More and more, prospects ask me about Community as Code and Cisco Companies as Code.
Whereas community automation is much more crucial within the AI period, there’s additionally lots of fantasy, 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 rules 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
Should you’ve ever wrestled with a notepad stuffed with swap configs or discovered your self knee-deep in Python scripts at midnight, you’ll recognize simply how far we’ve come.
Wave 1: The Nostalgia Period (Guide CLI & Primary Templating)
Within the early days, community configuration was all concerning the command-line interface (CLI). Every little thing was written in clear, human-readable textual content, which meant you can all the time see precisely what was happening-provided you can hold your eyes open after hours of scrolling.
Templates have been usually managed utilizing Notepad or one other primary textual content editor, and in the event you have 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 susceptible to errors.
Wave 2: The Scripting Renaissance (Programmatic CLI)
As networks grew extra advanced, 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 grew to become part-time coderswriting scripts to avoid wasting time and cut back errors.
It was a giant leap ahead, but it surely additionally meant you wanted to maintain your coding expertise sharp – and bear in mind which script did what, and the place you left the newest 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 could possibly 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 programs. Software program growth kits (SDKs) made programmability simpler, serving to community groups keep away from the fatigue of infinite API calls.
This wave centered on abstracting direct gadget interplay, permitting for centralized administration and extra subtle programmatic management. Whereas the problem of CLI configuration is eradicated, the duplication of funding and snowflakes have been unavoidable.
Wave 4: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & Cloud-Native Networking
This wave noticed the broader adoption of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) rules, pushed considerably by the rise of cloud computing. Instruments like Terraform and Ansible (for infrastructure provisioning) have been used to outline and handle community infrastructure alongside compute and storage, significantly in cloud environments.
The main focus shifted to declaring the desired state of the whole infrastructure, with model management and automatic deployment turning into commonplace. This wasn’t nearly community gadgets, however the community as a part of a bigger, codified infrastructure.
Wave 5: Declarative Community as Code (NaC) and Intent-Based mostly Operations
That is the present and evolving wave, representing the maturity and specialization of declarative rules for the community area. It strikes past generic IaC to give attention to high-level community intent, leveraging simplified information fashions (in YAML) and a library of modular, expertly crafted elements. This wave emphasizes abstracting advanced orchestration particulars, permitting engineers to outline the specified state of their community infrastructure, quite 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 rules develop into central for managing community configurations, guaranteeing a single supply of fact and enabling sturdy CI/CD. Moreover, seamless integration with IT Service Administration (ITSM) programs turns into a normal apply 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, that means the Community architects can focus extra on core Community design and ideas.
Community as Code
The times of each workforce constructing their very own ‘snowflake’ automation are over. Community as Code (NaC) represents the maturity of declarative rules for community administration, permitting engineers to outline the specified state of their community infrastructure quite 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 total community materials in minutes, just by describing their supposed configuration in easy textual content, while not having deep API or object mannequin data.
Central to NaC is the adoption of GitOps rules. This implies community configurations are version-controlled in a Git repository, serving as the only supply of fact. Modifications are proposed through pull requests, reviewed, after which mechanically deployed and synchronized with the reside 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) programs. This ensures that each one community modifications are tracked, authorized, and managed inside current 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 enables for Do It Your self(DIY) automation, implementing its full framework and methodologies will be advanced. That is the place Cisco steps in to speed up your journey.
Going past with Companies as Code
Cisco Companies as Code is on the market via Cisco Skilled Companies, providing a complete resolution that encompasses the whole lifecycle of community service supply. This contains readiness assessments, folks/course of enablement, resolution setup, brownfield import, steady integration and deployment (CI/CD), automated testing, validation, launch administration, and 24×7 assist. It integrates DevSecOps practices and gives a framework to handle community infrastructure modifications with excessive accuracy, scalability, and operational effectivity.
A crucial differentiator of Cisco Companies as Code is its sturdy, built-in Take a look at and Validation framework. In contrast to ad-hoc testing usually present in DIY automation or market options, our service gives a scientific and complete method to make sure community modifications are completely verified earlier than and after deployment. This contains automated syntax checks for configuration correctness, semantic validation and exams each configured object in opposition to the supposed configuration. This complete, steady validation, built-in all through the CI/CD pipeline, considerably reduces the danger of errors, minimizes community downtime, and ensures that modifications persistently meet operational and compliance requirements. It’s this assurance of high quality, reliability, and safety, baked into the service, that actually units Cisco Companies as Code aside, offering peace of thoughts and operational excellence that goes past merely automating configurations.
Moreover, we not too long ago launched the combination of Cisco AI Assistant with Companies as Codeadditional simplifying infrastructure administration with pure language inputs.
So there you have got it; Community as Code and Companies as Code defined – and hopefully demystified. Tell us within the feedback what prime 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.
