NetBox Assurance in NetBox Cloud: Fully Managed Drift Detection Platform

Network documentation drift represents one of the most persistent operational challenges in modern infrastructure management. When your source of truth no longer reflects reality, incident response slows, compliance gaps emerge, and security vulnerabilities can go unnoticed.

Recently, NetBox Labs has brought a fully managed solution to our customers: NetBox Assurance is available as an add-on for NetBox Cloud subscribers, delivering a fully managed drift detection platform while customers handle only network data collection.

Assurance in the Cloud: Build for Operational Focus

NetBox Assurance automatically detects when your real-world infrastructure no longer matches what’s documented in NetBox. We call this “operational drift,” and now NetBox Cloud customers can access the complete Assurance platform without deploying, managing, or maintaining the drift detection infrastructure.

The Cloud advantage is immediate: While NetBox Enterprise customers need to plan server resources for both NetBox and Assurance, manage databases, and coordinate upgrades, NetBox Cloud customers can have the Assurance add-on activated by NetBox Labs. You only deploy Discovery agents or Diode integrations in your network for data collection.  The Assurance analysis platform runs entirely in our managed environment.

For more detailed information about how NetBox Assurance works, including data ingestion methods, deviation categorization, and workflow processes, we cover the functionality in our NetBox Assurance in NetBox Enterprise post. Here, we’ll focus on what makes the Cloud deployment unique and powerful.

Cloud-First Operation Benefits

Zero Platform Infrastructure Management

Netbox Cloud handles all the underlying Assurance platform infrastructure automatically:

• • Automatic scaling as your network discovery data grows

• Built-in resiliency without configuration

• Seamless upgrades to new Assurance features without end-user configuration

Streamlined Team Collaboration

Cloud deployment removes common operational barriers:

• Instant access for distributed teams without VPN or network configuration
• Dev/staging environments (Professional tier and above) for testing Assurance workflows
• Shared visibility into drift detection across your entire organization
• Integrated user management through your existing NetBox Cloud access controls

Enterprise-Grade Security by Default

NetBox Cloud’s SOC 2 compliant infrastructure extends to Assurance:

• Encrypted data transmission for all Discovery agent communications
• Automated security updates without internal security team coordination

See Assurance in Action: Cloud Dashboard

Once the add-on is activated, NetBox Assurance appears directly in your NetBox Cloud navigation, providing immediate visibility into operational drift:

The Cloud interface provides the same powerful deviation management capabilities you’d expect, but without any of the infrastructure setup complexity.  Your team can focus entirely on operational workflows rather than platform maintenance.

Operational Drift Detection That Scales

Assurance in NetBox Cloud automatically processes network data from multiple sources and presents actionable insights about infrastructure changes:

Cloud-optimized data flow means Discovery agents and Diode integrations you deploy in your network connect seamlessly to the managed Assurance platform.  The result is continuous drift detection that scales with your infrastructure without adding platform management overhead to your team.

Strategic Drift Patterns and Trending

 

Cloud deployment provides additional operational advantages for understanding drift patterns over time:

• Managed data retention ensures historical trending data remains available according to your subscription tier
• Automatic backup of deviation data without additional storage planning
• Cross-region visibility for organizations with distributed infrastructure

From Detection to Resolution

The Cloud platform streamlines the path from drift detection to documentation updates. Teams can process deviations through familiar workflows:

The deviation management workflow mirrors the proven approach detailed in our NetBox Assurance Enterprise post: accept and sync changes, investigate anomalies, or bulk-process similar items. In Cloud deployment, these workflows benefit from managed infrastructure reliability without maintenance overhead.

Cloud-specific advantage: All workflow actions benefit from the managed infrastructure’s high availability and automatic scaling, ensuring deviation processing remains responsive even during large infrastructure changes.

Integrated Network Operations

Successful drift detection requires establishing team workflows around deviation management. NetBox Cloud’s managed environment supports operational maturity:

• Consistent platform availability eliminates infrastructure-related workflow interruptions
• Automatic feature updates ensure teams always have access to the latest Assurance capabilities
• Built-in integrations with premium services like ServiceNow, Splunk, and Elastic streamline operational workflows

The Cloud advantage extends beyond drift detection, it’s enabling sustainable documentation processes without infrastructure management overhead.

Ready to Get Started?

For Existing NetBox Cloud Customers

Assurance is available as an add-on across all NetBox Cloud subscription tiers. Contact your NetBox Labs representative or reach out to support@netboxlabs.com to have the Assurance add-on activated and start detecting drift within hours.

New to NetBox Cloud?

NetBox Assurance represents just one of the operational advantages of the fully managed NetBox Cloud platform. Explore NetBox Cloud to discover how managed.