  Network Function Virtualization (NFV) heralds a transformative era in network
function deployment, enabling the orchestration of Service Function Chains
(SFCs) for delivering complex and dynamic network services. Yet, the
development and sustenance of stateful SFCs remain challenging, with intricate
demands for usability in SFC development, performance, and execution
correctness. In this paper, we present DB4NFV, a database system designed to
address these challenges. Central to DB4NFV is the integration of transactional
semantics into the entire lifecycle of stateful SFC, a core idea that enhances
all aspects of the system. This integration provides an intuitive and
well-structured API, which greatly simplifies the development of stateful SFCs.
Concurrently, transactional semantics facilitate the optimization of runtime
performance by efficiently leveraging modern multicore architectures. Moreover,
by encapsulating state operations as transactions, DB4NFV achieves robustness,
even at the entire chain level, ensuring reliable operation across varying
network conditions. Consequently, DB4NFV marks a substantial forward leap in
NFV state management, leveraging transactional semantics to achieve a
harmonious blend of usability, efficiency, and robustness, thus facilitating
the effective deployment of stateful SFCs in contemporary network
infrastructures.
