Once installed, AmpCon™-DC also simplifies the ongoing management of Pica8 PicOS Software Switches
including configuration management, switch inventory, software updates and more.
Configuration Management
AmpCon™-DC includes native configuration management capabilities, enabling you to push out an update to a single switch or to an entire group of switches. It eliminates the need to pull up and edit configurations one by one, reducing the likelihood of errors, and simplifies the process by enabling it to be done from the same centralized tool; no need to deal with the added expense or headache of a third-party tool.
In practice, the configuration management feature can greatly simplify the job of updating switches to deal with a new class of device, such as security devices to protect Internet of Things sensors. Network administrators can detail how the network should treat the security devices, perhaps putting them on their own VLAN, and detail where traffic from the devices is allowed to go. With a single command, the update can then be pushed out to appropriate network switches.
AmpCon™-DC greatly simplifies the job of detailing just what level of network access and priority each class of device should get – and then pushing the update at once to all relevant switches.
Configuration Backup, Compliance, And Rollback
Once the desired configurations are set and the network is stable, we would like to lock it down and make sure accidental changes don’t disrupt operations. And when a config change is made to add devices or say a VLAN, it is important to back it up. AmpCon™-DC makes this really simple by automating config backups on a specified schedule, and saving the last n backups (default=100), which can be used to recover quickly from a crash or corruption of a switch. And it allows marking a specific instance as the “Golden Config” which will never be deleted and used by default as the config to rollback the switch to a stable configuration in case the switch operation is compromised. The Golden Config can also be used as the basis to run an automated compliance check to verify that the network is operating as designed.
Switch Inventory
AmpCon™-DC also supports switch inventory features. Here again, third-party tools are available to support this capability, but they add expense. In addition to the software, such tools typically run on a Windows Server Enterprise Edition machine, which means additional server licensing costs.
Not so with AmpCon™-DC which, as previously noted, deploys in minutes on a virtual machine. It provides detailed inventory of all switches, including switch hardware details, software version, configuration and more.
License Updates
AmpCon™-DC can automate the process of checking and updating the switch licenses with new Support entitlements. A License Audit task checks the (group of specified) switches for a valid license and created a report of their license status (showing the support expiration date and other details). Running “License Update (or Action)” automatically updates the license keys on all switches whose support is due to expire in the next 30 days, and logs the result in a report that can be examined or downloaded.
RMA Replacements
AmpCon™-DC incorporates a unique workflow to help with return merchandise authorization (RMA) replacements. When hardware fails and is replaced with new hardware, the RMA module takes the config from the failed hardware, updates it with the serial number of the replacement hardware, and pushes out this config to the switch to bring it up seamlessly in the network.
Flexible Ansible Extensions
While AmpCon™-DC provides commonly used features and functions network teams need for day-to-day operations, it also enables companies to add capabilities they may require by writing Ansible playbooks to create customized 5 workflows. If there’s a certain routine your company follows on a regular basis, you can build a workflow to automate it, such as by using as series of “if/then” statements.
Additionally, Pica8 offers a series of Ansible playbooks, which are templates for automating routines including:
Compliance and consistency checks, to ensure switches stay in compliance with industry regulations that require a certain configuration to maintain proper security and privacy
Connectivity check for PicOS® Software Switches
Network operation and remediation routines, including dynamic policy enforcement
Simplified Software Switch Upgrades
Finally, the nature of PicOS® itself makes it simpler to manage vs. any legacy switch/router network operating system (NOS). Because it’s Linux-based, PicOS® is compartmentalized, which means you can update or change one component or aspect without affecting the other components. For example, if you’re pushing out a security patch, that affects only the security component of the NOS; you don’t have to replace the entire software/firmware image.
If you’re familiar with legacy NOSs such as Cisco IOS, you know that’s not the case. Any update requires a wholesale software/firmware change, with all the attendant disruption that comes with it: putting the change through a qualification cycle, lab testing, the works.
By contrast, if you’re making a change to PicOS that has nothing to do with the movement of data, such as a security change, you don’t need to go through all of those steps.
AmpCon™-DC makes it easy and error-free to upgrade your switches to the latest PicOS® version. When you are ready to go, you simply schedule a job identifying the group of switches, the new software image, and the time window when you want the upgrades to be executed. The task executes automatically in the background and captures the results in a logfile that can be checked for the details and updates the task status on completion.
Additional Features
• RBAC (Role Based Access Control for users)
User logins are authenticated via a TACACS+ server which also determines their access permissions based on their role; users can also be defined for local fallback
• Parking Lot
Manage switches that have shown up in the network and registered with AmpCon™-DC, but not yet setup with configs by the admin
• Setting Up Groups (of switches)
Switches can be organized in groups by region, location, building etc. for performing lifecycle operations
• Importing Switches
Helps incorporate and manage switches that were not originally deployed through AmpCon™-DC
• Decommission Workflow
Used for temporarily taking a switch down and then redeploying it in another location
• Operational Logs
Track all activity in AmpCon™-DC, and can be used for troubleshooting to drill down and analyze issues
• Monitoring
Allows drilling down into a switch to look at its current status, port statistics, etc.
• SDN Applications
Centralized controller for setting up VXLAN tunnels - Endpoint controller to manage host access and assignment to VLAN on a specific port
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