Evolution of EFA and XVM into XCO

This section provides an overview of the evolution of Extreme Fabric Automation (EFA) and Extreme Visibility Manager (XVM) into ExtremeCloud Orchestrator (XCO). This information is intended to help existing EFA and XVM users understand the transformation of EFA and XVM into XCO.

ExtremeCloud™ Orchestrator is a comprehensive microservice based, cloud-native solution that provides organizations the ability to visualize at a workspace level using the user interface or shift to the orchestration level to integrate and automate the network infrastructure through APIs.

XCO integrates Extreme Fabric Automation (EFA) and Extreme Visibility Manager (XVM) solutions:

EFA: Automates life-cycle management that includes design, deployment, operation, and refresh of IP fabric networks. For more information, see Fabric Automation and Orchestration.
XVM: Manages network packet broker (NPB) and visibility solution. For more information, see Visibility Solution.

XCO Architecture

The XCO architecture is built on the concept of composable skills that provide specific capabilities and functions.

Skills

The skills within XCO are designed to work together to deliver a unified and integrated orchestration experience for the network. With this approach, organizations can quickly deploy a specific skill and can scale and evolve the orchestration capabilities as needs change over time.

Activation and access of the required skills within XCO can be done at the orchestration level or workspace level:

Fabric Skill (formerly EFA): Provides the foundation for orchestrating the network to access the complete network as a fabric-like abstraction layer.
Visibility Skill (formerly XVM): Provides centralized management for all Extreme Networks visibility products.

Retention of EFA CLI and EFA Terminology

The EFA CLI is retained in XCO to ensure backward compatibility for existing EFA users. This allows organizations to continue using the EFA CLI for the life-cycle management of IP fabric, ensuring a smooth transition to XCO. Additionally, the term EFA refers to the fabric skill within XCO.