, the device 400 is affected by the traffic currently in service. However, if the NS / VNF is created and tested, it will be irrelevant to the state of NS / VNF currently in operation, and it will not be able to achieve the purpose of test and diagnosis because it is tested on the different infrastructure configuration. Therefore, there may be a way to test the NS / VNF in case of temporary interruption of external traffic or leave it as it is, and to configure and test an environment similar to existing infrastructure as possible. The former will not be a problem if it mainly focuses on functional testing, and the latter will be capable of both functional and performance testing. A detailed description thereof will be given later with reference to Fig.

Finally, the device 400 reports the result of performing the test and the diagnosis (S730). In the present invention, detailed analysis methods not related to the gist of the patent are not mentioned. However, the analysis can be considered from the traditional method to the Bigdata method.

8 is a diagram showing examples of a real VNF test and a similar VNF test in units of VNF.

Referring to FIG. 8 (a), an example is shown in which a virtual tester 812 is connected to a VNF 811 that is actually in operation and tested. This is the same case as in FIG. 5 of the NS test described above. In this example, the virtual tester 812 is installed in the same host 810 in which the VNF 811 is installed for the sake of convenience, but it is also possible to install the virtual tester 812 in another host.

Referring to FIG. 8 (b), an example is shown in which an existing VNF is copied and installed and tested. In this case, instead of installing a new VNF using the VNF package, And generates the simulated VNF 823 while maintaining the state. Therefore, it is possible to obtain closer results to the test and diagnosis of the VNF state currently in operation. The functions of the virtualization system required at this time deviate from the gist of the present invention, so that it can be realized by applying a live migration function that actually replicates the state of the memory even though it is not described separately.

As another embodiment, it is explained that the above-mentioned tests and diagnoses can proceed to various levels. Conformance testing and performance testing can be applied to NS / VNF before it is operated, but if it is in operation, it should be tested to the minimum required level so that it is not affected by the service. Therefore, tests and diagnostics should be defined at various levels and the level required by the operator or automated decision making should be applied as appropriate.

According to one embodiment, the test and diagnostic levels in the present invention can be applied at various levels as shown in Table 1 below.

level Major Tests and Diagnosis Diagnostic method Level 1 Diagnosis through virtual resource, SW operation check

VIM 모니터링을 통한 가상자원 상태 조회

VNF 연결을 통한 SW 동작 확인(VNFM 모니터링을 통한 동작 확인)

시험 결과 리포트

Virtual resource status inquiry through VIM monitoring

Check SW operation through VNF connection (Check operation by monitoring VNFM)

Test Result Report Level 2 Diagnosis through VNF conformity test

Configuration of test environment: conformance tester installation, network connection, port connection

Run Test Script: Collect Results by Test Item

Test Result Report Level 3 Diagnosis through VNF performance test (BMT)

Configuration of test environment: performance tester installation, network connection, port connection

Test script enforcement: Collect results by test item

Test Result Report

As shown in Table 1, according to the present invention, tests and diagnoses can be performed by selecting various levels of test. Here, the test is divided into three levels, and the first level has the lowest load and the third has the maximum load.

Level 1 describes how to test and diagnose VNF monitoring results by examining the virtual resources through the existing monitoring system without having to install the test environment or testing equipment, and more specifically, to the VNF And checking the status of the software operating for the VNF operation. At this time, all action actions for this should be registered as test scripts.

Level 2 is defined as the conformance test (or interoperability) test level that tests the degree of conformance to the standards of the telecommunication equipment. The test equipment and the test environment are set up for this, and various test items are tested And report the results.

The third level is to test the processing performance of the VNF expressed as a performance comparison test or a performance test. As before, the test environment including the performance tester for this is automatically configured, the test is performed according to the test method defined in the test script, Report the results.

It is desirable that all the procedures are automatically processed so that the above-mentioned multi-level test can be carried out from time to time when it is determined that the test and diagnosis are necessary through the operator or the decision-making system.

