{"id":9511,"date":"2020-05-27T12:24:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T12:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/var\/www\/html.zpesystems.com\/?p=9511"},"modified":"2021-02-03T20:41:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T20:41:20","slug":"zero-touch-provisioning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zpesystems.com\/zero-touch-provisioning\/","title":{"rendered":"What Goes Into Zero Touch Provisioning?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nWithout zero touch provisioning (ZTP)<\/strong>, setting up a new data center or branch location takes work. You know that along with all your new hardware comes plenty of manual input and configuration before things can function properly. After unboxing and racking your switches, servers, and routers, and making all the necessary physical connections to each, you need to bring these devices online to serve your network.<\/span><\/p>\n

But when you use zero touch provisioning, <\/span>you automate all of these necessary tasks<\/span><\/a> so that devices become configured and operational \u2014 with little or no user input. Of course, ZTP is not a turnkey solution offering total plug-n-play simplicity, but it does significantly reduce your workload when provisioning and deploying new locations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

What Goes Into Zero Touch Provisioning?<\/h4>\n

Even though zero touch provisioning automates and simplifies scaling, it still requires you to make preparations to get devices up and running. These preparations can include things like predetermining console port assignments and ethernet management ports. Also, you need to test and adjust configuration settings in your test environment, so that your devices are configured properly when it comes time to deploy.<\/span><\/p>\n

ZTP requires you to put forth effort up front, but it pays off later when scaling with new data center and branch locations. With your preparations in place, ZTP eliminates the need for repetitive manual work, and instead gives you streamlined, consistent provisioning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several companies are also including zero touch provisioning features in their hardware, through DHCP, Preboot Execution Environment (PXE), and other custom services and apps. For example, some hardware vendors now have devices that, when unable to find a startup configuration, automatically enter zero touch provisioning mode, which allows them to execute the proper scripts for configuration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Devices that come with ZTP features can help to further reduce your workload. But even when you use them, best practices call for you to have:<\/span><\/p>\n