HolistIX: a zero-touch approach for IXPs
Christoff Visser, Seiichi Yamamoto, Takashi Tomine, Yuji Sekiya, Marc Bruyere · 2021
Zero-Touch is a broad concept, but it is understood as a means to limit human exposure to the data-plane states, and therefore reduces the potential for error. By combining the various layers from the administration level down to the switching fabric, introducing a new top to bottom architecture. This paper presents our operational research project HolistIX, a full-stack management solution enabling zero-touch networking within IXP infrastructure networks. HolistIX achieves this by first bringing diagramming to the forefront of topology planning and automated network configuration generation. This is then followed by verifying the proposed network configuration through emulation before deployment to the production network. By utilizing Umbrella SDN switching fabric, HolistIX enables full-stack management, with minimal human interaction required. We also briefly present the results of deploying our HolistIX approach in two IXPs, one in France (TouIX) and the other in Japan (DIX-IE).