Deploying chains of virtual network functions: On the relation between link and server usage.

Recently, network function virtualization has been proposed to transform from network hardware appliances to software middleboxes. Normally, a demand needs to invoke several virtual network functions (VNFs) following the order determined by the service chain along a routing path. In this paper, we study the joint problem of the VNF placement and path selection to better utilize the network. We dis...