Apstra Who We Are with Derick Winkworth

Derick Winkworth, Systems Engineer at Apstra, introduces the company at Networking Field Day 13, emphasizing that the organization views networking primarily as a data problem. He reveals that their goal is to provide tools for managing and acting upon the immense amount of interconnected data present in networks, which involves considering various states such as route tables, ARP tables, and interface information. Winkworth underscores the complexity of distributing and automating this data, likening it to a difficult computational problem.

Winkworth then draws an analogy between the human brain’s ability to recognize faces and network automation. He discusses a neurological condition known as face blindness to illustrate how important context is for understanding and automating networks. Much like how people with face blindness see facial features but cannot recognize faces due to a lack of holistic vision, network automation without context is fragmented and incomplete. He suggests that traditional network automation can understand and act on isolated data points but lacks the comprehensive insight needed to achieve effective network automation without a well-integrated model.

Apstra’s unique approach to network automation seeks to solve this by defining the network as an ideal or expected state. They leverage their Apstra Operating System (AOS) to capture the intended state of a network and use this model to guide automation processes comprehensively. Winkworth presented how AOS can simplify network automation by breaking down the complexities into manageable parts, maintaining context throughout the operations from design to implementation. The overarching message is that having a clear, holistic model of the network allows for more effective automation and management of network data, which Apstra aims to achieve with its tools and systems.