Lookup Next Hub function
Summarize
Summary of Lookup Next Hub function
The Lookup Next Hub function in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application allows ServiceNow customers to input a network interface record and retrieve detailed information about its related physical connection and interconnected ports. This function is designed to streamline inventory data operations by automatically identifying connections between equipment interfaces within your network infrastructure.
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Available as a Workflow Studio action, it helps you quickly determine physical connections, front and back port relationships, and corresponding interconnected interfaces, facilitating efficient network inventory management and workflow automation.
Key Features
- Returns related physical connection records based on a given network interface.
- Provides empty results if no physical connections exist for the input port.
- Identifies sysid values and port names for front and back ports linked by configuration item (CI) relationships.
- Outputs sysids of next hub interfaces and interconnected interfaces connected at the other end of the physical connection.
- Configurable to handle cases where multiple records are found, allowing you to choose to return only the first record.
- Accessible to users with the admin role for adding actions to workflows and defining flow configurations.
Input and Output Details
Input: Requires a reference to a network interface record. You can specify handling options for multiple matching records.
Output: Provides arrays of sysids representing:
- Physical connection records related to the input interface.
- Interconnected ports linked to the interface.
- Next hub interfaces and interconnected interfaces at the opposite end of the physical connection.
Practical Use Cases
- Use Case 1: When no physical or internal connections exist for the input interface, the function returns empty results.
- Use Case 2: When a related interface exists, it returns the corresponding network interface record.
- Use Case 3: Returns both the related network interface record and the associated physical connection record.
- Use Case 4: Returns sysids of next hub and interconnected interfaces to identify network topology connections.
Why It Matters
This function empowers ServiceNow customers managing telecommunications networks to automate and accurately retrieve connection data between network elements, reducing manual effort and improving inventory accuracy. By integrating this function in Workflow Studio, you can enhance your operational efficiency and maintain up-to-date, reliable network topology information.
The Lookup Next Hub function enables you to take the network interface record as input and return the details of the related physical connection record. You can automatically get the details of the physical connection and interconnected ports of the equipment in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application when you use the Workflow Studio application.
- Physical connection that is related to the port.
- Empty response if no physical connection is related to the port.
- sys_id of the front and back ports, and the port name, if there’s a configuration item (CI) relationship between the front and back ports.
- NextHub interface and the interfaces that are connected to the other end of the physical connection.
- NextHub interconnected interface and the interconnected interfaces that are connected to the other end of the physical connection.
You can use this function as a Workflow Studio action in the Telecommunications Network Inventory workflow.
Roles and availability
Users with the admin role can add an action to a flow and define the configuration details of the flow. This function is available as a Workflow Studio action in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application so that you can perform inventory-related data operations.
Input fields
The following table lists the input fields in the Lookup Next Hub action and their descriptions.
| Field Name | Description | Data Type |
|---|---|---|
| Network Interface | Network interface record. | Reference.Network Interface |
| If multiple records are found action | Option to select the action when multiple records are found. You can select Return only the first record from the list to return the details of the first physical connection record. | Choice |
To learn more about the variable data types, see Flow Designer input and output data variables.
Output
The following table lists the information about the function output.
| Name | Description | Data Type |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Connections | Returns the list of sys_ids of the physical connection records that are related to the network interface. | Array.String |
| Interconnected Port | Returns the list of sys_ids of the ports that are interconnected to the network interface. | Array.String |
| NextHub Interface | Returns the list of sys_ids of the interfaces that are connected to the other end of the physical connection. | Array.String |
| NextHub Interconnected Interface | Returns the list of sys_ids of the interconnected interfaces that are connected to the other end of the physical connection. | Array.String |
Example
- Use Case 1
- If the input is passed as Interface-1 of Equipment-1 as shown in the following example, the function returns empty records, because the network inventory has no physical or internal connections in the network inventory.
- Use Case 2
- If the input is passed as Interface-1 of Equipment-1 as shown in the following example, the function returns the network interface record of Interface-2.
- Use Case 3
- If the input is passed as Interface-1 of Equipment-1 as shown in the following example, the function returns the network interface record of Interface-2 and the physical connection record of PC-1.
- Use Case 4
- If the input is passed as Interface-1 of Equipment-1 as shown in the following example, the NextHub Interface is 3 and the NextHub Interconnected Interface is 4.