Abstract
CERN’s networks comprise several thousands network devices from multiple vendors and from different generations, fulfilling various purposes (campus network, data centre network, and dedicated networks for the LHC accelerator and experiments control). To ensure the reliability of the networks, the IT Communication Systems group has developed an in-house, Perl-based software called “cfmgr”, capable of deriving and enforcing the appropriate configuration on all these network devices, based on information from a central network database. Due to the decrease in popularity of the technologies it relies upon, maintaining and expanding the current network configuration management system has become increasingly challenging. Hence, we have evaluated the functionality of various open-source network configuration tools, in view of leveraging them for evolving the cfmgr platform. We will present the result of this evaluation, as well as the plan for evolving CERN’s network configuration management system by decoupling the configuration generation (CERN specific) from the configuration enforcement (generic problem, partially addressed by vendor or community Python based libraries).
Highlights
The CERN IT Communication Systems group is in charge of providing various wired and wireless based communication services across the laboratory
The group designs, installs and manages a large complex of networks. These networks comprise approximately 400 routers and 4000 switches from multiple vendors and from different generations, with heterogeneous configurations depending on the network area they deserve
After detailing the architecture of the current network configuration management system, its features and limitations, we will describe the generic architecture of a network automation solution, and present our findings of how various open-source libraries and frameworks fit in it
Summary
The CERN IT Communication Systems group is in charge of providing various wired and wireless based communication services across the laboratory. The group designs, installs and manages a large complex of networks (as illustrated in figure 1). Overall, these networks comprise approximately 400 routers and 4000 switches from multiple vendors and from different generations, with heterogeneous configurations depending on the network area they deserve. After detailing the architecture of the current network configuration management system, its features and limitations, we will describe the generic architecture of a network automation solution, and present our findings of how various open-source libraries and frameworks fit in it. We will present our plan for evolving towards a more modular network configuration management system and make use of existing open-source tools
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