Lightbend > Case Studies > Auvik Networks Simplifies Enterprise Networking with Cloud Managed Network Automation Platform

Auvik Networks Simplifies Enterprise Networking with Cloud Managed Network Automation Platform

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

Auvik Network Automation Platform
Typesafe Reactive Platform
Network Programming Language (NPL)
Typesafe’s Akka
Typesafe’s Play Framework

Tech Stack

Scala
Akka
Play Framework
Java
C++

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Digital Expertise
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software

Applicable Industries

Software
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Auvik Networks is a company that believes enterprise networking is overly complex. They aim to simplify the process of configuring, monitoring, and managing networks through their cloud-managed network automation platform. Auvik's platform is designed to work with existing network infrastructure, making it easier for companies without a dedicated team of networking engineers to stay on top of best practices. The company focuses on creating value by simplifying network management, allowing businesses to keep up with the latest trends without the need for extensive resources. Auvik's platform is particularly beneficial for large enterprises that require a scalable and reliable solution to manage their network infrastructure efficiently.

The Challenge

Managing network devices is cumbersome and outdated, requiring IT professionals to log into each device via a command line interface (CLI) to make changes. This approach is analogous to outdated mainframe practices and is unnecessarily low-level and painful. The complexity of managing a network infrastructure without a dedicated team of networking engineers can lead to inflexible networks that struggle to keep up with the latest trends. IT professionals are expected to manage high-level requirements down to machine code, which is a challenging proposition. The fear of unknown repercussions makes IT professionals hesitant to make changes to the network.

The Solution

Auvik Networks developed a cloud-managed network automation platform using the Typesafe Reactive Platform to simplify network management. They chose Scala, a JVM language that supports the Actor model, to develop their network compiler and application. This decision allowed them to leverage existing libraries and create a scalable platform. Auvik's Network Programming Language (NPL) enables users to articulate requirements and create a domain-specific language (DSL) in native Scala. The platform uses Typesafe’s Akka for handling parallel operations and calculations, and the Play Framework for a cloud-based central User Interface. Auvik's solution allows IT professionals to manage, monitor, and configure their network environment through a virtual appliance that runs inside their network, communicating with cloud servers. This approach reduces the complexity of network management and allows for easy scalability.

Operational Impact

Auvik's platform simplifies network management by converting objectives into machine-executable instructions.
The use of Scala and the Typesafe Reactive Platform allows for easy scalability and feature addition.
Auvik's solution enables IT professionals to manage high-level requirements without extensive architecture work.
The platform's virtual appliance allows for seamless network discovery and configuration.
Auvik's use of Akka and Play Framework ensures a highly concurrent, distributed, and fault-tolerant system.

Quantitative Benefit

Auvik's platform reduced code lines from 20,000 in Java to 1,500 in Scala.
The NPL tool chain reduced code from hundreds of thousands of lines to tens of thousands.
Auvik experienced a ten times reduction in code with Scala.