登录查看更多内容

Your IT department is struggling to automate its network. What are the best tools to help?

由人工智能和领英社区提供技术支持

Network automation is the process of using software to manage, configure, and monitor network devices and services. It can help your IT department improve efficiency, reliability, and security, while reducing human errors and costs. However, network automation can also be challenging, especially if you have a complex, heterogeneous, or dynamic network. How can you choose the best tools to help you automate your network tasks and workflows? Here are some criteria and examples to consider.

在这篇协作文章中查找专家回答

由社区从 4 条内容中精选。了解更多

1 Criteria for network automation tools

When selecting the best network automation tools, it is essential to first define your goals, needs, and challenges. Consider the network functions and operations that you want to automate, as well as the pain points and gaps that you want to address. Additionally, evaluate the skills and resources that you have available. From there, evaluate different tools according to criteria such as functionality, scalability, flexibility, usability, and cost. The tool should support the network protocols, devices, and services that you use, and it should be able to handle the size and complexity of your network. Furthermore, it should be able to adapt to changes in your network and provide a user-friendly interface. Ultimately, the tool should fit your budget and provide a good return on investment.

添加您的观点

Amit Kumar

AI/ML Security Engineer
举报内容
Choosing a network automation tool is no easy task and mistakes can result in costly outages. While many of the automation tools currently on the market are designed to do the same thing, they can vary substantially in their approaches. This means that procuring the right one for your environment requires careful evaluation of available systems and resources. Here we list a checklist of 6 key capabilities your organization must consider when evaluating network automation tools. Auto Discovery of Network Configurations Automated Provisioning of Network Services Auditing and Compliance Enforcement Role-based Authentication and Authorization Alerting and Reporting Scalability

已翻译

赞

2 Examples of network automation tools

Network automation tools come in many forms, each offering their own advantages. Popular and widely used tools for configuration management include Ansible, Puppet, Chef, and SaltStack. Orchestration tools such as Cisco NSO, Red Hat Ansible Tower, Terraform, and CloudFormation can automate complex network tasks and workflows. Monitoring tools such as Nagios, Zabbix, Prometheus, and Grafana help to collect, analyze, and visualize network data. Testing tools like Nmap, Wireshark, PyTest, and Robot Framework are used to verify and validate network functionality. Troubleshooting tools like SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, NetBrain, Splunk, and ELK Stack can diagnose and remediate network problems while providing root cause analysis and recommendations.

添加您的观点

Amit Kumar

AI/ML Security Engineer
举报内容
The following are 3 main types of network automation tools: Software-defined networking (SDN) tools:?These tools let network administrators control and manage network devices and traffic flow programmatically instead of manually configuring each device. Network configuration management (NCM) tools:?These tools let administrators manage and maintain the configuration of network devices. This includes version control, change management, and backup and recovery. Purpose-built network automation tools:?Tools that were developed specifically for the network are an example of a different category of network automation platform. These tools provide the majority of network-specific capabilities and functionalities.

已翻译

赞

3 How to use network automation tools effectively

Choosing the right network automation tools is only the start. To use them effectively, you need to plan and design your network automation strategy, aligning it with your business objectives and network architecture. Begin with something small and simple, gradually scaling up the scope and depth, while measuring and evaluating results and feedback. A version control system such as Git should be used to manage and track code and configurations, ensuring quality and consistency. A testing and staging environment such as a virtual or simulated network is necessary for testing scripts before deploying them to your production network. Additionally, a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline like Jenkins can automate deployment and update cycles, guaranteeing reliability and security. Finally, document policies and procedures while training your team on how to use the tools for their benefit. Network automation can be a powerful way to optimize operations. By following best practices when choosing the best tools, you can overcome any challenges and enjoy the rewards of automation for your IT department.

添加您的观点

4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

添加您的观点

Sander Ruitenbeek

Network and cloud engineer - always learning and getting things done
举报内容
How do you make sure your whole team is willing and able to work with the new tools? Be vigilant in sharing knowledge and foster a culture of openness where it is ok to experiment. That way you empower your team and you can grow together.

已翻译

赞
Joel Alegnani

AI Training SME at Outlier
举报内容
Utilizing DHCP is both easily implemented and also a known tested standard for enterprise organizations. It's also advisable to document both plans, artifacts and updates for the automation updates in a shared repository.

已翻译

赞

Network Engineering

+ 关注

给文章评分

我们借助人工智能创建了此文章。您认为这篇文章怎么样？

很棒不太好

举报此文章

查看全部

Your IT department is struggling to automate its network. What are the best tools to help?

1

2

3

4

1 Criteria for network automation tools

2 Examples of network automation tools

3 How to use network automation tools effectively

4 Here’s what else to consider

Network Engineering

给文章评分

感谢您的反馈

更多Network Engineering相关文章

更多相关阅读内容

Your IT department is struggling to automate its network. What are the best tools to help?

1

2

3

4

1 Criteria for network automation tools

2 Examples of network automation tools

3 How to use network automation tools effectively

4 Here’s what else to consider

Network Engineering

给文章评分

感谢您的反馈

查看其他技能