Re: text format of configurations

[Suzanne Woolf <woolf@mfnx.net>]

On Mon, Jun 25, 2001 at 04:31:24PM -0700, john heasley wrote:
> we should not be asking for uniform config syntax between vendors,
> tools from vendors (we almost certainly do not want their "tools"), etc.
> 
> we want the tools to forge our own management tools!

What he said....

Which I'd venture to summarize, in part, as "we want a unified
abstraction and syntax for use in writing configuration, reading
configuration, and evaluating state ('show ip bgp') across vendors and
UIs". One or more XML schemas probably have a part to play. So do
various CLIs and other UIs, namespaces (such as OIDs), etc.

It's been clear for awhile that vendor network configuration and
management tools usually miss something fundamental about the needs of
engineers who touch routers, and programmers who write the tools that
engineers touch routers with. We're trying to describe that missing
element, without introducing new constraints on what operators
actually do.

I'd write this into the requirements draft as a meta-requirement for
as much consistency as possible in the representations used across
varying boxes, activities and UIs. 

-- 
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Suzanne Woolf
Director, Internet Tools
Metromedia Fiber Network
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