  We present DBNet, a data-driven network automation framework built on top of
a DBMS. DBNet utilizes key primitives of a DBMS including tables, procedures,
transactions, logging, and access control to serve the functions of a
data-centric network control plane. DBNet accomplishes this functionality by
storing mirrored network device states, executing automation programs on these
mirror states within the DBMS, and proxying state updates out to the physical
devices upon changes to mirror/local state. The framework also stores network
telemetry data, performs analytics on the data, uses the analytics to motivate
control plane actions, and provides provenance logging features on the actions
taken. We apply DBNet to motivating cloud network infrastructure examples and
show how developers can use DBNet's interface to express rich user-defined
policies. Our preliminary case studies show that the overhead to run DBNet is
trivial in the timescales generally relevant for network automation.
