Network automation is the process of automating the
configuration, management, testing, deployment, and operations of physical and
virtual devices within a network. Every day network tasks and functions are
performed automatically. Using a combination of hardware and software-based
solutions, large organizations, service providers, and enterprises can
implement network automation to control and manage repetitive processes and
improve network service availability.
Today, networks are fully capable of undertaking the
following tasks:
- Discovering topologies
- Managing bandwidth and finding fast reroutes to implement the best computing paths
- Performing root cause analysis
- Updating and installing routes
- Setting performance benchmarks
- Updating software
- Implementing security and compliance
Working together,
automation and orchestration simplify network operations involving complex
configurations and devices' management while providing business agility to
adapt to an ever-changing environment. You can think of automation as
accomplishing repeatable tasks without human intervention, and orchestration as
the process of stringing together a series of these tasks to accomplish a
process or workflow.
Driving network automation is the rapid expansion of
network infrastructure required to support the exponential growth of network
traffic generated by video, social media, data, and applications' usage.
Additionally, as computing power continues to decline in cost and virtual
computing continues to grow, network automation becomes more available to many
businesses. Various types of network automation can apply to local area
networks, virtualized environments, data centers, and public and private
clouds.
Automation Benefits
For many organizations, the lack of agility to adopt to
network changes has become a bottleneck, preventing those companies from
deploying a robust and highly responsive data center infrastructure. For
service providers, automation is the cornerstone strategy to focus on to increase
network agility and reliability while controlling operational expenditures
(OpEx) and capital expenditures (CapEx). To improve operational efficiency,
margins, and customer satisfaction, service providers can automate routine and
complex tasks that may be time-consuming, repetitive, or error-prone. The
openness and interoperability of automation support APIs, standards-based
protocols, and open-source automation frameworks (such as Ansible, Saltstack,
Puppet, and Chef). Service providers and enterprises can leverage those
automation frameworks to expedite their network automation migration.
By automating networking features and implementing
software products that offer automation, organizations benefit from the
following:
Lower costs-Because automation reduces the
complexities of your underlying infrastructure, dramatically fewer person-hours
are required for configuring, provisioning, and managing services and the
network. By simplifying operations, consolidating network services, reducing
floor space, and cycling underutilized devices off, you need fewer staff to
troubleshoot and repair, and reap power savings.
Improve business continuity-By removing the chance
for human errors, companies can offer and deliver a higher level of services
with more consistency across branches and geographies. For example, Juniper
Networks' Service Now is a remote, automated troubleshooting client that
enables Juniper to detect quickly and proactively any problems in a customer's
network before they become aware of them.
Increase strategic workforce-By automating
repetitive tasks subject to human error, companies increase productivity, which
helps drive business improvements and innovation. As a result, new job
opportunities arise for the existing workforce.
Greater insight and network control-Automation
helps make IT operations more responsive to change through analytics. You gain
more visibility into the network and understand precisely what is happening in
your network with the ability to control and adapt as needed.
Increase business agility-Automation enables
companies to develop operational models that improve time-to-market. You can
add new services, test new applications, and fix problems. Time to realize
improvements is reduced, resulting in greater competitiveness and elasticity,
and ultimately, more profits added to the corporate bottom line.
Network Automation: Build or Buy?
Once you've decided that you want to automate your
network, the next decision is do you do it yourself, outsource, or some
combination of both? Answering these questions can help you make your decision:
- Which network automation technologies are best suited to your needs?
- Do you have personnel who have expertise in automation technologies?
- Do you have sufficient personnel resources to deploy automation technologies?
- If not, does your vendor offer professional services that can assist your team with automating your network?
- What are the risks of automating, and how do you mitigate the risks?
- What are the benefits of automating sooner rather than later?
- Do you know how to begin automating your network?
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