NETCONF is becoming popular and extensively accepted for network automation. When preparing for a fully automated network environment, familiarity with the NETCONF protocol and its guiding principles is essential. Network automation makes a business more flexible, saves time and money, and empowers customers with self-servicing capability. Network automation can help network engineers and administrators to reduce human errors, improve efficiency, and enhance security and compliance.
Different network devices and services have diverse protocols, data models, and capabilities, making it difficult to automate communication between them. Netconf is useful in this situation. In this article, we will understand the basics of Netconf, its benefits, data models, and networking automation tools.
What is Netconf?
Netconf is a protocol utilized for network configuration, which offers a standardized approach to accessing and modifying the configuration data of network devices and services. The Netconf protocol employs XML-based data encoding and remote procedure calls (RPCs) to facilitate message exchange between a client and a server. In addition to its primary function, Netconf additionally simplifies a range of operations, including editing, validating, committing, and rolling back configuration modifications.
Fast and on-demand service delivery and autonomous operations and maintenance are just two examples of why network automation is crucial in the cloud age. Traditional network administration methods, such as the command-line interface (CLI) and the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), cannot fulfill this need. This is where NETCONF, a protocol for automating networks, comes in.
Benefits of Netconf
Netconf offers several benefits for network automation, such as:
The process of abstraction is employed to hide the complexity of individual devices and to establish a standardized interface that can be utilized across various network devices and services.
It allows the client to obtain all of the configuration data from the server or just a part of it. Additionally, it allows the implementation of configuration modifications in a manner that ensures atomicity.
It supports multiple data stores, such as running (active), candidate (proposed), and startup (persistent) configurations, and allows the client to switch between them.
Through subscriptions and notifications, the server can inform the client of any changes to the settings or events that have occurred.
The system provides support for secure transport protocols, including SSH and TLS, which enable the encryption and authentication of communication.
Netconf Data Models
The utilization of data models is a fundamental aspect of Netconf, as it serves to establish the configuration data's structure and semantics. A data model consists of a collection of regulations and limitations that define the manner in which the configuration data is structured and represented. Netconf allows two distinct categories of data models, namely native and standardized.
Native data models are device-specific and vendor-defined. They accurately represent the functionalities of a certain product or service. Native data models are often closed and may not be compatible with third-party tools and services.
Standardized data models are device-agnostic and industry-defined. They aim to establish a universal language that can be utilized across various categories of devices and services. Standardized data models are usually based on open standards and specifications, such as YANG.
YANG is a common data modeling language utilized for Netconf. YANG allows the establishment of data structures that are arranged in a hierarchical manner, as well as the specification of data types, limitations, functionalities, and notifications.
Network Automation Tools
Network automation tools are software applications that leverage Netconf protocols and other protocols to automate various aspects of network management. Network automation tools can help network engineers and administrators to perform tasks such as:
Discovery: Identify inventory network devices and services.
Configuration: Apply configuration changes to network devices and services in a consistent and reliable way.
Monitoring: Collect and analyze performance metrics and status information from network devices and services.
Troubleshooting: Detect and diagnose network issues and faults.
Compliance: Verify and enforce network policies and standards.
Some examples of network automation tools are:
Ansible: An open-source platform that uses YAML-based playbooks to describe automation tasks.
NAPALM: An open-source library that provides a unified API for interacting with different network operating systems.
NETCONF Explorer: A web-based tool that allows browsing, editing, and testing of Netconf data models and operations.
PyEZ: A Python library that simplifies communication with Junos devices using Netconf
Conclusion
NETCONF allows the complete administration of networks, thereby promoting network automation and intent-based networking while overcoming the limitations of SNMP. This article highlights several salient features of NETCONF, its benefits, the clear understanding of Netconf data models, and some of the network automation tools. Netconf features are deemed essential components in enabling network automation.
Netconf is not the only protocol for network automation. There are other protocols that can complement or compete with Netconf, such as RESTCONF, SNMP, CLI, etc. However, the NETCONF protocol is revolutionizing the execution of routine tasks and the management of networks for various beneficial reasons.
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