Automation & Orchestration in DNA Center

Automation & Orchestration in DNA Center

Cisco DNA Center Automation & Orchestration Key Principles:

Below are the list of Cisco DNA Center Automation & Orchestration key Principles & Concepts.

Agility: DNA Center provides Agility which reduces time required to design, deploy, and optimize network environment. These are the agile feature provided by DNAC

• Centralizing Designing, Managing Common set of network design for different Environment etc.
• Automation of configuration to different devices at one go , Configuration Verification
• Optimizing Design to match desired operator objective.

Reliability: DNA Center Brings Reliability by providing following features:

• Mature and tested Design and Configuration Best Practices to ensure consistency
• Profile or template based configuration

Simplification:

• Provides Centralized Function for all function required for design , deploy, Manage Multiple Network Components , External Services , etc.
• Provides Rich set of Programmable API, which allow operators to automate network operation as per their requirement.

Abstraction:

DNAC abstracts the underlay feature that is required for Network Infrastructure, It provides simple workflows supported by both physical and logical topology.

Automation & Orchestration in Context of Cisco SD-Access

In Cisco SD-Access automation and Orchestration is divided in to two main categories.

• Cisco Network Underlay (Non fabric)
• Fabric Overlay

Network Underlay:

• Global & Site Setting: Management Layer Network Configuration for different sites.
• Device Discovery: Provides automated discovery and inventory of existing network devices
• LAN Automation: Provides discovery , provisioning and inventory of new Network devices

Fabric Overlay:

• Automated configuration of Fabric Enabled devices, with Common control plane and data plane.
• Automated Configuration to provide device roles in Fabric enabled sites like Control plane node, Edge Node, Border Node, WLC, and Fabric AP.
• Automated configuration of Virtual Network, enables virtual routing & forwarding segmentation, in fabric Overlay
• Automated configuration of functions to classify and enforce group based policies in fabric overlay
• Automated functions to onboard Endpoints, clients, automated configuration for static or dynamic VN, IP Pools, SSGT assignment, SSID etc.
• Automated Configuration to enable Multicast services in fabric Overlay.
• Provides Pre-verification capability and support of network devices prior deploying fabric overlay configuration
• Provides Post-Verification method once Network devices in fabric overly has been configured as per requirement.

Automating SD-Access with DNA Center:

DNA Center can be used to automate and configure the SD-Access fabric of any Enterprise. Below are the DNA Center Design, Policy, and Provision Workflow:

Network Design:

Cisco DNA Center allows for categorizing network infrastructure in terms of logical sites and also provides granularity to de fine buildings and floors that closely mirror the physical layout of the organization's network infrastructure. To provide maximum flexibility, Cisco DNA Center also al lows for a site's hierarchies to be defined.

Cisco DNA Center allows for automated configuration on either a global- or per- site basis. Cisco DNA Center also supports zero touch provisioning of network infrastructure with Cisco's Plug- n-Play (PnP) Solution to automatically on board new infrastructure components.