We’ve Doubled the Number of Cisco DNA Center Reservable Sandboxes

The Cisco DNA Center sandboxes have always been in high demand. For a while now we have had two always-on and two reservable sandboxes for Cisco DNA Center. With each of these sandboxes requiring at least one Cisco DNA Center appliance and several Catalyst 9000 switches, it’s easy to see why they were some of the most expensive sandboxes we have. (Hence, the limited number.) Expensive not only because of the hardware appliance and physical Catalyst 9000 switches, but also from a rack footprint, power, and cooling perspective.

Fully test all the features of the Cisco DNA Center platform including building SDA fabrics

Taking advantage of some virtualization secret sauce and holiday magic, the sandbox team has done a tremendous job and they have launched 4 Cisco DNA Center reservable sandboxes. Yes, you’ve read that right! We have doubled the number of Cisco DNA Center reservable sandboxes! And all 4 of them are running the latest version of code 2.3.3.5 as of the writing of this blog and have a Cisco ISE server so you can fully test all the features of the Cisco DNA Center platform including building SDA fabrics. There are two CoreOS virtual machines attached to the access switches for traffic generation and client troubleshooting. We’ve also included a CentOS DevBox that provides a developer environment with Python, virtual environment, Ansible and other tools already preinstalled.

Topology of the new reservable sandboxes

Test and develop your applications and integrations

The two always on sandboxes are still there, available at all times. They will also be upgraded to 2.3.3.5 in January, 2023. So, you now have 6 Cisco DNA Center sandboxes available for you to test and develop your own applications and integrations!

Next year will be an even bigger year for Cisco DNA Center sandboxes with the team looking at migrating our current environments to a fully virtual setup taking advantage of the recently announced Cisco DNA Center virtual appliance. This should allow us to better scale our Cisco DNA Center environments and provide even more sandboxes to you, our community.

No cost to you

If you want to discover Cisco DNA Center, explore the REST API interface it provides, or develop your first application or integration using Cisco DNA Center, these sandboxes provided at no cost to you are an invaluable resource!

Source: cisco.com

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Get Hands-on in the Cisco Crosswork Automation Sandbox

Cisco Crosswork Network Automation is a microservices platform that brings together streaming telemetry, big data, and model-driven application programming interfaces (APIs) to redefine how service providers conduct network operations. Cisco Crosswork Network Automation offers a platform to collaborate, and build an application ecosystem around on-box innovation.

The Cisco Crosswork Network Automation product suite is a highly scalable and efficient operations automation framework. It enables service providers to quickly deploy intent-driven, closed-loop operations. You can plan, implement, run, monitor, and perfect your service provider network automation, and gain mass awareness, augmented intelligence, and proactive control for data-driven, outcome-based network automation.

Streamline Network Operation Processes

Automation plays a significant role in helping organizations move more quickly by streamlining operational processes such as:

◉ Executing workflows at machine speed with high operational efficiency and repeatable quality

◉ Bridging and synchronizing business and Information Technology (IT) processes to cut gaps and improve customer experience

◉ Supplying analytics to improve decision-making and shorten fault resolution times

Lab, Test, and Build in the New Sandbox

Now you can lab, test and build with the new Cisco Crosswork Automation Sandbox. This new sandbox lets you:

◉ Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time

◉ Prepare network changes triggered by changes in KPIs

◉ Roll out these changes automatically

◉ Automated change-impact and security analysis

Production Crosswork Suite within the Sandbox

You will find a “production” Crosswork suite deployed to manage the multi-platform network within the sandbox lab. This network is made up of:

◉ Cisco Crosswork cluster

◉ Cisco Crosswork Data Gateway (CDG)

◉ Cisco Network Service Orchestrator (NSO)

◉ Cisco IOS XE/XR routers

Included in the sandbox is a new use case which will help understanding the Applications of Health Insights and Change Automation.  In this scenario, we want to showcase how to attach and detach the devices from Crosswork Data Gateway (CDG). As a part of the scenario, we will also showcase how to change the credentials at the device level.

◉ Scenario 1: Device Level Management: Showcase how to attach and detach the devices from Crosswork Data Gateway (CDG). As a part of the scenario, we will also highlight how to change the credentials at the device level

◉ Scenario 2: Health Insights Application Overview: See how Cisco Crosswork Health Insights offers real-time, telemetry-based Key Performance Indicator (KPI) monitoring and intelligent alerting.

◉ Scenario 2A: Create and enable KPI profiles: In this scenario, KPIs are provisioned on IOS-XR devices via a KPI Profile. The KPIs can be either GNMI, MDT, or SNMP protocol based. We can then enable the KPIs and verify that the respective data are being collected and visually presented on Health Insights

◉ Scenario 3: Network Automation Application Overview Learn how to codify workflows using parameterized Plays and stitch them into Playbooks for execution in a step-by-step or single-step fashion.

◉ Scenario 3A: Playbook execution. Now we have our code, let us define an automation task to achieve the intended network states in Change Automation using Playbooks

Source: cisco.com

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