Aviz Networks details Network Copilot for multi-controller network management
Aviz Networks has introduced Network Copilot, a tool designed to unify visibility and management across various network controllers like Cisco DNA Center, Nexus Dashboard, and SONiC. This solution aims to support enterprise network teams facing operational challenges caused by fragmented tools and data silos in multi-vendor, multi-controller environments.
Research Overview
Contemporary data centers employ multiple distinct platforms and controllers to manage network segments, creating diverse management silos. This fragmentation forces network engineers to access different systems separately, often using multiple logins and command-line interfaces, which can prolong troubleshooting and complicate compliance monitoring.
Network Copilot combines data from multiple controllers into a single interface that uses natural language queries enhanced by contextual Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide comprehensive insights, thus simplifying operational workflows.
Technical Breakdown
The core of Network Copilot is a contextual AI engine that interprets network data across several dimensions, including controller-specific device models, Operating System (OS) version mapping, and network topology information. This AI component understands different schemas and correlates metadata from multiple sources to maintain data accuracy while abstracting complexity.
Data integration is achieved through various mechanisms such as Representational State Transfer (REST) and gRPC APIs for modern controllers, direct access methods like Secure Shell (SSH) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for legacy devices, and file or database imports. These ingestion methods feed the AI engine, enabling unified queries.
Operational Impact
Network Copilot enables users to submit single natural language queries that yield aggregated responses from multiple network controllers. Examples include retrieving devices running specific software versions with known vulnerabilities, monitoring device performance metrics, and conducting compliance audits involving hostname conventions.
The platform abstracts the intricacies of individual systems, providing summarized, actionable information and supporting integration with existing IT service management and automation workflows through an API-first architecture.
Product Update
The tool currently supports networks composed of Cisco, Arista, Cumulus, and SONiC devices, offering benefits such as reduced mean time to repair, decreased operational overhead, and automated compliance monitoring. An integration roadmap includes plans for security orchestration capabilities and links to Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) and GitOps workflows.
Network Copilot's modular connector framework accommodates diverse data sources, mapping device identities, hardware health, software versions, and security postures into a consistent operational model accessible via AI-enhanced queries.
This platform intends to facilitate management of mixed-vendor environments without requiring extensive retraining of personnel and anticipates incorporation into evolving AI-driven, intent-based network operations.
This Blog Signals brief provides a fact-based summary of the Network Copilot blog post by Aviz Networks, highlighting its features for enterprise network operations management across multi-controller environments.