The first ETSI NFV Plugtests successfully validated Release 2 end-to-end capabilities by testing 35 commercial and open source implementations, including 15 virtual network functions, 9 management and orchestration solutions, and 11 NFV platforms. The test plan covered 26 cases focusing on network service on-boarding, instantiation, scaling, updates, and termination, with 98% of the simpler on-boarding and termination tests succeeding. While setup and termination achieved nearly 100% success, more complex scaling and update operations showed encouraging but incomplete results, highlighting areas where specifications still require refinement. Over 160 distinct combinations were evaluated by more than 160 engineers, with the overall results and lessons learned fed back to the ETSI NFV ISG to guide future data modeling and specification work.
Keywords: ETSI NFV Plugtests, interoperability validation, virtual network functions, management and orchestration, open source implementations