SD-WAN Application Fabric for Intent-Based Policy Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network management systems lack the ability to efficiently translate business intent into IT policies and automate the deployment of these policies across a network infrastructure, leading to manual and inefficient configuration of network elements.
Innovation Solution
An intent-based networking system that translates business intent into IT policies and automates their deployment across a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), enabling the creation of application fabrics that align with user-defined outcomes by discovering and managing specific applications through edge routers, ensuring consistent policy enforcement and continuous verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual configuration methods are used for network elements, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but productivity and efficiency deteriorate due to time-consuming manual processes
Solution Approach 1:
An intent-based networking controller is introduced as an intermediary system that automatically translates high-level business intent into detailed IT policies and network configurations. This mediator handles the complexity of automated policy deployment across network elements, eliminating manual configuration while maintaining simplicity for end users through intent-based interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The network system performs self-configuration through automated policy deployment mechanisms. The intent-based networking controller automatically discovers network elements, pushes policies without manual intervention, and verifies implementation, enabling the system to configure itself based on declared business intents rather than requiring manual setup.
2Reliability
If comprehensive policy deployment across all network elements is implemented, then reliability and consistency improve, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The network management system is segmented into distinct functional components: an intent-based networking controller that manages policy creation and deployment, and network elements that execute policies. This segmentation allows comprehensive policy enforcement across the network while containing complexity within the controller, which handles discovery, policy translation, and verification automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The intent-based networking controller serves multiple functions simultaneously: it discovers network elements, translates business intent into IT policies, deploys policies across diverse network elements, monitors implementation, and verifies consistency. This multi-functionality ensures reliable policy enforcement while presenting a unified simple interface to users.
3Productivity
If automated policy deployment is implemented, then productivity improves, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring policy implementation status increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms where the intent-based networking controller continuously monitors network elements to verify policy implementation status. Network elements report their state back to the controller, which compares actual implementation against intended policies and triggers remediation actions if discrepancies are detected, enabling easy measurement and verification of deployment status.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller performs preliminary discovery of network elements and pre-validates policy configurations before deployment. This preliminary action ensures that policies are properly formatted and compatible with target elements, reducing verification complexity after deployment and enabling faster productivity gains without increasing measurement difficulty.
Data Source
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AI summary
In one embodiment, a method includes providing a first profile to a plurality of edge routers of the SD-WAN, the plurality of edge routers operable to interface a plurality of devices to the SD-WAN. The first profile enables the plurality of edge routers to discover which devices of the plurality of devices support a first application. The method includes receiving, from one or more of the edge routers, information indicating which devices of the plurality of devices support the first application and building a first application fabric based on the information indicating which devices of the plurality of devices support the first application.