Network Automation: A Journey, Not a Destination
summary
Argues that start with validation first because fifteen–twenty show commands often catch ~75% of regressions and you need answers faster than ten minutes; builds test automation next with a mix of physical and virtual labs that mirror production (spin up exact topology from a source‑of‑truth) and run the same checks; warns that full config automation (BGP, L3 VPN, route‑policy) is high risk in multi‑vendor environments; recommends an OpenConfig‑style data model and Python over Ansible once you need complex DB-driven logic.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction and disclaimer
- 1:09Why pursue network automation
- 3:16Components of network automation
- 6:28Where to start: validation
- 9:20Test automation importance
- 12:34Configuration automation challenges
- 15:20Source of truth database
- 18:56Choosing the right database
- 20:40Ansible and automation tools
- 22:52Commercial automation frameworks
- 24:36Q&A and closing remarks
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