Introduction to Tail-f and NCS

Carl Moberg, VP of Technology at Tail-f, presented an introduction to Tail-f and its Network Control System (NCS) at Tech Field Day on February 19, 2014. Tail-f, a Swedish software company founded in 2005, initially focused on providing software to equipment providers, embedding their solutions into routers and switches from major vendors. Their first product, ConfD, was designed for engineering teams within these equipment providers. By 2009, Tail-f recognized a growing need for a software solution that could manage the complexity of network configurations and provide useful interfaces for both humans and applications. This led to the development of NCS, a multi-vendor, multi-protocol controller launched in 2010, which aims to automate and programmatically manage networks, reducing the frequency, complexity, and cost of network changes.

NCS is designed to sit in the middle of the network, interfacing with both physical and virtual network elements using a variety of protocols, including Netconf and Cisco CLI. It provides a unified interface for management applications and network engineers, allowing them to interact with the network as a coherent asset. The system is driven by YANG models, which describe the syntax and semantics of the network elements and services, enabling a high degree of automation and reducing the need for manual configuration. NCS also supports transactions, ensuring that network changes are either fully implemented or rolled back to maintain consistency. This approach addresses the challenges of managing complex networks and allows for rapid deployment of new services and support for new devices.

Tail-f’s NCS has been adopted by several large customers, including Deutsche Telekom, which uses it in their Terastream project to create a hands-off network with real-time OSS capabilities. The system’s ability to support multi-vendor environments and integrate with existing network management tools makes it a valuable solution for service providers and enterprises looking to automate their network operations. Tail-f also actively participates in standardization efforts, contributing to the development of protocols like Netconf and the YANG language, and integrating with open-source projects like OpenStack. The company’s focus on providing a flexible, model-driven approach to network management positions NCS as a key player in the evolving landscape of network automation and orchestration.