Vendors’ Implementation of NETCONF Standard on Routers and Switches

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard organization created in 2006 the NETCONF (Network Configuration Protocol) in order to define the standard solution for command-oriented CLI (Command Line Interface) user interface for the configuration of network devices (routers and switches) of different vendors. Using the NETCONF standard should enable standardized, simpler, programmatic and more efficient configuration of R/S(router/switch) devices. Today, more than ten years after the creation of the NETCONF standard there is the question about the actual acceptance of the NETCONF standard by vendors on their R/S devices and about the actual maturity of the NETCONF standard. The scope of this paper is to show results of the scientific research (qualitative with interviews) made with major worldwide vendors of network devices (routers and switches): on which type of devices the NETCONF is implemented, what are the reasons for NETCONF (non)implementation, the availability of the NETCONF training and documentation, etc. Also, it is shown (quantitative research with questionnaire) how major customers in Croatia see the vendors' implementation of the NETCONF standard and how it could be improved.