Policy State Management Using Change Request Time Windows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing event-driven architecture systems struggle with efficiently managing network assurance policies in response to change requests, leading to deferred automated actions and inefficiencies in network automation.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for change request (CR) assisted policy state management, which includes a correlation and policy engine (CPE) that processes network assurance policies, filters events based on active CRs, and manages policy states using a scheduled CR table to automate actions during specified time windows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network assurance policies are automatically enforced in real-time, then network security and reliability are improved, but automated actions are deferred during change request periods
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by checking the change request table before executing automated policy actions. When a change request is detected for a network element, the system proactively suspends related automated actions in advance, preventing conflicts during the change window and ensuring timely resumption after the change is completed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts its behavior based on the current state of change requests. The automated action service monitors the change request table and dynamically suspends or resumes policy enforcement based on whether network elements are undergoing changes, allowing real-time adaptation between security enforcement and change management requirements.
2Device complexity
If change requests are processed manually, then system complexity is reduced, but network automation efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically monitoring change requests and managing policy state transitions without manual intervention. The automated action service independently queries the change request table, determines affected network elements, suspends relevant policies, and resumes them after change windows, eliminating the need for manual processing while maintaining high automation efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If policy state management is manual, then ease of operation is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to deferred actions
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the automated action service continuously monitors the change request table for updates on network element changes. This feedback loop enables automatic detection of change completion and triggers timely resumption of suspended policies, maintaining ease of operation through automation while eliminating productivity losses from manual management.
Data Source
AI summary
A method executed by processing circuitry, includes receiving, from a user interface (UI), one or more network assurance policies configured to be used in a CPE; receiving, periodically from a change request (CR) adaptor service, one or more active change requests (CRs) configured to be implemented; storing the one or more active CRs to an active scheduled CR table included in a network assurance policy database (DB); filtering, by an ingestion service of the CPE that screens incoming event streams based on the one or more network assurance policies, further the incoming event streams based on the active CRs within the active scheduled CR table; and discarding each incoming event from the incoming event streams that matches a dependent network element (NE) or a dependent network service (NS) that is within a CR time window where the CR time window is a period where a CR is being implemented.