WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Collaboration among network engineers active in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Broadband Forum has produced the YANG Catalog, an open online repository designed to make sharing, finding and using network management models simpler and easier.
The YANG Catalog collects models specified for use in a wide variety of networking equipment and deployed by operators around the world to accelerate and automate network operations and management. The catalog contains numerous models standardized in the IETF, Broadband Forum and IEEE, as well as vendor-specific data models. The catalog makes it easy to search for models and identify their maturity level, module type and implementation information.
Developed by the IETF, YANG is a data modeling language, widely used by network operators to automate the configuration and control of network elements. As a common language, YANG enables the reuse of data models across equipment from different vendors and networks managed by different operators. The YANG Catalog was built by engineers from many different networking companies while participating in IETF Hackathon events.
“We started this journey towards data model-driven management years ago and since then YANG has become THE data modeling language of choice for the industry,” said Benoit Claise, an IETF Operations and Management Area Director and a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco Systems. “This is good news, but industry coordination around YANG is even better news. The YANG Catalog aims to break down silos and reduce barriers, making it easier for data model developers to find what already exists and for operators to do their work efficiently. We’re excited about the progress made so far by this joint effort between the IETF and Broadband Forum, and welcome interest and participation from other standards organizations, equipment vendors, open source projects and network operators.”
The Broadband Forum published its first YANG models for Fiber-To-The-distribution point (FTTdp) management software specifications last year. The Forum’s work on TR-355 has delivered YANG Models for Fiber-To-The-distribution point management, allowing operators to configure and control fiber-fed nodes (DPUs) in the periphery of the access network, enabling interoperability for FTTdp management. This management model was the first to follow the Forum’s new Intellectual Property Policy, which was updated last year to streamline software licensing and meet the increasing desire of industry players to develop specifications with agility and transparency. While previously work in progress was only visible to Forum members, today the Forum is making its work in progress public so the industry can use the YANG models much more quickly and the Forum can perfect the models with industry feedback.
“By providing open access to a wide variety of models that can be combined to meet specific network management needs, including active validation and testing of the new models, the YANG Catalog provides an alternative to large and sometimes cumbersome standards processes. It is a key enabler in the evolution towards more agile and programmable networks,” said Broadband Forum Chairman Kevin Foster, of BT. “The YANG Catalog collaboration successfully combines our domain expertise in broadband management and the efficiency of YANG modeling, as well as the agility of our new licensing policy that allows early and open review of our software releases. We appreciate the support and collaboration we have with the experts at the IETF.”
For more information about how to contribute to and participate in the YANG Catalog, please see: https://www.yangcatalog.org/about.html
More detail on Broadband Forum YANG modeling activities can be found at: https://www.broadband-forum.org/standards-and-software/software/yang-for-fttdp
About the Broadband Forum
Broadband Forum, a non-profit industry organization, is focused on engineering smarter and faster broadband networks. Our work defines best practices for global networks, enables service and content delivery, establishes technology migration strategies, engineers critical device & service management tools, and is key to redefining broadband. Our free technical reports and white papers can be found at www.broadband-forum.org. Twitter @Broadband_Forum.
For more information about the Broadband Forum, please go to http://www.broadband-forum.org or follow @Broadband_Forum on Twitter. For further information please contact Brian Dolby on +44 (0) 7899 914168 or brian.dolby@proactive-pr.com or Jayne Garfitt on +44 (0) 1636 812152 or jayne.garfitt@proactive-pr.com.
About the Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the Internet's premier technical standards body. It gathers a large open international community of network designers, engineers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. For more information, see: https://www.ietf.org/about/