Cumulus Networks introduces ONES-Orchestration APIs for SONiC cost-out and cost-in
A vendor post outlines “cost-out” and “cost-in” operations for spine and leaf maintenance, then describes how ONES-Orchestration with SONiC uses an API and delta configuration to automate Day-2 changes while avoiding forwarding impact in most cases.
Research Overview
The blog frames data center fabric maintenance as a recurring operational need for spine and leaf devices, where traffic must be drained and later restored to support activities such as line card replacement and temporary node removal.
It describes these actions as cost-out (draining traffic) and cost-in (feeding traffic back), and positions SONiC with ONES-Orchestration as a way to implement the workflow using automation and APIs.
Key Findings
The post connects traffic draining to planned maintenance, capacity planning, component replacement after faults, load balancing, and scheduled downtime by enabling controlled migration of services.
It also describes NetOps cost-out and cost-in implementations as automation and programmability using APIs, which the blog says can reduce manual CLI scripting and support faster multi-device configuration changes.
Technical Breakdown
The blog states that ONES-Orchestration is a platform built to work with the SONiC Fabric, providing tools, libraries, and APIs for deployment and management of multi-vendor network infrastructure.
It lists ONES-Orchestration capabilities including multi-vendor support, network automation for configuration management, provisioning, and change management, and orchestration for services such as routing, firewalling, and load balancing across multiple devices and vendors.
Product Update
The post says ONES-Orchestration provides a Dockerized container for x86 systems and an API for soft provisioning that can generate a configuration difference.
According to the blog, the controller identifies the delta and pushes delta configuration back to devices in most cases without impacting forwarding unless the change itself is disruptive, and it describes integration into existing NetOps workflows by providing intended configuration as input.
Operational Impact
The blog presents Day-2 cost-out and cost-in as an API-driven workflow in which cost-out drains traffic from a device for maintenance or upgrades and cost-in reintroduces the device afterward.
It describes automation as generating and applying configuration deltas, and it also discusses integration with tools such as Ansible, Grafana, and Nornir to support existing automation and monitoring practices.
Overall, the post connects draining-based maintenance operations in spine and leaf fabrics to an API and delta-based approach using ONES-Orchestration with SONiC for automated Day-2 cost-out and cost-in workflows, with multi-vendor orchestration and tool integrations for network operations teams. Blog Signals brief is a fact-based summary of the vendor blog.