Adding an API to networking hardware doesn’t solve management challenges
This is why cloud-inspired networks win: virtual switches are all consistent
Adding an API to networking hardware does not resolve management challenges, according to a new textbook edition. Larry and the author learned that operations are crucial, yet often overlooked in network teaching. The textbook draws from the authors' experiences in the pre-cloud and cloud-centric eras. One key issue is the inconsistency in features across devices, both within and among vendors.
This inconsistency makes it difficult to achieve meaningful consistency in QoS and MPLS features. The CLI (Command Line Interface) remains central to network management, despite attempts to introduce programmatic APIs. Product teams are incentivized to maintain CLI configurability, making it challenging to implement API-based management.
Abstractions are essential, but simply adding an API to a device is not a solution. The ideal approach involves a centralized controller managing a distributed set of forwarding devices, as demonstrated by the success of virtual switches in datacenter networks.
Written by urgent.news from The Register's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
