Apstra AOS Demo with Jeremy Schulman

Jeremy Schulman, Head of Customer Enablement at Apstra, showcases the Apstra Operating System (AOS) running on an on-prem server rack. He highlights the configuration flexibility and extensive hardware support of AOS, emphasizing its focus on creating network service abstractions rather than device-level abstractions. Schulman demonstrates how AOS allows seamless hardware replacement by configuring network services via a series of parameters, independent of specific devices.

In his demonstration, Schulman replaces a Dell Cumulus switch with a Cisco switch, illustrating how AOS generates and manages configurations using Jinja templates. These templates help in creating custom configurations that can be extended as needed. A key feature demonstrated is the ability of AOS to adapt configurations dynamically based on the device models registered in the system, ensuring compatibility and operational consistency across different hardware platforms. This flexibility is further enhanced by AOS’s support for multiple vendors such as NXOS, Arista, and Cumulus.

Schulman also addresses how AOS handles real-time monitoring and troubleshooting, showing how the system quickly detects configuration deviations and alerts the user. He showcases the system’s ability to provide situational awareness and actionable insights to network engineers, enabling quick resolution of issues such as interface errors or routing anomalies. Additionally, Schulman mentions Apstra’s efforts in open-sourcing key components like their universal ZTP server, promoting community engagement and extending the system’s capabilities through customization and extensibility.