Cloud Pak for Network Automation

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Version 2.3 of IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation has arrived!

By John Walsh posted Tue June 28, 2022 10:13 AM

  

Welcome to IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation 2.3

There are great new features and enhancements in this release that will help your Cloud DevOps teams to design, create, and continuously optimize complex network services across hybrid and distributed cloud environments.


Site Planner enhancements

You can now use plug-ins to customize and extend Site Planner. Plug-ins are packaged Django applications that provide extra functions, such as custom data models. For example, you can create a 5G slicing model that can be included in Site Planner. 

Updated Heal, Scale, and Upgrade lifecycle transitions

IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation now allows Network Function Managers to complete Heal, Scale, and Upgrade lifecycle transitions. The following updates are made to the operation of the lifecycle transitions:

  • For resources that support Heal transitions, IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation marks the resource as broken and then requests a Heal transition for the resource. The resource moves to the Active state when the Heal transition completes successfully.
  • For resources that support Scale transitions, when IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation receives a request to scale a resource in or out, the Cloud Pak requests that the resource is scaled through the Network Function Manager. A resource can also be scaled to a predefined instantiation level.
  • For resources that support Upgrade transitions, the resource can be modified without any state transitions. The Upgrade transition is valid only for resources that are in the Active state and the resource remains in the Active state while the upgrade action is running.

Installing in an active-active configuration

You can now install IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation in an active-active configuration to ensure that the Cloud Pak is highly available. You can install on three or more clusters in different data centers or geographical locations in this configuration. Each cluster can process workloads concurrently. Load-balancing services spread the workload across the clusters.

The advantages of deploying in an active-active configuration include:

  • High availability of IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation across your data centers
  • Enhanced reliability and resiliency
  • Improved response times and performance

Secrets API

IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation uses secrets to store sensitive data such as passwords or tokens. The new Secrets API simplifies working with secrets in IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation. You can use this REST API to create, update, and delete secrets. The API provides a secure way for IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation to manage secrets when accessing external systems, such as IPMIs.

Enhanced support for ETSI MANO and other standards

IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation now includes support for the following standards:
  • SOL 003 APIs, based on version 3.5.1 of the ETSI GS NFV-SOL 003 RESTful protocols specification for the Or-Vnfm Reference Point document.
  • Cisco Crosswork Network Controller (CNC) server

    A RESTCONF driver supports communication with Cisco CNC servers by using RESTCONF.

  • Network device support

    A NETCONF driver supports communication with network devices by using the Python ncclient library.

Useful links

For more information about these features and enhancements, check out the What's new topic in the IBM Documentation.

Transform your network with cloud and AI-powered automation, see Achieve zero-touch network operation with IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation. 



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