Atrinet provides network management solutions and service erchestration, introduced network programability and automation of service delivery to enterprise service providers. For more information: www.atrinet.com/products/netace/

1. Lifecycle Service Manager
NetACE White Paper
www.atrinet.com

2. SDN Migration and Deployment Challenges
Applications compatibility issues
An SDN Controller communicates with
SDN Applications, these applications are
written to a set of APIs that are
provided by the SDN controller. Generally,
APIs are not standardized, so an SDN
Application that runs on a given SDN
controller may have to be modified to run
on another SDN controller. A Mediation
Layer for connecting network Applications
to re-configurable Network Nodes / SDN
controllers is required.
Missing Skills
SDN requires bringing together advanced
networking and programming skills, which
is not a common thing among IT
professionals, especially in an environment
where the staff is constantly replaced by
new ones.
SDN holds great promise in terms of simplifying network deployment and operation along with lowering the
total cost of managing enterprise and carrier networks by providing programmable network services.
However, a number of challenges remain to be addressed:
Preserving the effectiveness of network
operations during the transition state
It would be straightforward to deploy a completely new
infrastructure based on SDN technology. For this, all
elements and devices in the network would be SDN-
enabled. However, there exists an installed-base of
networks today that cannot be replaced in one day or in
the near future. The transition to SDN requires
simultaneous support of SDN and traditional equipment.
Further development and complicated integration is
required to achieve a hybrid SDN infrastructure in which
traditional, SDN-enabled and hybrid network nodes can
operate in harmony and being managed and automated at
the same time. Such approach would reduce the cost, risk
and disruption for enterprise and carrier networks
transitioning to SDN as well as enable new revenue
generation and SDN-like programmability during the
transition state, which is an extremely painful process for
the operator in terms of operational efficiency and
expenses.
Conclusion
SDN offers many advantages to network design including programmability, agility and NFV. However, in most
cases SDN is not being deployed in greenfield networks. To ensure the smooth and cost-effective transition
to SDN (and afterwards) without disrupting daily network operations and revenue streams, an operator
requires a set of SW tools like those described in this paper to streamline the management of a complex
multi-vendor network built of different generations of telecommunication equipment and to deliver open and
unified programmable interfaces to allow the orchestration of applications and automation of network
functions.
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 2

3. NetACE is designed to transform enterprise and carrier networks by unifying traditional network management
and open, SDN-style network orchestration and programmability to enable Lifecycle Service automation and
flexibility, being a missing link in the transformation from Legacy to Next Generation networks.
NetACE shortens service delivery times and reduces operational expenses by simplifying and automating
service design, service activation, network-aware resource allocation and routine network maintenance tasks
across multi-vendor, multi-service networks of different generations.
NetACE provides control, e2e visibility and real-time assurance over the customer’s network and services
through a single pane-of-glass management.
• Lifecycle Service Management (design, configure, activate, discover, control, assure)
• Network-aware and policy-driven mapping of services to network resources
• Vendor-agnostic L2-L4 service activation (via NetACE GUI or “hands-free” through REST APIs)
• Traditional and Next Generation Networks automation and programmability
• Open and Simple Model-driven Service Design (no programming skills required)
• Vendor Device Independence (add a new vendor in 15 minutes via GUI)
• Real-time Troubleshooting
NetACE Value
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 3

4. Receive Order Process Order Decline Order
Design
Service
Create
configuration
Activate
Service
Monitor &
Manage
18% 37% 31% 14% % Cost
NetACEAPI
Why automating Service Lifecycle Management is
so important?
NetACE focuses on the following:
1. Automating the most expensive and time-consuming tasks such as design, configuration and activation
2. Automatic resource allocation based on user constrains and network availability
3. Real-time monitoring and managing all customer’s services
Implication of lack of network-wide programmability and automation in terms of OpEx
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 4

5. • Ensure a successful migration to SDN
• Deliver the benefits of SDN to Traditional Networks
• Generate new revenue from new agile services
• Drive down operational expenses by 30-40%
• Enable design agility
• Achieve rapid time-to-market
• Totally eliminate the risk of vendor lock-in
• Significantly reduced mean time to recovery (MTTR)
Why NetACE
Challenge: To deliver a cost effective, Lifecycle Service
Management solution that can enable the design and
operational agility, rapid vendor-agnostic service
deployment, holistic and real-time view and seamless
automation of traditional and next generation networks.

