Standardized and simplified group design and configuration are vital foundations for a simply functioning system. Ensuring consistency all through the group facilitates the implementation and environment friendly use of automation, making it easier to deploy changes and validate group operations all through your infrastructure.
As an example, using a single Git web internet hosting service equal to GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket as a result of the network source of truth instead of quite a few web internet hosting firms ensures engineers are acquainted with one explicit platform for DevOps.
This textual content explores these capabilities extra. Nonetheless first, let’s research what group gear distributors counsel.
Using establishing block designs
Neighborhood gear distributors counsel that group teams undertake establishing block designs to extra enhance standardization and simplify automation. Each establishing block should specify the exact {{hardware}}, OS, interface selection and configuration used. To cut back system complexity, teams should lower the number of establishing block variations their automation strategies cope with.
As an example, it’s best to have two distant web site designs: an older design to transition from and a model new design to transition to. Teams may also have small and massive web site designs for an entire of 4. Remember that supporting additional distinctive designs normally will enhance the difficulty needed to maintain up the automation system.
One key downside in managing quite a few designs is coping with important design variances — variations that automation can not deploy. As an example, {{hardware}} changes equal to gear refreshes or interface updates fall into this class on account of they require higher than solely a configuration change. Distinction that with a simple configuration change, like updating an entry administration itemizing, which is unquestionably deployed by automation.
It’s tempting to deploy a nonstandard {{hardware}} configuration to cope with new web site requirements, nevertheless the draw again is that it requires additional complexities throughout the automation process. Even simple variations, like changes throughout the interfaces used for uplinks, can complicate automation. Thus, when emergency circumstances come up that require exceptions to necessities, teams should work to standardize them as shortly as attainable.
Automation and group standardization
When your group follows a continuing design, automation devices can reliably execute important capabilities equal to sustaining an up-to-date group gadget inventory, monitoring for configuration drift, conducting configuration audits, making use of group gadget OS updates, performing configuration remediation, managing changes successfully, implementing security insurance coverage insurance policies and using AI agents.
Let’s uncover these capabilities.
1. Neighborhood gadget inventory
A group gadget inventory ensures the recognition of all models. Often scheduled group scans might reveal rogue or unprotected models that aren’t protected by a security patch, so teams ought to make certain their networks are protected. Neighborhood inventories might also take away any outdated, forgotten models that pose an operational hazard to the group.
Automation performs an vital place on this course of by repeatedly discovering a software and getting particulars about it. The strategy moreover has the ability to catalog network devices, detect unauthorized additions and flag discrepancies in precise time. One frequent open provide instrument is NetBox; varied merchandise embrace Datadog and SolarWinds.
2. Configuration drift
An automation system can accumulate configurations and monitor changes as quickly because the group inventory acknowledges models on the group. Incorrect changes are the very best motive behind group outages. Neighborhood teams will uncover that monitoring configuration drift is a crucial function in failure prognosis to ascertain what modified. Standardized designs make it easier to search out out when one factor changes and whether or not or not the change was introduced on by an outage.
3. Configuration audit
A configuration audit identifies models with configurations that don’t match a gaggle’s most interesting practices and insurance coverage insurance policies.
Neighborhood teams can guarantee that standardized configurations are operational by performing an audit that compares gadget configurations in the direction of standardized configuration templates and by remediating noncompliant configurations. The templates specify required directions that should exist and forbidden directions that ought to not exist. The templates are explicit to each gadget function and model.
This audit identifies configurations that don’t match the necessities for teams to convey them into compliance. Teams should additionally deal with any variations in {{hardware}}, like gadget distributors and fashions, sooner than standardizing the related configuration elements.
Some examples of frequent configuration auditing devices are Kyverno for Kubernetes group insurance coverage insurance policies, SolarWinds Neighborhood Configuration Supervisor and Infoblox NetMRI.
4. Neighborhood gadget OS updates
Neighborhood teams should additionally standardize the OS variations used on their models to simplify updates and patch processes. The preliminary inventory course of ought to ascertain the OS used on each gadget. Protect the OS patched to avoid group security holes and refined bugs that impact a group’s operation. The patching course of could be so much smoother on a group that minimizes the number of OSes.
5. Configuration remediation
Remediation and configuration updates are the place automation gives its largest value. As an example, updating passwords, modifying an important entry administration itemizing or making a routing protocol change all through tons of of routers are actions made simpler by starting with a acknowledged, regular configuration.
6. Change administration
Change administration moreover turns into additional surroundings pleasant with automation. If all group configurations are saved in a single Git repository, engineers can merely monitor changes, implement mannequin administration and roll once more to earlier configurations if needed. Completely completely different devices provide distinct advantages when choosing a typical platform for change administration.
As an example, a database-driven platform like NetBox gives a structured and enriched provide of actuality for group configurations. Nonetheless, a Git-based platform like Nautobot — born out of NetBox — extends Git’s mannequin administration benefits whereas allowing for additional automation-driven workflows, along with CI/CD pipelines for group configuration updates.
7. Security
Commonplace designs are mandatory for various causes, along with security. Neighborhood teams should continuously apply good security configurations all through the entire infrastructure to cease unhealthy actors from accessing the group. As an example, with cloud networking, implement a standardized routing protection the place all guests is routed by the use of a central security VPN sooner than reaching the net or completely different digital personal clouds.
8. Neighborhood troubleshooting
Standardization considerably simplifies network troubleshooting on account of regular working procedures are easier to create and protect. As an example, if every change is configured to ship logs to a centralized server, engineers can merely entry the logs to hint down the inspiration motive behind an issue.
9. Standardization all through public clouds
Standardization should delay previous on-premises networks to cloud and multi-cloud environments. As an example, teams using infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or OpenTofu can use one configuration language to stipulate networking insurance coverage insurance policies all through AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. This ensures uniform security groups, firewall tips and routing configurations.
10. AI-driven group automation
Making a digital twin of the group and using AI to work along with it using pure language fairly than superior group configuration is starting to attain traction. When an interaction is made using pure language, AI brokers preconfigured with a knowledge base of group instructions understand the language and work along with the group gadget or cloud infrastructure on behalf of the human.
It’s essential to standardize a knowledge base in your AI brokers. The information base shall be constructed with vendor-neutral instructions. As an example, when a group engineer says, “Set the tempo of all vigorous Gigabit Ethernet interfaces with an IP deal with in subnet 192.168.1.0/24 to 10 Gbps,” the agent interprets that request proper right into a vendor-neutral format. To see additional of this in movement, check out John Capobianco’s YouTube channel.
Automation and group standardization complement each other
Automation and group standardization work collectively to reinforce group operations and cut back human error. Commonplace group designs enable fixed utility of automation all through larger elements of networks. In flip, automation identifies exceptions to group necessities and permits the group group to implement configuration changes quickly and exactly. This synergy results in a safer, scalable and resilient group that is ready to help future utilized sciences like AI-driven automation.
Editor’s discover: This textual content was updated in February 2025 to copy the latest developments in group standardization as a result of it pertains to automation.
Charles Uneze is a technical writer who specializes in cloud-native networking, Kubernetes and open provide.
Terry Slattery is an neutral information who specializes in group administration and group automation. He primarily based Netcordia and invented NetMRI, a group analysis gear that provides visibility into the issues and complexity of up to date router- and switch-based IP networks.