example Use Case
OpenConfig
DataMiner OpenConfig implementation is of great use to receive certain information from your switch fabric.
The example use case compares polling versus on-change subscription supported by OpenConfig. The green circles represent the admin / operational state of an interface received via polling (every 30 seconds). DataMiner also subscribes to one interface via OpenConfig (second circle) and will immediately get notified when the admin or operational status of that interface changes.
Turning off the Meinberg GrandMaster network interface leads to an immediate notification via OpenConfig, which can be easily seen in the lower part of the screen. Also have a look at both circles at the connection to the Meinberg device, the upper one (polling) will indicate the interface state change later (indicated by a cross) than the lower one (colored red) which represents the OpenConfig alarm state.
Also when the interface comes back, OpenConfig will immediately detect the admin status change and when the operational status is UP again about one second later, DataMiner will detect that change as well with no delay.
With DataMiner you have the choice: there will be metrics and KPIs where real-time notifications are key, there are also other parameters such as interface bandwidth (which constantly changes) where a certain polling interval is more useful.
And by the way: have a look at the alarm status of both Cisco switches after the Meinberg Grandmaster has been disconnected. Both will be in a critical alarm state as they do not see the “preferred” Grandmaster any more.
USE CASE DETAILS
Simply use IP:port of the OpenConfig device you want to subscribe to. Some vendors apply additional security using certificates.
OpenConfig allows get and set commands, you can subscribe via polling or use an on-change subscription.
Check which data models your device supports, either standard OpenConfig models or proprietary models from the vendor (e.g. DME from Cisco).
Use a simple get command to poll a metric (e.g. switch memory).
Use on-change subscription to get an immediate notification on any parameter state change.
Use a simple set command to change the value or state of a parameter.
Like many other protocols, OpenConfig supports periodic polling, for example, of your interface counters.