Providing data plane services for applications

An apparatus, comprising:

• a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to:
• initiate instantiation of a first virtual resource associated with a second virtual resource, wherein the second virtual resource is configured to run an application;
• initiate configuration of the first virtual resource to provide a data plane service for the application;
• and
• initiate configuration of flow connectivity for the data plane service.

A method, comprising:

• initiating, by a processor, instantiation of a first virtual resource associated with a second virtual resource, wherein the second virtual resource is configured to run an application;
• initiating, by the processor, configuration of the first virtual resource to provide a data plane service for the application;
• and
• initiating, by the processor configuration of flow connectivity for the data plane service.

A system, comprising:

• a virtual resource manager;
• a virtual switch;
• a cloud orchestration agent configured to:
• receive, from a cloud orchestration system, a request for instantiation of a first virtual resource associated with a second virtual resource, wherein the second virtual resource is configured to run an application;
• and
• propagate, toward the virtual resource manager, an instruction to instantiate the first virtual resource;
• and
• a data plane services agent configured to:
• receive, from a data plane services system, a request for configuration of the first virtual resource to provide a data plane service for the application and a request for configuration of flow connectivity for the data plane service;
• and
• propagate, toward the virtual switch, an instruction to configure the first virtual resource to provide the data plane service for the application and an instruction to configure the flow connectivity for the data plane service.