ipSpace.net » Building Network Automation Solutions » Data Models

Data models are the crux of any successful network automation solution, and getting them just right is a mixture of science and art.

The guidelines discussed in this section include:

• Abstract everything - focus on data that describe your requirements, not data that the device need to be configured
• Avoid data duplication - never store the same bit of information in two places
• Separation of infrastructure and service data - define a common data model describing network infrastructure, and separate data models for individual services

We’ll also talk about data stores (from text files to relational databases), discuss their pros and cons, and figure out how to use Ansible with external data stores.

Hands-on Exercises

In the hands-on part of this module you'll build a data model and a sample configuration template to verify the data model adequately describes your service.

Here are some ideas that you could work on if you don't have an actual service you'd like to automate in your network:

• Build a simple data model for VLAN service;
• Create a data model for VXLAN-based data center fabric;
• Model a simple Service Provider service (Internet access or L3VPN);

Guest speakers

The guest speakers in this module include:

• Marcel Wiget introducing NETCONF, YANG and OpenConfig;
• David Barroso talking about abstracting everything, and describing OpenConfig and YANG support in NAPALM;
• Hans Verkerk introducing data manipulation with Python

DescriptionOutlineMaterialsExercises