6. Existing Gaps
Delays in
Service Activation
Lack of
Automation
• Hands-free provisioning
• Network wide transactions
• Real-Time Service Discovery
• Open Service Architecture
• Model-driven
• Vendor agnostic provisioning
STEP 1
Reuse / Update / Create
Network Entities
Large Multi-Vendor Multi-Service Network
New Service Type Order
Service Model
Mapping
STEP 2
Create new Service
Model (Automap Entities)
STEP 3
Provision the new
Service
Costly Software
Overhead
• Adapter-free configuration
• Self-customizable
• Vendor agnostic
Configuration change
Juniper Cisco Alcatel Huawei
CLISNMP NETCONF
Monitor
Topology &
Inventory & FCAPS
Configuration
Activation Engine
3rd Party Apps NetACE GUIWeb-portalsOSS/BSS
Database
REST
Error-Prone
Operations
• Built-in Resource management
• Rollbacks
• Validation
A unique SDN approach of NetACE
“Getting Started” at a glance
Define as many network equipment vendors and device types as you desire into the system via the GUI-
based Device Type Manager (a process that takes less than 15 minutes).
Automatically discover your multi-vendor network by an IP address range (both devices and links) realizing
full FCAPS functionality.
Rapidly create any L2-L4 service models (or approach us to create those for you) via the Service Modeling
Tool (an open web-based, graphical interface; no programming skills required)
Mass-provision the custom-designed customer’s services in a point-and-click manner via NetACE GUI or
via 3rd party OSS/BSS portals.
NetACE is truly an open platform unifying traditional network management and open, SDN-style network
programmability and Lifecycle Service Orchestration while eliminating management silos. This in turn enables
service definition and provisioning automation that shortens time-to-market, delivers complete vendor
independency and dramatically improves cost structure.
The following figure clearly demonstrates NetACE's high-level functionality and the necessity for the
innovation it delivers
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 6

7. 7
«Policer»
«Firewall»
«QoS»
«VPN Site»
Create Service
Model
Drag & Drop the relevant
Network Entities
Design Service
Entities
CLI-based Data Model
Activate the
Service
Via NetACE GUI or
OSS/BSS Portals
(via REST APIs)
(auto-rollback if failed)
Real-Time Discovery
Health Monitoring
Modification
Deletion
Web-based Service Modeling Tool
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Service Modeling Service Activation Service Management
• Model any type of service: E-line, E-Lan (VPLS), E-Tree, L2VPNs, L3VPNs
• Provision the service across multiple networks/vendors as a simple atomic transaction:
Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel, Huawei, ZTE, Ciena…
• Manage, control and real-time monitor all customer’s services
NetACE provides a real-time, less expensive and the most practical way to program a multi-generation network and
the entire Service Lifecycle, delivering true vendor-agnostic multi-service solutions that control today's and
tomorrow's networks through a single pane-of-glass.
Automating Service Lifecycle Management with NetACE
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 7

8. Model-Driven
NetACE's unique Open Model-driven
Service Design Architecture easily enables
the design of the most complex services by
the service provider (in-house) in a matter of
hours, and run-time introduction of these
completely new services to the Service
Catalog. Atrinet has developed a simple and
intuitive process of designing new services
in NetACE using the web-based Service
Modeling Tool without the necessity for any
programming skills and system upgrades.
Programmable
Networks that allow business customers and/or their
applications to order, add, change and flex connectivity
services on demand are variously called "programmable
networks," "user-defined networks" or "network as a
service" (NaaS), but the principle is the same. They allow
customers, through a portal, to logically define where
they want connectivity services, their type and bandwidth.
NetACE receives the service creation request and user
parameters through its programmatic interfaces and
automatically provisions the service, taking minutes to
deploy what would once have taken a team of network
engineers perhaps weeks to roll out..
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 8
Available Today
Roadmap
3rd Party SW
NetACE Open Architecture
Service
Discovery Engine
Service Model
Service Model
YANG-based Service ModelsService Manager
Device Manager
Vendor-agnostic
CLI Adapter
NetACE
NetACE GUI
OSS/BSS
Portals
Service Model
Service Model
Device MIB Object Rules
Service Model
Service Model
YANG-Based Device Models
Service Model
Service Model
Entity-based Service Models
Centralized DB
SNMP NETCONF
OpenFLow
Controllers
REST
NMS/EMSNGNLegacy
FCAPS &
Topology
Network Service
Orchestration
Software
RESTXMLCORBAJava
Large Multi-vendor Networks: Hardware, Virtual, OpenFlow
Distributed, Redundant Backend Servers
BES
BES
BES
CRM &
Bulling
• Tier 1 scalability: 60K NEs and 250K Services
• Linux and VMware Virtualization
• Modular and Distributed system Architecture
• Component Redundancy with Load Sharing

9. NetACE Applications
NetACE Web-based Service Modeling Tool™ and Service Catalog Manager
NetACE's Open Model-driven Service Design Architecture enables the design of the most complex service
types and run-time introduction of these completely new services to the Service Catalog in a matter of hours.
Atrinet has developed a simple and intuitive process of designing a new service in NetACE using the web-
based Service Modeling Tool and Service Catalog Manager that operates in a "drag-&-drop" manner.
This web-based tool facilitates the addition of new service models that are automatically saved to the Service
Catalog as well as modification of existing ones. Users model a service based on their knowledge of the
network and the service type they wish to implement, sometimes even relying on pre-existing Network
Entities that contain the set of CLI commands currently used to deploy a service. A service model can be
defined using either the rapid point-and-click Service Creation GUI or a scripting language or a mixture of
both. This flexibility allows the design of a variety of models ranging from the simple service model containing
a set of commands and parameters to the complicated ones which can include command conditionals,
sophisticated network logic and parameters requiring validation by built-in, user-defined Resource Managers.
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 9

