Intro to Network Programmability

Question 1

define SDN

Answer 1

1. decoupling of data and control plane
2. intelligence and state info centralized
3. underlaying infrastructure is abstracted (i.e. network virtualization)
4. leveraging APIs

Question 2

what SDN is not

Answer 2

1. an easy button
2. end state
3. designed to replace engineers
4. mandate for everyone to become coders
5. revolution of networking (old concepts)

Question 3

SDN offers

Answer 3

new ways of managing, building and operating networks

Question 4

the planes of traditional networks are…

Answer 4

1. data - traffic
2. control - routing protocols
3. management - management protocols like SSH and SNMP

Question 5

in traditional networks all planes are located where..

Answer 5

within a single device

Question 6

where are the planes located in SDN “purist” model

Answer 6

control planes is centralized, data plane is de-centralized / per device

Question 7

what is hybrid SDN

Answer 7

control plane is partly on devices and partly on controllers

Question 8

what is the biggest problem of SDN “purist” model

Answer 8

control plane scalability

Question 9

why SDN is needed

Answer 9

1. device by device configuration is inefficient
2. faster execution with reduced errors
3. single point of management

Question 10

name current industry trends

Answer 10

1. open source software
2. APIs
3. SDN
4. DevOps
5. Application centric networking

Question 11

what is open source software

Answer 11

software developed by a community that is free to use under GNU license

Question 12

what are the benefits of open source software

Answer 12

highly customizable, lower capex and thus flexibility

Question 13

what network programmability seeks

Answer 13

reduced human to machine interaction by utilizing APis

Question 14

what is DevOps

Answer 14

a cultural trend for more agility and better quality in product development and maintenance

Question 15

what tools DevOps culture claims to give

Answer 15

better automation and configuration management tools

Question 16

what is Openflow

Answer 16

• came from Stanford
• imperative control over FIB tables
• a protocol between switches and controllers

Question 17

what is Contiv

Answer 17

provides operating policy for container based applications

Question 18

what is FD.io

Answer 18

• accelerates NFV data planes

- vector packet processing

Question 19

what is OvS

Answer 19

• opensource virtual switch

- supports Openflow and OVSDB

Question 20

what is Openstack

Answer 20

• opensource IaaS / cloud compute solution
• collection of APIs
• Neutron plugin provides networking

Question 21

what is Open Daylight

Answer 21

• opensource SDN controler

Question 22

define goals of open source networking software

Answer 22

• open access to the underlying OS
• community involvement in continuous improvement
• open APIs
• open protocol standards

Question 23

list on-box scripting and automation methods

Answer 23

TCL, EEM, Power on Auto Provisioning (NX-OS), Python, Smart Install, Smartport Macros

Question 24

list off-box capabilities of modern programmable devices

Answer 24

REST, NETCONF, RESTCONF, SDK, Linux, DevOps (automation) tools

Question 25

REST APIs characteristics

Answer 25

client-server, use HTTP(s) transport, stateless, resource based, use nouns instead of verbs

Question 26

what is an SDK

Answer 26

software development kit allows the user to create their custom applications

Question 27

what is SW-Only Network Virtualization

Answer 27

Software-Only Network Virtualization solutions offer a native software-only approach that builds overlay tunnels among hypervisors in the data center.

Question 28

what are the drawbacks of SW-Only Network Virtualization

Answer 28

- no support for physical workloads | - performance limitations

Question 29

what CALMS stands for

Answer 29

- Culture - Automation - Lean - Measurement - Sharing

Question 30

three goals of DevOps are

Answer 30

1. increase deployment frequency 2. faster time-to-market 3. reduce errors / failure rate

Question 31

characteristics of DevOps culture

Answer 31

1. Workplace trust 2. Respect 3. Collaboration 4. Shared goals 5. Being supportive 6. A sense of no blame/no victims

Question 32

what does the current network operation look like

Answer 32

1. CLI used manually 2. Configuration is one device at a time 3. Copying and pasting 4. Configuration errors 5. Tasks not repeatable 6. Notepad automation

Question 33

what does an automated network operation look like

Answer 33

1. Version control for monitoring changes 2. Version control is the source of the truth 3. Unit and integration testing before changes are deployed

Question 34

what are the types of network automation

Answer 34

1. Device Provisioning 2. Data Collection & Telemetry 3. Compliance Checks 4. Reporting 5. Troubleshooting

Question 35

what happens in compliancy checks

Answer 35

auditing large amount of devices for configuration issues and automatically fixing them assisted by regression testing

Question 36

list traditional methods of managing a network device

Answer 36

telnet, SSH, SNMP

Question 37

list programmable methods of managing a network devices

Answer 37

NX-API, REST, RESTCONF, NETCONF, gRPC, SOAP

Question 38

supported APIs on IOS-XE

Answer 38

RESTCONF, NETCONF

Question 39

supported APIs on IOS-XR

Answer 39

RESTCONF, NETCONF, gRPC

Question 40

supported APIs on NX-OS

Answer 40

NX-API CLI, NX-API REST, NETCONF

Question 41

supported API on ASA, ACI and APIC-EM

Answer 41

REST