Apstra DCD Components
An Apstra DCD system is comprised of the following elements:
Apstra DCD Server
Lightweight, scalable VM appliance that serves as the centralized management/configuration system. Appliance simply requires IP management access to switches, typically via the OOB management network.
Apstra DCD Device Agents
Software agents are created and installed to manage each switch or server under Apstra DCD management. Agents are used to both receive and instantiate intent (configuration) from the centralized Apstra DCD server and to collect analytics from each switch and send it to the Apstra DCD server where that data is stored in the graphDB.
Network Operating System
A Network Operating System (NOS) is an OS that is primarily designed to support the functionality of an integrated multi-layer switch or router. Apstra DCD as a multi vendor solution currently supports: Cisco NXOS, Arista EOS, JunOS, and SONiC.
Management Network
The Apstra DCD server simply requires IP connectivity between itself and any devices under management. There are no distance, latency or delay requirements. An OOB Management Network is required. Apstra DCD does not sit in either the data or control planes.