Most network operators in IT departments are trained in configuring routers, but are not necessary programmers. With the emergence of Software-Defined Networks (SDN), there is a need for network operators to program routers, which they may not have the skill set for. The proposed technology (NetEgg) provides a way for IT operators who are not trained in software programming, to program the behavior of their SDN routers simply by supplying example scenarios visually. The proposed tool takes the visual scenarios and then automatically generates a working code.
During the I-Corps program, this team's customer discovery plan involves interviewing router vendors, large enterprises using software-based routers within data centers, and companies deploying policy-based routing over the wide-area. The proposed engineering plan involves developing a cloud-based NetEgg tool, where users can enter a visual representation of their network policy via a web-based interface, and actual router configurations will be dynamically propagated to network routers via secure channels. By the end of the I-Corps program, the team also plans to have a demo available via which users can log into a NetEgg portal, to create scenarios, which can then by dynamically pushed down to registered SDN switches via a secure channel.