10. NetACE Multi-vendor Topology Discovery Engine™ (and GUI)
Provides an accurate view of your network by automatically discovering and tracking changes to your network’s
equipment. NetACE’s automated discovery process completely eliminates preparatory manual data entry.
Adding a new Vendor in 15 minutes (via GUI)
Adding a new and previously unknown device vendor to an NMS is usually a very expensive and time-consuming
process which requires vendor intervention and extensive development effort. The device may have non-standard
MIBs that need to be mapped to the device properties, and therefore the relevant changes must be inserted in several
places in the source code (e.g. OIDs must be hardcoded to show module information). These code changes
inevitably mean the release of a new software version. With NetACE's new Custom Device feature, adding a new
device type is speedily done within 15 minutes and never requires code modification. As part of the process, every
new device type configuration is automatically stored into NetACE's database including all its OIDs as configured by
the operator. Modification of the mapping between the device's MIBs and of the full set of properties controlled by
NetACE is simply achieved via GUI-based Device Type Manager and in effect allows any device vendor to be
automatically discovered, have a full set of managed properties, FCAPS and automated Service Lifecycle capabilities.
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 10

11. NetACE SDN Lifecycle Service Management Suite™
Leveraging NetACE's Lifecycle Service Management capabilities and Open Model-drive Service Design Architecture,
moving away from hard-coded, rigid service structures to re-usable and easy editable service models, will make the
service provider’s operational environment much more agile and achieve accelerated time-to-market for introducing
new services quickly into their portfolio. Operators will significantly improve their responsiveness to business demands
through a simple and network-aware service design approach (no programming skills required), rapid cross-silo
service deployment and, at the same time, reduce overheads associated with the network operations.
Rapidly design, configure, activate, plan and allocate resources, discover, assure, control all types of custom-
designed services over a complex multi-vendor network.
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager
 15 minutes
To model a new device type
 2 hours
To model a new service
 1 minute
To activate a new service
Design
Configure
Activate
Allocate
resourcesDiscover
Assure
Control
NetACE
Service Lifecycle
11

12. NetACE Real-Time Service Discovery Engine™
Discovery and reconciliation of services and network resources are key components of Lifecycle Service
Management, efficient network utilization and stability. NetACE enables operators to discover and manage not
only all cross-silo services created via NetACE but also has a unique technique to discover externally created
“brownfield” services.
NetACE Zero-touch Service Provisioning and Planning™
NetACE eliminates the complexity of circuit provisioning though zero-touch automated service activation for L2-L4
services. It enables pre-provisioning of services prior to deployment of physical network elements, automatic
resource allocation and ensures that the configuration parameters necessary for service delivery are correctly
applied.
NetACE RESTful APIs
NetACE provides robust northbound RESTful APIs for automated network provisioning, customer management,
billing, payment and ordering functionality, and integrates with the latest web technologies and OSS/BSS systems.
NetACE User-defined Resource Management™ and Automated Resource Allocation
NetACE, with its user-defined, network-aware Resource Management and Automated Resource
Allocation system, reduces the need for administrators to be constantly engaged in endlessly repetitive
routine work, allowing them to focus on the broader, higher-level tasks of managing their infrastructure.
Sophisticated and custom-defined resource management and automated resource allocation system
helps to avoid human errors while maintaining multiple customer datasheets outside the system and
attempting to set the correct parameter during provisioning. It replaces the manual, error-prone and time-
consuming resource lookup procedures with a smart and fully automated resource allocation process
which is custom-defined and managed inside the NetACE’s database.
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 12

13. NetACE Centralized Device Configuration Manager™ and Task Scheduler
Automatically backs up, restores, upgrades, and loads SW, etc. on all NEs across the entire network, regardless of
vendor, using a consistent process and a single user interface. Simply design and allocate custom network tasks
including target backup servers, backup frequency, and scheduling.
NetACE Fault Manager™
Minimizes network downtime and improves mean-time-to-repair by centralizing all alarms and traps of your multi-
vendor network into a single unified view reducing potential risks and expenses through reduction of SLA violations.
NetACE Security Manager and Event Logger™
Provides a centralized authentication and role-based access-control point into your system to improve security and
reduce user administration costs while enabling group permission management to control who can access what
and when and captures all user activities in real-time to facilitate security and tracking.
NetACE – SDN Lifecycle Service Manager 13

14. 14
Atrinet is a leading provider of multi-vendor Lifecycle Service Management solutions to telecommunication
service providers, enterprise customers and equipment vendors. Atrinet introduces programmability and
automated service delivery and operational agility to traditional and next generation networks, leveraging
the power of SDN to reduce the cost and complexity.
Backed by Nokia Solutions & Networks, Atrinet provides cost-efficient Network Management Solutions &
Services to over 40 equipment vendors and telecommunication service providers worldwide.
About Atrinet
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Contact Us
Phone: +972-77-8066900
Email: info@atrinet.com
www.atrinet.com
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trademarks of Atrinet Ltd.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2015.
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