TIP MANTRA interest in IETF IVY Hackathon

As open and disaggregated transport networks continue to evolve, consistent network inventory models are becoming increasingly important to automation, interoperability, and cross-domain management. The TIP MANTRA subgroup is monitoring emerging standards work in this area, including the IETF Network Inventory YANG work, known as IVY, and its potential relevance to IP network inventory.

The following statement outlines MANTRA’s current interest in the upcoming IETF IVY Hackathon, the standardization gap it sees for IP domain inventory, and its continued alignment with TAPI as the target model for optical network inventory within the TIP MUST subgroup.

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PRESS RELEASE: The members of the TIP MANTRA subgroup, including Telia Company, Vodafone,  MTN and Orange, share a common interest in advancing open, interoperable network management standards, which improves the state of the art for open and disaggregated transport networks. With this shared vision in mind, we express the following positions:

On the IETF IVY Hackathon. The IETF Network Inventory YANG (IVY) model is an ongoing definition of a standard network inventory model for the northbound of SDN Domain Controllers. The MANTRA subgroup collectively look forward to the execution of the upcoming IETF IVY Hackathon in the IETF 126 meeting in Vienna, as a valuable opportunity to validate emerging network inventory concepts in a hands-on setting. We will monitor and review the results to inform the broader community on the maturity and readiness of this work.

On a Common Network Inventory YANG Model for the IP Domain. We recognize a gap  in the standardization for the network inventory YANG model for the IP domain in SDN. In particular, the network inventory management for IPoDWDM scenarios with coherent pluggable optics in routers is particularly relevant. Such a solution would be a meaningful complement to the Transport SDN architectural direction pursued within the TIP MUST group.

On Applicability to the Optical Domain. We reinforce the message that the target solution of the TIP MUST subgroup for optical network inventory standardization is TAPI, and we are mindful of the distinct requirements and maturity of that domain. While we remain conservative about the near-term applicability of IVY work in the optical domain, we acknowledge that a unified approach across domains could, in the long run, be a valuable and complementary evolution alongside TAPI.