GOC

Tail-f Systems (News - Alert), a major software developer of XML-based network management solutions, announced today that it is shipping two new products which enable network equipment and network management software providers to unleash the powerful configuration management capabilities built into the NETCONF standard. ConfM, for element management systems, and Instant NETCONF Agent, for network equipment, complement Tail-f Systems’ existing ConfD software to make up the industry’s most complete family of NETCONF solutions.

 

Håkan Millroth, CEO of Tail-f Systems, says, “Basically we’re offering a complete solution for telecom equipment vendors that want to NETCONF-enable their products. NETCONF is a new approach to management that helps network operators reduce their operating expenses and downtime in the networks.”

 

“We develop and sell software to the equipment vendors, not the service providers,” says Millroth. “Typically we develop XML-based network management software for them. We have many employees who have a background in the network equipment industry.”

 

“The problem with today’s networks is that until, recently there was no configuration management standard,” says Millroth. “The popular SNMP is used for monitoring – but it suffers from limitations when it comes to configuration management. Manual configurations done with a Command Line Interface (CLI) tends to be error prone, and mis-configuration is a major cause of network outages. Moreover, complex multi-service networks are expensive to administer – OPEX (News - Alert) is a big concern for carriers.”

 

“Fortunately, there is now a better way. NETCONF is an IETF Standard (RFC 4741 nad 4742) that supports automated configuration, leveraging as it does XML. It can handle transaction management, rollback management, and it delivers strategic benefits to operators. NETCONF also engenders reduced downtime, simplifies network operation and reduces costs,” says Millroth.

 

The NETCONF protocol defines a programmatic interface enabling management applications to automate the configuration of network elements. Transaction management, validations, and rollbacks are powerful configuration management functions built into NETCONF. Transaction management combines multiple configuration changes into a single atomic transaction. By ensuring that all changes are made consistently before they are finally committed, network operators avoid mis-configuration errors that often lead to network outages. Both carrier and enterprise networks benefit from NETCONF as a mechanism to resiliently provision complex networks while reducing operating costs.

 

The second product introduced, ConfM, is a Java-based software engine which allows EMS/NMS software developers to extend their applications with a southbound NETCONF interface and intelligent network-wide configuration management functions. Designed for carrier-grade performance, ConfM is implemented using a scalable session oriented programming model.

 

For embedded network management software developers, Instant NETCONF Agent is possibly the fastest way to add a northbound NETCONF Interface to existing applications. Instant NETCONF Agent is a highly portable and compact software library that fully implements all NETCONF capabilities.

 

ConfM and Instant NETCONF Agent are both shipping and available for evaluation.