IT network assurance quantifies

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...

from an IT network perspective, based on analysis of

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

facts.Network Assurance Solidifies Data Security Fully Understanding the Network is Critical to Validating the Security of Your Data
, Wall Street Technology Association, 2007. Examples could be identifying configuration errors in

network equipment Networking hardware, also known as network equipment or computer networking devices, are electronic devices which are required for communication and interaction between devices on a computer network. Specifically, they mediate data transmission in ...

, which may result in loss of connectivity between devices, degradation of performance or network outages. Relevant facts about the network that could be analyzed would include not only network

configuration files In computing, configuration files (commonly known simply as config files) are files used to configure the parameters and initial settings for some computer programs. They are used for user applications, server processes and operating system set ...

, but current network state, network traffic analysis, error logs or performance data. Network Assurance is closely related to the topic of

Service assurance Service assurance, in telecommunications, is the application of policies and processes by a Communications Service Provider (CSP) to ensure that services offered over networks meet a pre-defined service quality level for an optimal subscriber experi ...

, which is primarily for service providers and telecommunication networks to ensure the proper level and quality of network service are delivered to customers. IT network assurance is generally for corporate networks and enterprise IT departments. Network assurance involves the engineering process of

formal verification In the context of hardware and software systems, formal verification is the act of proving or disproving the correctness of intended algorithms underlying a system with respect to a certain formal specification or property, using formal metho ...

, which specifically contrasts with design testing. Verification of network design compares the policy requirements of the network with the actual implementation under all conditions, rather than testing specific test scenarios under a finite number of conditions. A complement to IT application-level security and data-level security solutions, and a sub-set of

Network management Network management is the process of administering and managing computer networks. Services provided by this discipline include fault analysis, performance management, provisioning of networks and maintaining quality of service. Network managemen ...

, Network assurance measures the impact of network change on security, availability, and compliance. Network assurance helps companies keep policies and defences correctly implemented during times of rapid network change. It also helps organizations prioritize remediation efforts and validate network policies and controls. Colleges are now offering classes specifically for this Network Management sub-domain under IT Forensics. The capabilities of a network assurance solution also overlap closely with the technology category of intent-based networking, which also compares network intent and required policies with actual network designs and configurations to provide assurance of network functions.

Vendors

IP Fabric
introduced a software platform in 2017 which seeks to improve the reliability and security of enterprise networks through continuous network assurance.

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

introduced a network assurance solution in January 2018 called Network Assurance Engine. Veriflow Systems is another vendor that claims to provide network assurance capabilities in its platform through continuous network verification. All three of these systems rely on a mathematical model of the network, rather than monitoring of live network traffic, to analyze and verify behavior in comparison to network intent and desired policies.

References

Network management Quality assurance Risk analysis {{computer-stub