Hank Preston gave a presentation on network automation and Cisco DevNet. He discussed why networks should be automated to reduce errors and improve change management. He introduced DevNet, which aims to build a developer community around Cisco platforms. He provided a glimpse into future networking approaches like network as code and controller-based operations. He outlined tools and skills needed for network automation, noting that network engineers can acquire programming skills to transition to netdevops.

1. Hank Preston, Principal Engineer
NetDevOps Evangelist
ccie 38336 R/S
An introduction to Network Automation and Cisco DevNet
Got Automation?
@hfpreston
github.com/hpreston

2. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public© 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
• Why automate the network?
• Introduction to DevNet
• A Glimpse into the “Future”
• Evolution of the Network
Engineer
Agenda

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Why Automate the Network?

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The Network…

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The Network…

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The Network…

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The Network…

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The Network…

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The Network…

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• Functional but considered
fragile
• Network configuration more
“art than science”
• Tribal knowledge of key
engineers
Today’s reality…

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“Every time we implement a network
change something goes wrong…”
“Isn’t it great, our switch hasn’t been
rebooted in 6 years”
“We can’t update/change the
network, our business won’t allow it”
* Paraphrasedquotes from actual network operators

12. Don’t encourage this
kind of behavior!!!!

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74% of operators report network
changes have significantly impacted
their business*
97% of operators admit human factors
cause network outages*
22% of unplanned outages caused by
human error**

14. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
Today’s Network Realities
Sequential and Manual
Infrastructure Provisioning
Snowflake Infrastructure and
Timecapsules of Configuration

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In 2014, we created

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DevNet Mission
Drive business growth for Cisco and its partners and customers
Build a fiercely loyal community and ecosystem
Drive API excellence and developer experience
Drive industry
transformation
Make innovation easy
Make DevNet
developers successful

17. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
DevNet Community

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Building an industry ecosystem with Cisco DevNet
Application
Developers
Accelerate
Digitization
Customers
and Partners
Open APIs for Cisco Platforms
Cisco’s
Developer Program
Networking
Professionals
IoT Cloud Networking Data Center Security Analytics &
Automation
Open Source Collaboration Mobility

19. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY, INC
ITALTEL SPAAVODAQ AG
IBM
ACCENTURE
VERIZON SERVICES CORP.
DIMENSION DATA
NETDESIGN A/S
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED
BT
SWISSCOM AG
PROXIMUS TELINDUS LUXEMBOURG
CDW
Bell Canada ALPHAWEST SERVICES
AT&T SERVICES, INC
Ericsson AB ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES
INSIGHT DIRECT USA INCTELUS COMMUNICATIONS
PRESIDIODEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG
MACROVIEW TELECOM
NWN CORPORATION
ITC
ITOCHU TECHNO-SOLUTIONS CORPORATION (CTC)
Radware Ltd
XIANS
HARRIS CORPORATION
BECHTLE LOGISTIK & SERVICE GMBH
CenturyLink NETCLOUD AG
CERNER CORPORATION
NETCRAFTSMEN
5thColumn LLC
NETECH CORPORATION
Deloitte
Vodafone
Dell
Purple WiFi Ltd
Pivot Technology Solutions
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
BAE Systems
AIRBUS
GENERAL ELECTRIC
GENERAL MOTORS
Data from user profile page, sample size 20K
DevNet Community

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SlashData Award

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Learn
DevNet
Learning Tracks
Code
DevNet
Sandbox & APIs
Inspire
DevNet
Creations & Code
Exchange
Connect
DevNet
Community & Events

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Enabling end-to-end developer success
API Experience Developer Sandbox Training and Tutorials
Sample Code Co-Creations Developer Advocacy
</>
build learn
evolvedeveloper.cisco.com

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DevNet Sandbox: Networking

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DevNet Learning Labs: Networking

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DevNet Events!

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Get Hands On With DNA Center APIs for Managing Intent by Adam Radford
DevNet Hands-On Workshop
“Really positive feedback. I explained we were working
on a more comprehensive framework and people
seemed really happy.”

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Coding 1002 - Getting Started with Python by Matt Denapoli
DevNet Theater
“Seeing advanced, and returning attendees. But still strong
demand for Intro to Coding topics.”

28. Who wants to be a Millionaire? A class in Creating Your Own Currency on Blockchain
Tom Davies & Vallard Benincosa
DevNet Hands-On Workshop

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DevNet Express Events Expanded Around
the World
Pittsburgh
Sydney
Mexico
Brazil
Jakarta
Costa Rica
…in 70+ cities
in 30+ countries

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The DevNet Ecosystem: Connect to Create
Developer Ecosystem
Business Ecosystem
Solutions
APIs
Creators Consumers
Sellers Buyers
Cisco Platforms

31. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
The DevNet Ecosystem: Connect to Create
Developer Ecosystem
Business Ecosystem
Solutions
APIs
Creators Consumers
Sellers Buyers
Cisco PlatformsDevNet Developer Site
DevNet Code Exchange
DevNet Ecosystem Exchange

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DevNet Code Exchange
• Curated software built around Cisco
platforms & APIs
• Sample code
• Connectors
• Open source
• Built on GitHub
• Software written by the community
• Connect to expert developers

