Runtime YANG View Injection for Firmware-Free Telemetry Customization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network devices require firmware upgrades to modify built-in YANG views, leading to delays in adding or modifying telemetry data configurations, which hinders network administrators' ability to customize data aggregation and hierarchy for monitoring needs.
Innovation Solution
Dynamically inject customized YANG modules into network devices without firmware updates, allowing administrators to create and manage customized YANG views during runtime, which can be validated and activated by the YANG server without recompiling or restarting the server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If firmware upgrades are used to modify built-in YANG views, then the network device can add or modify telemetry data configurations, but the process causes delays and requires device reboot
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic injection of YANG modules into the network device's runtime memory space, allowing customization capabilities to be added or modified without firmware upgrades. The system can load, validate, and activate new YANG modules on-demand, making the customization capability dynamic and flexible rather than static and fixed in the firmware.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates the YANG module injection mechanism from the firmware image, allowing customization to be segmented into independent, loadable modules. This segmentation enables selective loading of specific YANG modules without requiring complete firmware replacement, thereby reducing deployment time while maintaining customization capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If firmware upgrades are performed to add new YANG modules, then new telemetry data configurations become available, but the device requires recompilation and restarting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a YANG server as an intermediary component that manages the injection and validation of YANG modules. The server acts as a mediator between the external YANG module sources and the network device's internal data model, handling the complexity of module validation, compilation, and integration without requiring device reboot or recompilation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the YANG module in the network device's runtime memory space rather than modifying the original firmware image. This copying approach allows new YANG modules to be added as independent entities that can be loaded, validated, and activated without affecting the existing firmware structure, thereby reducing system complexity while enabling module extendability.
3Ease of operation
If customized YANG views are injected during runtime, then data aggregation and hierarchy customization is enabled, but validation and activation processes must be efficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary validation of YANG modules before they are activated in the network device. The YANG server validates the syntax, structure, and compatibility of injected modules in advance, ensuring that only valid and compatible modules are activated. This preliminary action maintains configuration flexibility while ensuring validation reliability by catching errors before they affect device operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms in the YANG module injection process, where the system provides validation results and status information back to the operator. This feedback loop allows the system to confirm successful injection and activation, or identify and report validation errors, thereby maintaining both configuration flexibility and validation reliability through transparent communication of system state.
Data Source
AI summary
One aspect describes a method, a computer system, and a computer-readable medium that facilitate the injection of customized YANG views to a network device. A network device runs a Yet Another Next Generation (YANG) server to provide telemetry data associated with the network device, the telemetry data defined by a YANG model. In response to receiving, from a remote client, a customized YANG view file, the YANG server determines whether the customized YANG view file contains an error. In response to determining that the customized YANG view file does not contain an error, the YANG server activates the customized YANG view file without upgrading the network device's firmware and rebooting the network device. The YANG server receives a query from the remote client specifying the customized YANG view file, gathers telemetry data based on the customized YANG view file, and returns the gathered telemetry data to the remote client.