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Service Orchestration Overview

Service orchestration is the process of designing, configuring, validating, deploying, and monitoring a network service such as Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN) services. A network service is any point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, or multipoint-to-multipoint connection. Routing Director provides an automated framework that manages the entire life cycle of a network service, starting with design and ending with deprovisioning the service from the network.

Routing Director service orchestration offers a robust framework for managing the life cycle of network services through model-driven and intent-based methodologies. Utilizing model-driven and intent-based approaches, you can provision services efficiently by leveraging predefined service designs, facilitating streamlined deployment and management. This orchestration process includes creating service instances, initiating service orders, and executing provisioning workflows to allocate resources and deploy services efficiently across your network. With additional features like preinstalled service and resource designs, a comprehensive service catalog, and flexible provisioning options through GUI or REST API, you can achieve automation and efficiency in service management. Superusers can also provision services using the service orchestration CMGD CLI. The orchestration components interact seamlessly to provide clarity, consistency, and standardization, ultimately enhancing your network's operational capabilities.

Service Orchestration Components

Service Orchestration in Routing Director consists of the following elements:

  • Service Catalog─A service catalog is a collection of predefined service designs that are available for the organization. Service designs define how to create a service.

  • Service Designs─Service orchestration in Routing Director is model-driven, that is, service orchestration is carried out through predefined service designs, which contain the specifications for a type of service.

  • Service Instance─A service instance is a specific instance of a service design created for a customer. For example, a named instance of an L3VPN service created for a specific customer. Service instances define the sites, devices, connections, and other parameters of the service.

  • Resource Designs─ A resource design is a special type of service design whose only purpose is to produce resources (such as access circuits, route targets, and so on) which are consumed by network services. Resource designs generally do not affect the configuration of the network devices.

    The service and resource designs are preinstalled when you install Routing Director.

    To view a list of devices that support service provisioning, see Supported Junos OS Releases, Devices, and Browsers.

  • Resource Instance─A resource instance is a specific instance of a resource design that defines the configurations for a resource pool required to provision a service in the network.

  • Placement─Process of allocating network resources for provisioning a service instance.

  • Service Order─Process of creating, modifying, or deleting a service instance. A service instance is implemented through a service order. The provisioning status of the service instance can be accessed through the service order.

  • Workflow─A workflow is a sequence of tasks that Routing Director executes to provision a service. You can monitor workflows and access logs that help you troubleshoot failed service orders.

The orchestration process begins when a network administrator uses service designs available in the service catalog to provision a service. A service design defines how to create the service and is used to create service instances. A service instance defines the sites, devices, connections, and other parameters of the service. To provision the service instance, a service order is created, which starts the service provisioning workflow. The workflow allocates the resources (such as access circuit, route target, route distinguisher, and so on) that satisfy the requirements of the service, produces a network-centric view of the service, and deploys the service in the network.

Benefits

  • Service Orchestration streamlines the deployment and management of network services by automating service provisioning workflows, reducing manual intervention and errors.

  • It provides consistency and standardization in service provisioning through predefined service designs from a comprehensive service catalog.

  • Resource allocation efficiency is enhanced by utilizing intent-based methodologies to intelligently manage network resources across various service instances.

  • The service orchestration framework offers flexibility and control in service management through multiple provisioning options, including CLI, GUI, and REST API, accommodating different user preferences and technical requirements.

  • Services can be provisioned on both greenfield and brownfield devices.

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