NIL succeeded to integrate, streamline, and modernize traditional, cloud-based infrastructures with standardized configuration management and network automation capabilities that help your organization increase business and IT agility, productivity, and efficiency. NIL Standard cloud management solution is based on off-the-shelf Cloud management platform (CMP) and supplemented with other off-the-shelf automation/orchestration tools. We successfully separated all software components into specialized layers with different responsibilities and mutual independence :
- Intent-based and interface layer: A process that describes which topology devices must be configured in what way.
- Topology layer: Description of network layout and topology objects, such as zones, network segments, devices, and endpoints.
- Functional layer: A layer that discloses the minimum set of functions for a particular family of devices. For example, the firewall function layer can provide functions for managing firewall policies.
- Device layer:
- Device-specific function layer (higher level functions are translated to API calls)
- Low-level API (pure API calls)
In most cases, this architecture keeps all the layers organized and at the same time allows us to react quicker to changes without further human mistakes. Adding a firewall device should be as easy as implementing a new device layer. In essence, a function is an abstraction layer that only reveals high-level functions and leaves low-level implementation details to the device layer. This protects the service level logic from changes at the device level. Similarly, it also prevents the device layers from knowing any details about the service logic.
Cloud trends are pointing towards a way to dramatically speed up IT service delivery and quickly adapt to the ever-changing business needs while using the infrastructure in a more cost-effective way. And this is the same with NIL Standard cloud management solution. Workload within a private cloud can transform a complex topology into an easily-managed ecosystem that is mostly automated, consistent, and simplified to avoid human mistakes.