Network Automation is the thing most networks are running and working on. Most of them have it implemented in one way, are working on more automation and constantly improving and figuring out what their needs are. This text covers a short history of network automation and puts forward questions and open topics we face while further progessing up the automation ladder.

You do networks as a job, and have a FTTH connection at home. The connection is broken, the providers' help desk as usually not responsive, so you are want to troubleshoot as much as possible on your own. Here are some hints what kind of behaviour you can expect from FTTH equipment at the subscribers premise.

Now for some advanced networking: If you do not bring IP nodes close to the subscribers, or you want to resell PON subscribers to other wholesale carriers, you might need a transport network (you could also call it Metro Ethernet) to transport subscriber data to a handover point with your IP equipment or other wholesale carriers.

This article will focus on the active technology in PON networks: ONTs, OLTs, transceivers, wavelengths used, throughput and the potential placement of active network elements in a PON network.

Part 3 describes the principles of PON and how it differs from P2P networks. In this part we concentrate on the passive (i.e.) fiber network.

Active or Point-to-Point access networks are introduced and described in more detail. You can read about a generic network design, some abbreviations will be explained and you will see a fiber path from a building up to the first aggregation node where active network equipment is hosted.