The main goal of the thesis is a basic introduction of an intent based network. Intent based networking is slowly becoming a part of reality in production networks. It satisfies the growing demand for scalable, agile networks, and faces issues brought up by digitalization through redesigning traditional networking.
The first part of the thesis describes the main idea and architecture of intent based networking as well as the benefits and possible weaknesses. A more detailed presentation of software defined networking is presented in the second part. With the help of software defined networks, the idea of Intent can be translated into real production networks by creating virtual overlay network over physical devices.
The concept of virtual overlay networks is not new and has been present in the concept of data centers for a considerable amount of time. Now, it is slowly seeping into the field of networking by taking on the idea of intent based network and providing more capable hardware.
The rest of the thesis presents the process of building a basic campus network for testing purposes only. A controller lead by Cisco Systems was used to demonstrate the capabilities of a software defined network.
Taking into account the continually and quickly evolving digitalization with an increasing number of devices present in the Internet of Things (IoT), the idea of Intent will be adopted by real production networks and gradually overcome traditional ones. By implementing multiple virtual overlays based on the same physical gear, Intent provides more network flexibility and implement uniform security policies as well.
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