Skynet? No, no Terminator, please.
Just joking—don’t jump to the movie scene right away. Let’s consider the idea of AI operating a network, similar to how automation handles network device configuration and zero-touch provisioning. Is it possible?
Let’s start with automation. A device comes with an initial configuration that includes an IP address and gateway. Once it’s network-accessible, the central server recognizes the device and pushes the final configuration. That’s a simple flow, right?
But what happens next—who operates the device?
Today, it’s still a human network operator.
Could AI replace the network operator? It depends on how the AI model is trained, how it handles fault tolerance, and how it avoids operational errors. There’s no such thing as 100% guarantee.
However, using AI to operate parts of the network—such as traffic tuning, AS path changes, or metric modifications—seems realistic.
AI can assist with tasks like network measurements, route and traffic tuning, DDoS detection and auto-mitigation (which already exists), device fault detection and traffic redirection, and DNS updates. That all seems feasible. You could train an AI module specifically for this purpose.
But then again—do we need AI if existing technologies already meet these requirements?
Let’s consider a scenario and see what AI (specifically, ChatGPT) can do.
Scenario:
- An Internet provider has 2 transit links:
- Link A: 1 Gbps
- Link B: 10 Gbps
- The subnets 10.0.0.0/24 and 11.0.0.0/24 (AS 65000) are advertised to Link A.
- The same subnets, but with AS path prepending (65000, 65000), plus 12.0.0.0/24 (65000), are advertised to Link B.
- Link A is congested—11.0.0.0/24 is using nearly 900 Mbps.
- Link B’s total usage is just 5 Gbps.
- A customer on 10.0.0.0/24 complains they cannot access the Internet.
ChatGPT’s Suggested Operation:
Summary:
- Remove or reduce AS path prepend on Link B.
- Optionally add prepends on Link A.
- Let traffic shift to Link B (10 Gbps).
- This will relieve congestion on Link A.
- It should also restore Internet access for users on 10.0.0.0/24.
Business Follow-Up:
“From a technical perspective, that works. But from a business point of view, Link A is now underutilized. If Link B has a higher cost per bps, this is inefficient.”
ChatGPT’s Response:
| Aspect | Strategy |
|---|---|
| Technical QoS | Offload heavy prefixes like 11.0.0.0/24 to Link B |
| Cost Control | Keep lighter prefixes like 10.0.0.0/24 on Link A to avoid overusing B |
| Business Fit | Avoid paying premium for B unless capacity is needed |
| Scalable Option | Automate prepend adjustments using monitoring-based thresholds |
Yes, that’s a great example of how AI can analyze your needs if you provide enough detail and criteria.
The remaining concern is AI’s operational cost and power consumption.
This topic definitely deserves more discussion—SD-WAN + AI?
#BGP #bgptrace #AI #chatGPT #AS #ASPrepend #path #link #transit #INTERNET #SDWAN
