Aviz Networks outlines ONES for intent orchestration and telemetry in SONiC

Aviz Networks’ ONES suite describes an approach to manage SONiC-based data center fabrics across multiple vendors, covering pre-deployment validation, intent-based orchestration, normalized telemetry, and supportability workflows for Day 1 and Day 2 operations.

Research Overview

The blog frames SONiC deployment and operations as more complex than installation, citing gaps in vendor-independent tools for multi-vendor network management, pre-deployment processes, and unified visibility and supportability.

It introduces ONES (Open Networking Enterprise Suite) as a unified stack aimed at Day 1 and Day 2 operations for SONiC-based data center networks across different hardware platforms.

Key Findings

The blog outlines pain points for adapting and operating SONiC in multi-vendor data center fabrics, including the absence of a single NetOps-like tool for multi-vendor environments and a lack of a unified workflow for pre-deployment activities.

It also describes a pattern where customers assemble ad hoc in-house or open-source tools that may limit access to SONiC metrics and increase effort during data center fabric transformation.

Technical Breakdown

For multi-vendor configuration, the blog says ONES uses an intent-based template that converts fabric-level configuration into vendor-specific configuration, with an orchestration agent pushing the results to devices using CLIs and ConfigDB.

Because the blog states SONiC CLI is incomplete for configuring and managing all available device features, it describes FMCLI (Fabric Manager Command Line Interface) as a replacement command-line interface intended to provide a more flexible experience.

Normalized telemetry and visibility

The blog describes a telemetry layer that collects and normalizes 200+ metrics at regular intervals using gNMI, with additional emphasis on providing deep metrics beyond RedisDB.

It says normalized telemetry supports unified visibility and helps correlate and diagnose issues using presentable metrics for quicker operational decisions.

Mixed NOS environment handling

The blog describes migration scenarios where SONiC and non-SONiC devices coexist, noting that non-SONiC devices are proprietary and managed with vendor-specific NetOps tools.

It says ONES can visualize non-SONiC devices with limited metrics alongside SONiC devices through eAPIs, NVAPIs, and normalized metrics, and it describes a method to display the full fabric topology with alerts and rules.

Operational Impact

For deployment and testing, the blog states ONES integrates with FTAS (Fabric Test Automation Suite), described as a continuous automation test suite for multi-vendor SONiC validation to improve turnaround time for pre-deployment validation.

It also says ONES orchestration handles the deployment phase using intent-based configuration YAML templates that can be used as reference.

Leadership Perspective

The blog is presented as the author’s journey leading the development team that created ONES, with the intent to avoid building a new SONiC distribution and instead focus on enterprise migration and management of SONiC at reasonable cost and high speed.

It also includes references to open sourced ONES Validated Designs and an invitation to review additional product information through Aviz Networks’ website.

Blog Signals brief: Aviz Networks describes ONES as an intent-based orchestration, unified CLI, and telemetry stack that integrates FTAS for pre-deployment validation and supports Day 1 and Day 2 operations for SONiC-based data center fabrics in multi-vendor and mixed-NOS environments; this is a fact-based summary of the vendor blog.