End-to-End Network Slicing
Safeguarding Network Slices with a Rich Set of Security VNFs and Services
Network Slicing Security Requirements
Network slicing is expected to play a critical role in 5G networks because of the multitude of use cases and new services 5G will support. These new use cases and services will place different requirements on the network in terms of functionality, and their performance requirements may vary significantly in terms of throughput, QoS, latency, security, and more.
According to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a network slice contains one or more network slice subnets, each of which in turn contains one or more network functions and can also contain other network slice subnets. These network functions can be implemented and managed as virtualized network functions (VNFs) and/or physical network functions (PNFs).
Each network slice must be able to deliver the following capabilities:
Network Slice Requirements |
Corresponding Security Requirements |
Deploy/instantiate required PNFs/VNFs to deliver network slice SLA |
Appropriate set of security PNFs/VNFs for all use cases |
Delivered from RAN (edge cloud) - through core (core cloud) - to Telco cloud/Internet |
Dynamic-end-to-end deployment of security functions based on use case requirements |
PNF/VNF service chaining |
Integration of security functions (PNF/VNF) with SDN and NSH |
Slice management and orchestration (3GPP NSMF/ETSI MANO) |
Integration with management and network orchestration (MANO) |
Network slices isolation |
Multi-tenancy and micro-segmentation |
Reliability of network slice instances |
Dynamic auto scaling and high availability |
Network Slicing - Secured by Fortinet
Fortinet security PNFs and VNFs provide a complete solution to the above network slicing security requirements as outlined in the following table:
Network Slice Security-Related Requirements |
Fortinet Solution |
Appropriate set of security PNFs/VNFs for all use cases |
Fortinet delivers the richest and widest set of security PNFs and VNFs |
Dynamic end-to-end deployment of security functions based on use case requirements |
|
Integration of security functions (PNF/VNF) with SDN and NSH |
|
Integration with Management and Network Orchestration (MANO) |
|
Multi-tenancy and micro-segmentation |
Native support for multi-tenancy and-micro segmentation in Fortinet PNFs and VNFs |
Dynamic auto scaling and high availability |
