AmpCon™-DC simplifies the management of PicOS software switches, including configuration management, switch inventory, software updates, and more.
Configuration management
AmpCon-DC includes native configuration management capabilities, which you can use to push an update to a single switch or to an entire group of switches. By using AmpCon-DC, you don’t need to edit and push switch configurations one by one. In this way, the likelihood of errors can be reduced, the switch configuration process can be simplified , and you don’t 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 devices, such as security devices to protect Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. Your network administrators can detail how the network needs to treat the security devices (perhaps putting them on your own VLAN), and detail where traffic from devices is allowed to go. By adding only one configuration in the AmpCon-DC UI, you can push the update to appropriate switches.
AmpCon-DC greatly simplifies the job of detailing network access level and priority each class of devices 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, you might want to make sure accidental changes don’t disrupt operations. When you make a configuration change such as adding devices or a VLAN, it is important to back up your configuration.
AmpCon-DC makes configuration backup simple by automating and scheduling configuration backup on a specifed date and time, and saving the last n backups as you need. You can use the backup configuration to recover quickly from a crash or corruption of a switch. In addition, you can mark a specific backup instance as the Golden Config. The Golden Config will never be deleted and used by default as the configuration to roll back a switch to a stable configuration when 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. Though third-party tools also support this capability, but they add expense to your company. In addition, such tools typically run on a Windows Server Enterprise Edition machine, which also adds additional server licensing costs. In contrast, AmpCon-DC can be deployed in minutes on a virtual machine.
AmpCon-DC provides detailed inventory of all switches, including switch hardware details, software version, configurations, and more.
License updates
AmpCon-DC automates the process of checking and updating the switch licenses new support entitlements. A License Audit task checks whether a group of specified switches has valid licenses and creates a report of the license status (including the support expiration date and other details).
The License Action task automatically updates the license keys on all switches whose support is due to expire in the next 30 days, and logs the result to a report that can be examined or downloaded.
RMA replacements
AmpCon-DC incorporates a unique workflow to enable return merchandise authorization (RMA) replacements. When hardware fails and is replaced with new hardware, the RMA module takes the configurations from the failed switch, updates the serial number of the new switch, and pushes the configurations to the new switch to bring it up seamlessly in the network.
Simplified software and switch upgrades
Finally, the nature of PicOS® itself makes it simpler to manage swithes compared with any legacy network operating system (NOS) of switches or routers. Because PicOS® is Linux-based, and thus it’s compartmentalized,, which means that you can update or change one component or aspect without affecting the other components. For example, if you’re pushing a security patch, it affects only the security component of the NOS; you don’t have to replace the entire software or firmware image.
Additional Features
Role-based access control (RBAC)
AmpCon-DC adopts role-based access control, which is used to permit individual users to perform specific actions and get visibility to an access scope. You can assign each user to a specific role with associated permissions.
In addition, you can also authenticate user logins through a TACACS+ server, which also determines their access permissions based on their roles. Users can also be defined for local fallback.
Parking lot
You can use parking lot to manage switches that have been shown in the network and registered with the AmpCon-DC server but not yet configured by the administrator.Setting up a group of switches
To perform lifecycle operations more conveniently, you can organize switches in groups by region, location, building, etc.Importing Switches
For those switches that were not originally deployed through AmpCon-DC, you can import them directly in the AmpCon-DC UI to manage them.
Decommission workflow
To take a switch down temporarily and then redeploy it in another location, you can Decommission the switch in the AmpCon-DC UI.Operational logs
You can track all activities and troubleshoot issues by drilling down and analyzing issues operational logsMonitoring
Allows drilling down into a switch to look at its current status, port statistics, etc.
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