What Is Network Automation and How Can You Use It to Manage Your Resources? – TechGenix

You can work toward network automation!

Businesses worldwide are looking to leverage technology to improve daily operations. Additionally, companies have more users and use cases. As a result, enterprise networking is getting convoluted. This increasing network complexity hinders growth and affects businesses. So what is the solution? Network automation! Automation allows you to automate manual, cumbersome tasks in networking. It also helps in standardizing the network structure. Finally, automation will help build a more reliable enterprise network.

In this article, Ill be walking you through network automation. Ill also show you how it works and what benefits it provides your business. Youll also learn some best practices for automation. Finally, youll see the top vendors to consider when automating your network.

But first, lets find out more about network automation.

Network automation is the process of using software to manage network resources and services. You can achieve network automation through a software-defined network (SDN). An SDN introduces network virtualization capabilities. This makes it easy to automate and control the networks.

Network automation also can help you configure, test, deploy, and operate components in your network. Since enterprise networks are becoming more complex, network automation tools are gaining traction. Here are some of the things these tools can do:

To better understand what network automation is, lets look at how it works.

Generally, you automate networks with programmable logic on the devices command line interface (CLI). This way, the nodes can dynamically perform automated actions. These include network filtering, port controlling, bandwidth control, etc.

However, this method isnt scalable. It also limits the scope of automation as it needs to be done on a per device basis. As a result, most modern networking infrastructures offer a centralized control panel. This panel will connect all the networking devices within the network.

Network administrators or programmers can create programmable logic and scripts. This way, they can control and automate your network. To do this, they can use the devices CLI or graphical UI. Alternatively, admins can rely on external systems or automation tools. After that, programmers can execute these scripts using the CLI or API.

Automation tools and services can help you automate several everyday networking tasks. For instance, they can help you analyze and predict bandwidth usage. Automation will also help you with network inventory management and dynamic provisioning. Youll also be able to backup and change configurations across your business. Finally, network automation tools can help you remotely control access points and ports.

Now that you understand how network automation works, lets look at some of its benefits.

Generally, growing companies cant manage and scale their infrastructure easily. But network automation helps you overcome this challenge. In turn, youll also improve your overall efficiency. Lets take a more detailed look at the benefits of network automation:

You should follow some best practices to harness the benefits of network automation. Lets take a look at those now.

Network automation tools and services use software abstraction. They connect networking devices and nodes. This way, they give you an easy-to-control network management workflow. Here are some best practices you can adopt to get the most out of network automation:

Often, companies arent attentive when selecting a network automation vendor. This is a huge mistake. Before you start choosing a vendor, know what you need to automate in your network. This will help you narrow down your search list for the vendor. Itll also help you save costs.

The industry faces several challenges with the network automation skill gap. In fact, programming experience is lacking. Network scripting also has a steep learning curve. Did you know that only 3% of networking teams know how to perform automation tasks? So, choosing a service that allows low-code network automation could prove to be very beneficial. This will eliminate the dependency associated with certain employees. Low-code network automation will also limit human errors.

Often, network architectures include solutions from many vendors. This means you should design a vendor-agnostic network orchestration. This mitigates the overhead associated with fixing errors or making changes to your network. Alternatively, you can find and deploy automation tools that support different vendors. This way, you can implement a true single view multi-vendor support.

Its important to choose a service that integrates directly with external systems. For instance, integration with ELK and ServiceNow helps with log management and incident reporting. If your service has broad API integration support, you can streamline your business operations. Youll be more flexible and youll use external tools to fit your needs.

If you automate configuration, youll ensure consistency across all your applications. Youll also mitigate human errors. This enables your network admins to convert the configuration into software code. In turn, you can build a single source of truth for all configurations across your organization.

Next, lets take a look at some of the industrys most commonly used network automation tools.

You must choose a network automation tool that meets your businesss modern-day requirements. Your tool should follow the best practices mentioned above. To help you with your choice, Ive compiled the top 3 network automation tools:

GFIs Exinda is a reliable and feature-packed network orchestrator. This tool can provide complete visibility and control over your networks resources, performance, and security. Exinda also gives you real-time network monitoring. This can help you improve the service quality of your networking services and applications.

Exinda also offers easy-to-use dashboards so you can better identify the network use, performance issues, bottlenecks, and more. You can use Exinda to automate your network management. Finally, this tool can help you orchestrate bandwidth usage and scalability to improve application performance.

GFI Exinda doesnt have fixed pricing. That said, you can choose either the Basic or Premium plans. Ultimately, the cost depends on your network.

SolarWinds NCM is yet another reliable network configuration tool. It can enable you to automate your organizational network. Also, SolarWinds NCM gives you control over all components and bandwidth usage. It also provides policy-based configuration. This means all the devices on your network will follow your company strategies.

SolarWinds NCM has many features. For instance, it offers network compliance and automation. Youll also get smart vulnerability assessments. Finally, the NCM supports integration with network performance monitoring.

SolarWinds NCM starts at $1,738 per processor. You also can get a custom quote depending on your network and the number of processors you wish to automate.

VMware NSX is a network security and virtualization tool. It provides a software-defined approach to managing and configuring organizational networks. VMware NSX also offers a centralized dashboard. This way, you can easily manage all your distributed networks as a single entity. Finally, VMware NSX allows you to perform network and micro-segmentation of individual workloads. This will give you granular control and security.

VMWare NSX Standard per network processor starts at $1,995.

Automation is key to success in todays contemporary IT world. In fact, automation can help you scale faster while saving on costs. It also lets you improve your systems efficiency. Network automation can help simplify your network management.

Now that you understand the many benefits of network automation, you can finally choose an automation tool for your business. You should follow the best practices I discussed before selecting your vendor. This way, you can reap all the benefits of network automation.

Do you have more questions about network automation or its applications? Check out the FAQ and Resources below!

A software-defined network (SDN) is a networking technology. It uses software systems to design, deploy, manage, and configure enterprise networks. SDN allows organizations to intelligently and centrally control their entire network. That includes network peripherals and bandwidth usage.

Command Line Interface (CLI) is a text-based user interface. You can use it to develop, run, manage, and control software systems, tools, and applications. You also can use CLI to automate your network. To do this, you deploy scripts and automation tasks.

An application programming interface (API) establishes communication between different systems. An API is an intermediary that allows software systems to request and access information. You can access several network automation tools and services using APIs.

Network orchestration is a process where a network controller helps achieve business objectives. The controller may design the network. Itll also set up network peripherals and devices, applications, and services. You can leverage network orchestration to automate enterprise networks.

Network automation is domain and industry-agnostic. This means its applicable in all industries that require networking. These include Information Technology, manufacturing, service-based industries, banking, and cloud services.

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What Is Network Automation and How Can You Use It to Manage Your Resources? - TechGenix