What is Network Automation?

• Network Automation Definition

  Network Automation Definition

  Network automation is about replacing the manual processes required for network administration with software to improve the efficiency and reliability of the network. Companies leverage software to lower operating costs, reduce human errors, and boost productivity.
• How does network automation work?

  How does network automation work?

  There are multiple ways to automate a network and its components. However, the two most popular approaches arecommand-line automation and automation software:

  1. Command-line or script-based automation: You can leverage standard command-line instructions and scripts to automate network components. However, with this approach, the scope of automation is limited to a particular device or module. It also requires network engineers to have a solid understanding of various programming languages. Additionally, automation through the command-line interface (CLI) of network devices is more suitable for standard processes and can fall apart if customized changes are made to the network infrastructure.
  2. Automation software: GUI-based automation software is the modern and more efficient way to manage, configure, and provision a network. These tools eliminate manual, time-consuming command-line instructions and can automate your network components efficiently and quickly. An automation platform can discover devices, track all the network components, and populate the network inventory with important device details, such as IP address and number of ports. Having critical device information in a single, centralized repository enables you to execute several network tasks. You can also create standardized configurations, design change templates, and leverage workflows with a modern network automation platform to consolidate and automate network operations.
• Why should you automate your network?

  Why should you automate your network?

  Organizations leverage hybrid IT infrastructure and distributed workloads for seamless availability of their applications and infrastructure. However, this often leads to complex network configurations and poor visibility across the environment. The growing complexity of networks combined with manual operations may result in lengthy and unplanned downtimes, hampering business operations. Complex and unresponsive networks also slow down enterprise development and deployment initiatives, which impede your business innovation capabilities.

  IT automation can improve network efficiency and reliability by eliminating the human errors and inconsistencies emerging from manual processes. You can also cut down on operational costs with automation.
• Network automation benefits

  Network automation benefits

  Enterprises can realize the following benefits by automating their network operations:

  • Reduced possibility of human errors: IT automation reduces the manual intervention of complex network processes and the likelihood of errors, such as config mistakes and typos. Reduced errors also improve enterprise network resiliency and reliability, allowing you to maintain minimum acceptable service levels in network fault scenarios.
  • Optimized network performance: You can leverage multiple network monitoring tools to help automate tasks such as network capacity forecasting to enhance your network performance. Such tools regularly monitor and oversee the health of your network devices and alert network administrators in case of errors, such as excessive resource usage, duplicate IP addresses, and missing routes. Receiving timely alerts can optimize your network performance and accelerate service delivery.
  • Lower IT costs: Automation eliminates the additional time, resources, and manual effort required for network administration. This lowers the cost of IT maintenance and management in your enterprise, and automating networks keeps IT staff away from the repetitive, low-value tasks associated with network administration. You can then spend the time saved focusing on strategic initiatives capable of driving productivity and innovation in your business.
  • Deeper insights and network control: Automation provides greater visibility into network operations by helping identify and troubleshoot existing issues and predict future vulnerabilities faster. It also supports complex network analysis, co-relating data from various sources such as switches, routers, configuration files, and more. It gives you the ability to control and adjust your network operations as required.
  • Simplified network management: Simplify network administration processes with IT automation. Manual network operations are resource- and time-intensive and challenging to perform regularly. Relying on automation can help you implement network configuration and change management tasks efficiently and consistently. It also reduces the risk of network downtime and ensures greater availability during peak business hours. Additionally, automation enables you to easily apply mass configuration changes to your network components with minimal effort, making management faster and more efficient.
• What is network configuration automation?

  What is network configuration automation?

  Network configuration automation refers to using software for supervision and automation of various device configuration management activities—from device discovery to compliance auditing—in a network.

  You can leverage network configuration management software to automate bulk configuration changes to network devices, monitor those changes in real time, and receive alerts for unauthorized changes. For instance, automation software can roll out a blanket password change across your enterprise network in case of a password breach. And such software enables you to create standardized device configurations and design change templates to accelerate network configuration and change management processes.
• Types of tools for network automation

  Types of tools for network automation

  There are various network automation tools designed to automate a network. These tools may be vendor-specific or vendor-agnostic. Vendor-specific software can simplify network management and automation. However, for companies leveraging multi-vendor products, it can be difficult and costly to invest in such software.

  In contrast, GUI-based platforms can manage all the devices in a network, no matter the vendor. These modern network configuration and automation platforms have easy-to-use interfaces and are cost-effective in the long term compared to their vendor-specific counterparts. These advanced platforms easily replace different types of proprietary network management devices installed in your enterprise environment.

  Below are the key features, benefits, and use cases of these automation solutions:

  • Schedule network configuration backups automatically
    You can back up configurations from network devices such as routers and switches using network configuration automation and change management software. These tools give you the flexibility to customize the time of the backup, leveraging built-in trivial FTP (TFTP) servers to ensure business continuity during peak hours.
  • Execute bulk configuration changes across the network
    With automation tools, it’s easy to implement bulk changes on network devices. You can change templates, standardize configurations, and roll back to previous stable configurations if you encounter errors due to bulk changes. You can also roll out these changes or configurations to newly installed network devices as and when required.
  • Ensure bullet-grade network security 
    Network configuration management software can provide timely alerts for unauthorized configuration changes to your network devices. Subsequently, it can fix those errors to eliminate possible security breaches or network failures. These tools can continuously monitor your network devices to scan firmware vulnerabilities and eliminate them via remote upgrades to discard potential threats.
  • Generate device information and configuration reports
    Automation software can also generate insightful reports in multiple formats about your overall network performance and send them to your email account. Then dive deep into these actionable reports to analyze your network’s shortcomings or possible vulnerabilities and fix them accordingly.
  • Support for multi-vendor network devices
    Modern automation platforms can easily manage a multitude of network devices from different vendors. The out-of-the-box support for major network device vendors can help companies improve their network administration efficiency and cut down on operational costs.
  • Demonstrate network compliance
    You can use automation tools for auditing device configurations and ensuring compliance with internal security policies and standards, such as DISA STIG, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. Detecting vulnerabilities across the network and fixing them via bulk change becomes simpler with regular audits using automation tools.