11 April 2019

In the latest update to Apstra Operating System (AOS 2.3), the company has added what it calls “root cause identification”.

This, says Apstra, finds the underlying reason for identified problems by studying system telemetry in real time.

AOS, described as intent-based data centre automation, works with a wide range of switches and switch operating systems.

Apstra says it understands not just the structure and elements of the network but also the intent of the architect and the operator; that is, what the network is required to do.

It compares the intent with actual network behaviour, using this information in real time to automatically pinpoint and isolate problems – such as grey failures, performance degradation, and new outages without a mass of false positive alerts.

Root cause identification then digs down to identify the source of the problem. Apstra says the AOS user interface enables operators to design, build, deploy and operate a spine-leaf network in days, rather than months. This includes racking, stacking, cabling, as well as validating that all design intent is met, and continues to be met, in real-time.

AOS, it says, helps users to automate their networks as a single system, not as complex individual parts.

It decouples network design, implementation and operations from the physical (underlay) and virtual (overlay) network infrastructure, using whichever hardware and switch OS is chosen.

AOS, says Apstra, can be deployed in modern data centres -- both new and existing -- across multiple vendors. It operates at the management plane and controls devices and switch operating systems through their published open APIs.