However, unlike the above, it is possible to define the three levels as a more detailed diagnosis in the form of two levels including 1 level and 3 levels including 1 and 2 levels, It is a feature of the present invention that various levels of testing can be registered in advance according to the required use, the degree of load, and the test time and can be executed.

Meanwhile, although the present invention has been described as applying to the NFV environment, the apparatus 400 and method are also applicable to the cloud center. If it is applied to the cloud center, it performs the above function by being combined with or interworking with the cloud management system (or the cloud OS) on behalf of the NFV MANO.

Claims (15)

A network function virtualization (NFV) framework including an NFVI including a physical resource and a virtualization layer for operating the physical resource, and an NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) operating an NFV platform, It is implemented in the NFV MANO and includes a virtual test environment, a virtual tester for testing and diagnostics, a test infrastructure component for registering the test scripts, which are test procedure information for operating the test environment,
An automatic test execution unit for testing and diagnosing a network service or a virtual network function (VNF) based on the test script;
A test result analysis unit for reporting the test and diagnosis results;
And a test information registration and management unit for registering and managing test information for the test.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the test infrastructure component
And a virtual tester for performing functions to be generated and received is installed in the hosts.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the test infrastructure component
Wherein a virtual tester for performing a receiving function is installed in a host, and traffic is replicated through an existing traffic path through a mirroring setting and is transmitted to the virtual tester.
2. The method of claim 1,
VNF, which is a package file transmitted from a vendor.
5. The method of claim 4,
At least one of a descriptor for constructing a VNF test infrastructure, an image file for a virtual tester, and a test script file is additionally registered at the time of registering the VNF.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the test infrastructure component
Wherein the virtual VNF is generated while maintaining the VNF state by replicating the existing VNF as it is.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automatic test execution unit
And proceeding according to a selected one of a plurality of preset test and diagnostic levels according to load level.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the test and diagnostic levels
The first level of testing and diagnosing the virtual resources through the existing monitoring system, analyzing the results of the normal level of VNF monitoring,
A second level of testing and diagnostics at a level of conformance testing that tests the degree of conformance to the standards of a telecommunications equipment,
And a third level for testing and diagnosing the processing performance of the VNF expressed as a performance comparison test or a performance test.
A network function virtualization (NFV) framework including an NFVI including a physical resource and a virtualization layer for operating the physical resource, and an NFV Management and Orchestration (MANO) operating an NFV platform, In a virtual network test and diagnostic method implemented in an NFV MANO,
A virtual test environment, a virtual tester necessary for testing and diagnosis, and a test script, which is test procedure information for operating the test environment,
Configuring the test infrastructure by an operator request;
Performing a test and diagnosis on a network service or a virtual network function (VNF) based on the test script,
And reporting the test and diagnostic results. &Lt; Desc / Clms Page number 19 &gt;
10. The method of claim 9, wherein configuring the test infrastructure comprises:
And a virtual tester for performing the function of generating and receiving the virtual infrastructure is installed in the hosts.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein configuring the test infrastructure comprises:
Wherein a virtual tester for performing a receiving function is installed in a host, and traffic is replicated through an existing traffic path through a mirroring setting and is transmitted to the virtual tester.
10. The method of claim 9,
And registering the VNF as a package file transferred from the vendor.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein configuring the test infrastructure comprises:
A virtual infrastructure test and diagnostic method characterized by replicating an existing VNF and generating a simulated VNF while maintaining the VNF state.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the testing and diagnosing comprises:
And proceeding according to a selected one of a plurality of preset test and diagnostic levels according to load level.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the test and diagnostic levels
The first level of testing and diagnosing the virtual resources through the existing monitoring system, analyzing the results of the normal level of VNF monitoring,
A second level of testing and diagnostics at a level of conformance testing that tests the degree of conformance to the standards of a telecommunications equipment,
And a third level for testing and diagnosing the processing performance of the VNF expressed as a performance comparison test or a performance test.

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