Automation of Network Services for the Future Internet

Internet service providers are shifting to an open, modern, software-based architecture that enables both new operating and business models. The target architecture is loosely coupled, cloud-native, data and artificial intelligence-driven, and relies on traffic engineering-related protocols to get the full potential of the network capabilities. The components need to use standard interfaces to be easily procured and deployed without the need for customization. Achieving these goals will require a significant change in how the network resources are architected, built, procured, licensed, and maintained. Some levers to drive this transformation rely on adopting open protocols such as NETCONF/RESTCONF or gNMI to operate the network and use standard data models to interact with the network more programmatically. This chapter presents such architecture, including service provider experiences.