SFC Provisioning With Load Balancing Method in Multi-Tier Fog Networks
Mohammed Jasim, Nazli Siasi, Mohamed Rahouti, Nasir Ghani
Abstract
Network function virtualization (NFV) requires service function chain (SFC) provisioning on cloud or fog servers. Now fog nodes offers short provisioning times as compared to the cloud, albeit limited resources. This makes fog nodes vulnerable to saturation if users demand computation-intensive services, where offloading to the cloud is prohibited due to the prolonged delays. Hence, this letter proposes a novel SFC provisioning scheme for fog paradigms that achieves load balancing (LB) and redistribution between heavily- and lightly-loaded nodes, without exceeding delay bounds. The scheme features high admission rates and reduced delays versus prominent solutions such as standalone delay or load minimization methods.