Re: Management Requirements

On Tue, Aug 07, 2012 at 08:16:58PM -0400, David Harrington wrote:
> 
> 3) Standardized whole-box config is being addressed by netconf/yang
> (partial config can be supported as well).
> Netconf/YANG support is seriously constrained by a lack of standard YANG
> models. 

This sounds a bit like "do not write standard YANG data models because there
are no standard data models". Anyway, NETMOD has core data models in WG last
call. We are getting there, slowly by surely.

> Netconf is often implemented with proprietary data modeling approaches
> (e.g., CLI commands with XML tags, not YANG).

I can't let this "CLI commands with XML tags" pass uncommented. While
some (IMHO broken) implementations might do this, there are router
vendors who actually do ship implementations with structured data
models.

> The IETF community is working on converting many MIB modules into YANG
> format to provide core data models.

Again, this is not very accurate. The NETMOD WG is not just converting
MIBs.  The routing data model goes far beyond anything out there in
MIB land related to routing by providing a routing model. The IP
configuration model is the first time the IETF every comes up with a
standards-track way to configure IP interfaces.

> The IETF community is working on developing YANG models for technologies
> not well supported by SMIv2 modeling.
> Netconf was designed with eye toward operators logging in via SSH sessions
> to configure devices.
> This approach can be automated by shell scripts.
> I am not aware of much non-scripted application-support for netconf
> automation yet. 

This sounds a bit like NETCONF is designed for human operators messing
around with devices. At least one big router vendor has reported to
base its management system solely on NETCONF, providing adaptors for
legacy interfaces where necessary.

I think we should be careful not to place NETCONF/YANG into a certain
corner at this point in time by drawing a picture that might not be
adequate. YANG was published just in Octover 2010 and it is only since
then that we are able to work on standard data models. Give the
technology some more time before drawing conclusions like the above.

/js (NETMOD co-chair)

-- 
Juergen Schoenwaelder           Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH
Phone: +49 421 200 3587         Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany
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