5. Some use cases

5.1 Automated production of a VPN

The intrinsic complexity of VPN (virtual private network) services makes them an emblematic example of services that encourage the introduction of a high level of automation in the production process. The resources involved in providing a VPN service must, in fact, handle a large amount of configuration information (which can be classified as follows):

• topological (e.g. location and identification of sites connected through the VPN);

• addressing (including identification of the networks and terminals that will be able to access the VPN service or will be accessible via the VPN service);

• routing (specification of routing policy within the...