Service chaining is the technique of connecting virtual network functions together to provide different types of network service connectivity. Service chaining uses software-defined networking (SDN) programmability to create a chain of connected network services, such as firewalls, load balancers, NAT, and intrusion protection. Service chaining can automate the provisioning of network applications that have different characteristics and requirements, such as security, latency, or quality of service (QoS). Service chaining can also optimize the use of network resources and improve application performance by using SDN analytics and performance tools to select the best available network paths and avoid network congestion. Service chaining is being used in many SDN and network functions virtualization (NFV) use cases and deployments, such as data centers, carrier networks, and virtual customer edge123. Reference:
1: What is Network Service Chaining or Service Function Chaining - SDxCentral
2: On service chaining using Virtual Network Functions in Network-enabled Cloud systems | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore
3: Service function chaining - Gini5