gNMI provides a model-driven interface for streaming telemetry and state retrieval using structured YANG paths over gRPC. Unlike SNMP-based polling, gNMI-based telemetry provides low-latency, scalable streaming using structured YANG paths. In this test, we verified the retrieval of system inventory and telemetry from multi-vendor devices using gNMI with OpenConfig models.
The controller established gNMI sessions with the network devices. It subscribed to OpenConfig Platform paths for inventory and telemetry, and OpenConfig Interfaces paths for interface telemetry. Data was streamed continuously using STREAM subscriptions. The controller received and processed the telemetry in real time.
Platform inventory provided the device component hierarchy. This included line cards, transceivers, and hardware components. Platform telemetry collected CPU and memory utilization. It also collected power and environmental metrics where supported. We verified CPU idle values, total CPU usage, and memory consumption.
Interface telemetry included ingress and egress packet counters. It included error counters, discard counters, CRC statistics, and packet size distribution counters. We collected both cumulative counters and derived values, such as averages and standard deviation, for physical interfaces and subinterfaces where available.