A provider of high-availability (HA) middleware for distributed telecommunications systems will integrate and market third-party XML-based network management software. Enea says Tail-f's ConfD suite will improve reliability for customers of its Element HA middleware, by automating “tedious, time-consuming, and failure-prone” tasks involved in configuring complex distributed equipment.

Tail-f is apparently named for a Unix command often used to scroll log files. Its ConfD product is a modular, XML-based software suite said to allow developers to build a variety of on-device management interfaces from a single data model. Supported interfaces include:

• Netconf (IEEE RFCs 4741 and 4742)
• SNMP (simple network management protocol)
• CLI (command line interface)
• Web

Tail-f's ConfD can offer on-device Netconf, SNMP, CLI, and/or web interfaces

Enea says it signed a joint development and marketing agreement with Tail-f that will allow it to directly market a version of ConfD to be closely integrated with Enea's Element middleware suite. Together, Enea says, the product combo will offer:

• A complete on-device management system, including Web, CLI, and SNMP interfaces
• Support for NETCONF, the IETF standard for XML based configuration management
• Scalable implementations that support arbitrarily large configurations
• Unified management of multiple disparate product lines using a robust XML framework

Enea's Element middleware suite aims to support Linux distributions that include MontaVista Carrier Grade Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora Core, and CentOS (Community ENTerprise OS). It also supports Enea's OSE RTOS, a small-footprint real-time operating system available in an OSEck version that supports DSP processor blades. Element is based on a high-performance, open source “Linx” IPC (interprocess communication) layer.

Enea notes that telecom network administrators are scrambling to deploy highly available network equipment, in response to escalating demand for converged services. It says ConfD will help Element customers deploy highly reliable systems faster, and with fewer errors.

According to Enea VP of alliances Linda Thompson, “Network management is an integral part of building reliable, cost-effective networks capable of delivering high-quality converged data, voice, and video services.”

Availability

No target date was announced for delivery of an integrated Enea/Tail-f product package.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.