Webcast to highlight network interoperability
On Wednesday, June 22, at 2:00 pm Eastern (11:00am Pacific), T&MW will host a webcast that will cover NTAF Specification 1.0. Members of the Network Test Automation Forum will present the reasons why the organization came into being and they will explain the specification in detail.Today, I spoke with NTAF president Bob Ormsby from Verizon and treasurer Jitin Dhanani from Ixia. Ormsby explained that network operators were spending far too much time and money dealing with different programming interfaces for network equipment and network test equipment. “Our goal was to simplify lab automation,” said Ormsby, “and reduce the time, complexity, and cost of our products’ test cycles.”
Ormsby explained that as a service provider, Verizon has to work with many equipment manufacturers. Each has a different automation programming interface and Verizon engineers have to learn all of them. The NTAF specification will reduce differences because it provides the details of a software layer that resides between pieces of equipment. A common programming interface lets engineers write test scripts for any manufacturer’s equipment. Engineers no longer will have to learn the nuances of programming for different manufacturers and they’ll be able to swap equipment without writing new scripts. The NTAF specification still provides equipment manufactures with the ability to add special functions.
The NTAF specification uses XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) , an open-source technology, as the basis for the programming interface. Because it’s extensible, XMPP lets manufacturers add their own functions. Equipment manufacturers can write their own NTAF software layer and make it available to others.
Prior to the release of NTAF Specification 1.0, member companies held two plugfests where they came together to verify equipment interoperability. Ormsby explained that future plugfests will occur around new releases of the specification that add new functions or achieve significant milestones. Anyone who develops a software layer based on the NTAF specification may participate in future plugfests.
To register for the webcast, click here .
Follow the links below for previous Test & Measurement World articles on NTAF.
Cammie commented:
Yeah that's what I'm tkalnig about baby--nice work!
Midge commented:
You're the graestet! JMHO
