How do we create and support NEDs for devices from other vendors?
In order to support NSO NEDs for 3rd party systems (devices/physical network functions (PNF), virtual network functions (VNF), controllers, etc.) the NED team requires access to the relevant systems. The NED team aims to have representative systems of each system family in our lab, in order to support regression testing and respond to customer support cases. This may not be possible in all cases, but that is the goal. The systems in our lab will typically have e.g.
- one device type to represent a device family
- one software version (e.g. device OS)
- limited set of plug-in modules (e.g. line cards)
This means that the NED regression testing will not include cases that rely on features that cannot be supported by the available systems. This in turn means that in the case where a customer raised problem cannot be reproduced on the available lab equipment then we may require some level of access to customer lab or production equipment. This may impact response and closure times for customer support cases, particularly in cases where there are restrictions on direct and remote access to devices and systems.
