Help us improve your experience.

Let us know what you think.

Do you have time for a two-minute survey?

 
 

Create a Network Model

You must have an offline view of your live network (also called as a network model) . In a network model, you can make changes and forecast the impact without impacting the live network.

Use the following procedure to create a network model:

  1. Navigate to Planning > Networks > Offline Models.
    The Working Models page is displayed.
  2. Create the + icon to create a network model.
    The Create Network Model page is displayed.
  3. You can create a network model either by importing from a live network or importing from a file (in JSON or .gz format). Based on your requirement, select Import From Live Network or Import From File and click Next.
  4. Complete the configuration according to the guidelines in Table 1.
    Note:

    Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
  5. Click the Ok button to create a network model.
The network model is listed on the Working Models page. You can use this network model to view the offline topology map and make necessary changes to the network model.
Note: If the network model is for a large network, wait for a couple of minutes before opening the model. If the number of nodes, links, tunnels do not match the expected number, then go back to the Working Models page and wait for a few more minutes and then open the model. After verifying the contents of the model, save the model by navigating to Actions > Save Model.
Table 1: Fields on the Create Network Model Page
Fields Description
Import From Live Network
Note: If you have not set the geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) in your live network, creating a network using the Import from Live Network option might result in the devices being positioned incorrectly on the map. To correct this, right-click on the topology map (Observability > Network > Topology) and select Layout > Set Coordinates from Map.
Name * Provide a name, which describes the network model. For example, SR-TE-network-model-June-12.

You can use only alphanumeric characters, underscore, hyphen, period, or colon.
Description Enter a description for the network model.
Link Utilization Enable the toggle button if you want Routing Director to collect the link utilization-related data while importing the network.
Statistics *

Select one of the following aggregation statistic options:

  • 90th, 95th, 99th Percentile (X percentile)—Aggregation is based on the selected percentile. The ‘X’ percentile is the value at which ‘X’ percent of all the samples taken in the previous sampling period lie at or below the calculated value.
  • Average—For each interval, the samples within that interval are averaged. If there are N samples for a particular interval, the result is the sum of all the sample values divided by N.
  • Sum—For each interval, the sum of all the sample values within that interval is used.
  • Max—For each interval, the maximum of the sample values within that interval is used.
  • Min—For each interval, the maximum of the sample values within that interval is used.
Based on the value you specify here and aggregation interval value (days or hours), Routing director collects the data from your live network.
Start * Select the date and time at which you want the data collection to begin.
End * Select the date and time at which you want the data collection to end.
Aggregation Interval *

Routing Director collects link utilization data from your network devices and aggregates the data. Select one of the following intervals at which the data aggregation must happen:

  • Day—Each day is considered as one aggregation interval and one aggregated data point is displayed per day.
  • Hour—Each hour is considered as one aggregation interval and one aggregated data point is displayed per hour.
Demand Generation Enable the toggle button if you want Routing Director to collect the demand-related data while importing the network
Demand Types This feature supports tunnels with Segment Routing Traffic Engineering (SR-TE) and Resource Reservation Protocol-Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE) provisioning methods.

By default both RSVP-TE and SR-TE are selected.
Statistics *

Select one of the following aggregation statistic options:

  • 90th, 95th, 99th Percentile (X percentile)—Aggregation is based on the selected percentile. The ‘X’ percentile is the value at which ‘X’ percent of all the samples taken in the previous sampling period lie at or below the calculated value.
  • Average—For each interval, the samples within that interval are averaged. If there are N samples for a particular interval, the result is the sum of all the sample values divided by N.
  • Sum—For each interval, the sum of all the sample values within that interval is used.
  • Max—For each interval, the maximum of the sample values within that interval is used.
Min—For each interval, the maximum of the sample values within that interval is used.
Start * Select the date and time at which you want the data collection to begin.
End * Select the date and time at which you want the data collection to end.
Aggregation Interval *

Routing Director collects data from your network devices and aggregates the data to create demands, which indicates the amount of traffic flow in the network. Select one of the following intervals at which the data aggregation must happen:

  • Day—Each day is considered as one aggregation interval and one aggregated data point is displayed per day.
  • Hour—Each hour is considered as one aggregation interval and one aggregated data point is displayed per hour.
Import From File
Name Provide a name, which describes the network model. For example, SR-TE-network-model-June-12.

You can use only alphanumeric characters, underscore, hyphen, period, or colon.
Description Enter a description for the network model.
Upload JSON/GZ File Click the Browse button in the Upload JSON/GZ File field to upload the live network file from your local system in JSON and .gz format.

Related Documentation