Automated Mass Provisioning Solution

For Telecommunication and Internet Service Providers

Support for automatic deployment is of key importance in the telecommunications network environment. NETvisor has made significant accomplishments in this area.

NETvisor's SPMP (Service Planning and Mass Provisioning) solution supports automatic planning and configuration to enable telecommunications and Internet service providers to perform their tasks in this area more efficiently and with significantly fewer resources required.

The structure of provisioning systems

Provisioning systems are built-up of three functional layers.

• The top layer is the system's northbound SOA interface. Higher-level systems can control the provisioning system through this interface.
• The middle layer includes the workflows controlling the decomposition of complex service-deployment requests and the resulting component service deployments.
• The bottom layer provides the system connectors to the devices and applications involved in service deployment.

NETvisor's SPMP provisioning system reflects the three-layer structure we have described:

The following section of the document offers a detailed explanation of the connector architecture of SPMP systems.

Connector architecture

The connectors in the provisioning system can be divided into two major groups.

• The first is the group of device connectors. The connectors of the device and network management systems belong to this group.
• The second is the group of connectors directly connecting to devices. This solution is needed when no device or network management system is available for the given equipment, or if such a management system exists but lacks the function for device configuration.

Supported protocols

The connectors developed for NETvisor's provisioning system connect to the management systems and devices using the following protocols:

• SOAP: most modern management systems have a SOAP interface.
• TCP: this is a method typically used for controlling management systems with proprietary protocols.
• TL1: a protocol capable of controlling both management systems and devices.
• MML: certain management systems can be controlled using this protocol.
• TELNET: the TELNET protocol is used for the configuration of Cisco routers and switches. Connectors using the TELNET protocol pass IOS commands directly from the device.
• SNMP: most devices support communication via SNMP.
• JDBC: connection through databases is a common method for integration of multiple systems.

Transactions

Service provisioning usually involves the simultaneous configuration of multiple management systems and devices. Transaction management plays a crucial role in provisioning systems. NETvisor's system ensures that if any management system or device configuration returns an exception during service provisioning, the configuration on other systems and devices are rolled back.

The above operation can only be executed if an UNDO operation is defined for every connector and basic operation. Before performing the basic operations when operating connectors, the status of the management system or the device is stored so that, in case of a rollback, the UNDO process can restore the original status based on the data stored.

Option for future development

The connector architecture of NETvisor's SPMP system enables efficient and fast integration of any new management system or new device.