Unikernel Network Functions: A Journey Beyond the Containers

Abstract

In the last few years, network functions virtualization technology has matured and become a de facto standard in the implementation of modern telecommunications infrastructure. At the same time, telecommunication service providers began exploring container technologies in search of better performance results. However, the use of containers for network functions virtualization purposes entails a number of limitations, such as security and isolation problems resulting from the use of a shared kernel. This article introduces unikernel network functions as the next step toward network functions softwarization. The use of unikernels enables the implementation of network functions in the form of lightweight images that can run either on a hypervisor or directly on the hardware layer. It is shown that unikernel network functions achieve comparable performance results to those based on containers, while providing a significantly higher security level.