The heterogeneity and growing complexity from the evolution of 5G and beyond networks and the development of future IoT networks necessitate the automatic management of these networks. The exacerbated growth of IoT devices and foreseen network complexity deem manual management impractical. Zero touch networks (ZTNs) seems the practical solution to utilize the potential of virtualization by incorporating autonomous services and infrastructure to meet customer needs automatically. The ZTN is envisioned to achieve operation autonomy by enabling configuration, monitoring, optimization, and healing without human intervention. However, the openness of the ZTN framework, network heterogeneity and complexity, diverse and vertical industries, dynamicity, and so on complicate automation. It requires extensive research and development efforts to accomplish this goal. This study discusses the challenges of ZTNs to obtain the full potential of virtualization and highlights future trends in this regard.

中文翻译：

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零接触网络实现虚拟化：机遇、挑战和未来展望

5G 及更高网络的演进以及未来物联网网络的发展带来的异构性和日益复杂性要求对这些网络进行自动管理。物联网设备的加速增长和可预见的网络复杂性使手动管理变得不切实际。零接触网络 (ZTN) 似乎是通过整合自主服务和基础设施来自动满足客户需求来利用虚拟化潜力的实用解决方案。ZTN 的设想是通过在没有人为干预的情况下启用配置、监控、优化和修复来实现操作自主。然而，ZTN框架的开放性、网络的异构性和复杂性、多样化和垂直行业、动态性等因素使自动化变得复杂。它需要广泛的研究和开发努力才能实现这一目标。本研究讨论了 ZTN 为获得虚拟化的全部潜力所面临的挑战，并强调了这方面的未来趋势。