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DevNet Ecosystem Exchange
• Applications that can be used to build
solutions
• Ecosystem partners (ISVs, IHVs) who
provide solution components
• Ecosystem partners (SIs) who can
customize/build solutions for business
needs
• Promote visibility of applications/tools
to the Cisco Ecosystem
DevNet SolutionsPlus

34. A Glimpse into the Future of Networking
Follow Kevin on Twitter @kecorbin

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Consistent Version Controlled Infrastructure
deployed with Parallel & Automated Provisioning

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Network Operational Models
Network as Code IT as a Service Controller Driven
• Git based workflows
• Close alignment to
software DevOps
approaches
• Leverage abstractions,
such as controllers,
when possible
• Service Catalog based
workflows
• Deliver End User Self
Service experience in
“eStores”
• Network Controller
based workflows
• Evolving traditional
network operation
model
36

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• Network as Code and
Configuration Management
strategies
• Continuous Development
approach to network changes.
• Continuous health and
improvement approach to
monitoring.
Configuration, Automation & Monitoring Principles

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NetDevOps CICD Pipeline

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The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Device Interfaces
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Network Controllers

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The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Continuous Integration
Build Server
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Source Control systems enable easy management of documents, code, and other pieces of information with tooling to support collaboration, revision
management, and easy distribution.
Source Control
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers

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Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Build Server
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
CI Servers monitor source control and automate the process of deploying, testing, and other actions
as updates are made.
Continuous Integration

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Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Store and serve objects.
Eg Objects:Templates, Containers, Binaries
Eg Protocols:http, scp, ftp, etc
Artifact Repository

43. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Network Service and Configuration Management tools enable Network as Code and ensure the
desired state of the network.
Network Service and Configuration Management

44. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Assure network health through the evaluation of
configuration and operational state.
Network Verification

45. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Device Interfaces
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Network Controllers
Enable programmatic interaction for configuration and telemetry
operations through transport protocols and data models.
Network Device Interfaces
CLI SNMP NETCONF RESTCONF
REST gRPC JSON-RPC YANG

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The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Device Interfaces
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Network Controllers
Network Controllers provide an abstraction layer to simplify device
management.
Network Controllers

47. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Network Virtualization and Simulation Platforms support creating and managing network topologies for use across development,test, and production
environments.
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers

48. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Support RBAC, AAA, & Certificate Services across
network.
Security Services
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers

49. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure ServicesDeliver required services to thenetwork.
Eg Services:IPAM, DHCP, DNS, NTP
Infrastructure Services
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers

50. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
The NetDevOps Engineers Tool Chest
Source Control
Network Virtualization / Simulation Platforms
Network Service and Configuration Management
Continuous Integration
Network Verification
Telemetry & MonitoringSecurity Services
Artifact Repository
Infrastructure Services
Ingest, process, & makeavailabletelemetry data
from the network.
Eg Sources:syslog, netflow, gRPC, SNMP
Telemetry & Monitoring
Network Device Interfaces Network Controllers

51. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
• Commercial vs Open Source
• Programming language
• Supported integrations
• Popularity in community
• Relevant examples
• Tool Capabilities
• Used elsewhere in organization
How to pick a tool? (Not in priority order)
Often no one tool will fit,
using multiple is okay too!

52. But I’m just a router jockey…
Follow Bryan on Twitter @bryan25607

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Network Skills
• Spanning-Tree
• Routing Protocols
• QoS
• VPN Design
• VOIP
• Fibre Channel
• Security Policy
• MPLS
Programming Skills
• TCL
• EEM
• Expect Scripts
The ”Traditional” Network Engineer

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Network Skills
• Layer 2 & 3 Fundamentals
• Quality of Service
• Security and Segmentation
• Linux Networking
• Container Networking
• Cloud Networking
• IOT Networking
• Model Driven Programmability
• Network Function Virtualization
Platform Skills
• Linux Administration
• Container Fundamentals
• Micro Service Platforms
• Cloud Fundamentals
Programming Skills
• Data Formats (ex: JSON/YAML)
• Python and APIs (ex: REST)
• Source Control (ex: git)
• Configuration Management
(ex: Ansible)
The NetDevOps Engineer

55. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
Getting from A -> B
Phase 1
• Python
• REST APIs
• JSON/XML
• git/GitHub
• Linux Skills
• Ansible
• Docker
• NETCONF/YANG
• Linux Networking
• Container Networking
• NFV
• Network Controllers
• IOT Networking
• Cloud Networking
• ”DevOps”
Phase 2 Phase 3
As Needed

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Questions?

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58. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
• NetDevOps Readings
• Embrace NetDevOps, Say
Goodbye to a "Culture of Fear”
• NetDevOps Goes Beyond
Infrastructure as Code
• What does "Network as Code"
Mean?
• A Network Engineers Journey in
Programmability
• NetDevOps and the Rise of the
Programmable Network
• NetDevOps Learning Resources
• NetDevOps Live! Weekly Technical
Talks
• Network Programmability Basics
Video Course
• NetDevOps Videos
• How to be a Network Engineer in a
Programmable Age
• Network as Code in Action
• Benefits of Configuration
Management
What do do next?

59. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public
Got more questions? Stay in touch!
hapresto@cisco.com
@hfpreston
http://github.com/hpreston
@CiscoDevNet
facebook.com/ciscodevnet/
http://github.com/CiscoDevNet
Hank Preston developer.cisco.com