More and more, prospects ask me about Community as Code and Cisco Providers as Code.
Whereas community automation is much more essential within the AI period, there’s additionally a whole lot of delusion, confusion, and a recurring query: “We’ve already been automating community operations with Scripts, APIs, Controller GUIs, Terraform suppliers, and Ansible playbooks… what’s new and completely different about Community as Code (NaC)?”
Let’s discover these questions, ranging from the fundamentals: what’s Community as Code?
Community as Code is a technique that applies DevOps ideas to community administration, via declarative information fashions, permitting groups to automate and handle community configurations via YAML recordsdata.
However, how did we get right here and why is that this the popular methodology for community automation?
The Evolution of Community Automation
In the event you’ve ever wrestled with a notepad filled with swap configs or discovered your self knee-deep in Python scripts at midnight, you’ll admire simply how far we’ve come.
Wave 1: The Nostalgia Period (Handbook CLI & Primary Templating)
Within the early days, community configuration was all concerning the command-line interface (CLI). Every part was written in clear, human-readable textual content, which meant you may all the time see precisely what was happening-provided you may maintain your eyes open after hours of scrolling.
Templates had been usually managed utilizing Notepad or one other primary textual content editor, and in the event you had been actually organized, you had a centralized folder someplace – most likely named “final-final-configs” – for reuse.
Whereas this method was easy and simple, it relied closely on guide effort and was vulnerable to errors.
Wave 2: The Scripting Renaissance (Programmatic CLI)
As networks grew extra complicated, engineers began leveraging scripting languages like Python (with libraries resembling Netmiko and Paramiko), and templating engines (Jinga) to automate repetitive CLI duties.
This marked the period when community engineers turned part-time coders, writing scripts to avoid wasting time and cut back errors.
It was a giant leap ahead, nevertheless it additionally meant you wanted to maintain your coding expertise sharp – and bear in mind which script did what, and the place you left the most recent model.
Wave 3: The API-Pushed Period (Controllers & SDKs)
Then got here the controllers, ushering in a brand new period the place guide CLI instructions might be changed with intuitive interfaces and centralized administration. The complexity of direct CLI configurations started to fade, changed by programmable interfaces resembling REST APIs, NETCONF and more and more gRPC, that are broadly adopted for his or her effectivity and adaptability in managing and automating methods. Software program growth kits (SDKs) made programmability simpler, serving to community groups keep away from the fatigue of limitless API calls.
This wave centered on abstracting direct machine interplay, permitting for centralized administration and extra refined programmatic management. Whereas the problem of CLI configuration is eradicated, the duplication of funding and snowflakes had been unavoidable.
Wave 4: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & Cloud-Native Networking
This wave noticed the broader adoption of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) ideas, pushed considerably by the rise of cloud computing. Instruments like Terraform and Ansible (for infrastructure provisioning) had been used to outline and handle community infrastructure alongside compute and storage, notably in cloud environments.
The main focus shifted to declaring the desired state of the complete infrastructure, with model management and automatic deployment changing into customary. This wasn’t nearly community units, however the community as a part of a bigger, codified infrastructure.
Wave 5: Declarative Community as Code (NaC) and Intent-Primarily based Operations
That is the present and evolving wave, representing the maturity and specialization of declarative ideas for the community area. It strikes past generic IaC to concentrate on high-level community intent, leveraging simplified information fashions (in YAML) and a library of modular, expertly crafted elements. This wave emphasizes abstracting complicated orchestration particulars, permitting engineers to outline the specified state of their community infrastructure, moderately than the step-by-step instructions. There’s not a requirement for each administrator to be a programmer; As an alternative, area SMEs merely render variables into these modules to automate duties. Consistency, effectivity, and high quality are baked in by design. This wave sees GitOps ideas turn into central for managing community configurations, making certain a single supply of reality and enabling sturdy CI/CD. Moreover, seamless integration with IT Service Administration (ITSM) methods turns into a typical observe for change administration. This method brings consistency, effectivity, and high quality by design, empowering groups to handle their networks with the identical rigor and agility as software program growth. Even these with minimal programming background can obtain spectacular automation outcomes, which means the Community architects can focus extra on core Community design and ideas.
Community as Code
The times of each group constructing their very own ‘snowflake’ automation are over. Community as Code (NaC) represents the maturity of declarative ideas for community administration, permitting engineers to outline the specified state of their community infrastructure moderately than specializing in intricate particulars like dependencies, references, or looping logic. With an easy-to-use, opinionated information mannequin and a library of examined, maintained modules, you may spin up complete community materials in minutes, just by describing their supposed configuration in easy textual content, without having deep API or object mannequin data.
Central to NaC is the adoption of GitOps ideas. This implies community configurations are version-controlled in a Git repository, serving as the only supply of reality. Adjustments are proposed by way of pull requests, reviewed, after which routinely deployed and synchronized with the stay community, enabling sturdy CI/CD pipelines. This ensures that the community’s precise state persistently matches the declared state in Git. Moreover, NaC facilitates seamless integration with IT Service Administration (ITSM) methods. This ensures that every one community adjustments are tracked, authorized, and managed inside present operational workflows, enhancing governance, compliance, and auditability. This holistic method brings consistency, effectivity, and high quality by design, empowering groups to handle their networks with the identical rigor and agility as software program growth.
Whereas NaC is an open-source methodology that permits for Do It Your self(DIY) automation, implementing its full framework and methodologies might be complicated. That is the place Cisco steps in to speed up your journey.
Going past with Providers as Code
Cisco Providers as Code is accessible via Cisco Skilled Providers, providing a complete resolution that encompasses the complete lifecycle of community service supply. This contains readiness assessments, individuals/course of enablement, resolution setup, brownfield import, steady integration and deployment (CI/CD), automated testing, validation, launch administration, and 24×7 help. It integrates DevSecOps practices and supplies a framework to handle community infrastructure adjustments with excessive accuracy, scalability, and operational effectivity.
A essential differentiator of Cisco Providers as Code is its sturdy, built-in Check and Validation framework. In contrast to ad-hoc testing usually present in DIY automation or market options, our service supplies a scientific and complete method to make sure community adjustments are totally verified earlier than and after deployment. This contains automated syntax checks for configuration correctness, semantic validation and checks each configured object in opposition to the supposed configuration. This complete, steady validation, built-in all through the CI/CD pipeline, considerably reduces the chance of errors, minimizes community downtime, and ensures that adjustments persistently meet operational and compliance requirements. It’s this assurance of high quality, reliability, and safety, baked into the service, that really units Cisco Providers as Code aside, offering peace of thoughts and operational excellence that goes past merely automating configurations.
Moreover, we not too long ago launched the mixing of Cisco AI Assistant with Providers as Code, additional simplifying infrastructure administration with pure language inputs.
So there you will have it; Community as Code and Providers as Code defined – and hopefully demystified. Tell us within the feedback what high of thoughts questions you need us to cowl subsequent.
And right here’s my ‘additional studying’ suggestions on the subject, written by our Precept Architects and Distinguished Engineers.