Performance
Batch updates straight to RIB, Lable Switch Database (and more in the future) over gRPC without going through a Network state database results in much higher performance than equivalent Management APIs.
API for the “Do-it-yourself" system
Bring your own Protocol or Controller – Use the same APIs that the IOS-XR protocol stacks use internally, but over GRPC.
Offload Low-level tasks to IOS-XR
Users can focus on higher layer protocols and Controller logic while the IOS-XR infrastructure layer handles conflict resolution, transactional notifications, scalability and data plane abstraction.
Open/R integration with IOS XR
Explore how IOS-XR’s service layer APIs and application hosting capabilities can be leveraged to host and integrate Open/R as an IGP on IOS-XR.
Techfield Day 15 @Cisco Systems
Akshat Sharma gives a lowdown on the latest advancements in Cisco IOS-XR programmability as Cisco enables end-users to take advantange of a high performance channel to directly program the IOS-XR infrastructure layer, called the Service Layer, over gRPC. The talk focuses on the architectural tenets of Service Layer APIs and ends with a demo of an OpenBMP controller implemented using the Service Layer APIs.
Documentation auto-generated from Code
Doxygen Based API Documentation auto-generated from the protobuf IDLs. Documentation always remains up to date with the API!
OpenBMP Controller using Service Layer APIs
Selective Route download for BGP is a use case that most CDN network operators have taken a stab at. Being able to manipulate the RIB directly with custom route policies to optimize TCAM usage at a CDN PoP router is made much simpler through a high performance Model-Driven API directly into the XR RIB as part of the Cisco Service Layer. Akshat Sharma explains.