Cisco® announces the availability of the Cisco IP Solution Center (ISC) 5.0. Cisco IP Solution Center is a family of intelligent network management applications that help reduce overall network administration and management costs by providing automated resource management and rapid profiled-based provisioning capabilities that help enable rapid deployment and fast time to market of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Metro Ethernet technologies. Cisco IP Solution Center also helps reduce network operating costs by providing automated workflow-based troubleshooting and diagnostic capabilities for MPLS VPNs. The following applications can operate alone or as a suite:
• Cisco IP Solution Center MPLS VPN Management
• Cisco IP Solution Center L2 VPN and Metro Ethernet Management
• Cisco IP Solution Center Traffic Engineering Management
• Cisco MPLS Diagnostics Expert: This product can be used on its own or together with Cisco IP Solution Center MPLS VPN Management
Cisco IP Solution Center's capabilities include provisioning and automated diagnostics1 of MPLS VPNs, ATM/Frame Relay/Ethernet over MPLS VPNs, Metro Ethernet VPNs, and planning and configuration of MPLS Traffic Engineering (MPLS-TE). Table 1 describes the features of Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0.
Table 1. Features of Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0
Feature
Description
Tracking of Layer 3 and Layer 2 resources
Manages resources such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) autonomous system, regions, customers, customer sites, access domains, provider administrative domains, Virtual Route Forwarding (VRF) names, IP addresses, VLAN IDs, pseudowire virtual circuit IDs, route distinguishers, and route targets.
Rapid profile-based provisioning
Allows service operators to define Layer 3 and Layer 2 VPN provisioning parameters in a service policy; uploads the network element configuration to calculate the change in configuration needed to help ensure successful service activation.
Autodiscovery of Layer 3 VPN and Layer 2 VPN services
Cisco IP Solution Center can discover Layer 3 VPN and Layer 2 VPN services that were configured prior to activation of Cisco IP Solution Center on the service provider's network.
Recognize incorrect service configuration
Provides postprovisioning validation of the service design in order to determine whether the Layer 3 and Layer 2 VPNs are active and functional.
Investment protection from Cisco IOS® Software and Cisco IOS XR Software and line card changes
Provides comprehensive platform and Cisco IOS Software and IOS XR Software support.
Bandwidth protection planning
Identifies placement of Fast Reroute (FRR) backup tunnels to protect critical network elements. Installs backup tunnels to protect against link, node, or Shared Risk Link Group (SRLG) failures.
MPLS-TE tunnel placement, repair, and network grooming
Generates MPLS-TE tunnel paths that meet user-specified constraints, including bandwidth, affinity, and delay, and proposes fixes to meet user-specified constraints for new tunnel demands. Global reoptimization of primary tunnel placements improves network utilization.
Automated workflow-based troubleshooting and diagnostics of MPLS VPN deployments
The diagnostics performed by Cisco MPLS Diagnostics Expert are based upon analysis of network failure scenarios, across MPLS access, edge, and core.
Carrier-grade infrastructure for large deployments
Provides the following system features:
• Sun/Solaris based server installation
• Thin Web multiuser GUI client
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Extensible Markup Language (XML) over HTTP northbound interface
• Data backup and restore
New Features
The following list shows the key new features and updates of Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0.
• Cisco IOS XR Software support across all Cisco ISC modules (see release notes for a comparison of support between Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XR functionality).
• Secure Shell (SSHv2) Protocol version 2 support
• Support for the following new Web browsers:
– Internet Explorer 7.0 for Windows
– Mozilla Firefox 1.5 for Windows
– Mozilla Suite 1.7 for Solaris
• Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) support
• Layer 2 VPN enhancements: Layer 2 VPN E-Line services, Ethernet Relay Service (ERS), and Ethernet Wire Service (EWS) are supported by Cisco ISC 5.0 on Cisco XR12000 and CRS-1 series routers on Cisco IOS XR Software. The Layer 2 VPN features not supported on a Cisco IOS XR device are Standard User-Network Interface (UNI), Port Security, XConnect on Switch Virtual Interface (SVI), and Pseudowire tunnel selection.
• The following MDE enhancements are supported in MDE 2.1 on Cisco ISC 5.0:
– Cisco IOS XR Software support
– Multiple test types
– Search for device or interface by VRF name
– /31 networks supported
– Dual active flows supported
– Failure scenarios and observations enhanced
• Layer 3 VPN enhancements: Support for provisioning of Cisco IOS XR devices. A number of Cisco IOS eBGP enhancements are supported including configuration of advertisement interval, maximum prefix number, maximum prefix threshold, and maximum prefix restart. Also supported in Cisco IOS Software in this release of Cisco ISC is BGP Multipath Load Sharing and Maximum Path Configuration as well as Unique Route Distinguisher capability.
Cisco IP Solution Center 3.x, 4.x, and Cisco VPN Solution Center customers are encouraged to migrate to Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0. The following paragraphs outline the upgrade paths for existing Cisco IP Solution Center and Cisco VPN Solution Center customers.
• Existing Cisco MDE 2.0 customers with a current Software Application Support (SAS) contract can order an update kit for MDE 2.1 though the Cisco Product Upgrade Tool at http://www.cisco.com/go/mde. See Table below for ordering information. Customers without an SAS contract can purchase an update kit for a fee. See Table below for ordering information.
• All existing Cisco IP Solution Center customers can purchase an update kit for a fee by contacting their Cisco sales representatives. See Table below for ordering information.
• Existing Cisco IP Solution Center 3.x Security Management customers should not upgrade to Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0. The Cisco IP Solution Center 3.x Security Management product is currently supported only in the 3.x product branch. Please contact your Cisco account representative for more details on Security Management.
Availability
Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0 and associated minor release update kits will begin shipping on October 11, 2007. Customers can order these new products through normal Cisco sales channels beginning September 28, 2007. To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering Home Page.
Ordering Information
Tables 2 through 9 provide ordering information for Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0 applications.
Note: For Cisco IP Solution Center MPLS VPN and L2 VPN, an activation license implies the maximum number of connections or attachment circuits to be managed by the application. For Traffic Engineering Management, each tier value implies the maximum number of TE-enabled routers to be managed by Cisco IP Solution Center Traffic Engineering Management.
Table 2. Cisco IP Solution Center 5.0 Entry Points and Combo Packages
Part Number
Description
BASE-ISC5.0-K9
Cisco ISC 5.0 CD Base Media (required for all new customers)
MPLS-ISC5.0-AP
ISC 5.0 MPLS Provisioning (Incl Ethernet Access) -Incl 200 Als
L2-ISC5.0-AP
ISC 5.0 L2 Provisioning - Incl First 200 ALs Unless Already Installed
Table 9. Cisco IP Solution Center Update Options from Cisco ISC 4.x to 5.0 for All Customers
Part Number
Description
ISC4-5.0UP-250K-K9
Upg To ISC 5.0 Apps For 4.x Customers With >100K-> 250K A/Cs
ISC4-5.0UP-100K-K9
Upg To ISC 5.0 Apps For 4.x Customers With >50K->100K A/Cs
ISC4-5.0-UP-50K-K9
Upg To ISC 5.0 Apps For 4.x Customers With >30K->50K A/Cs
ISC4-5.0-UP-30K-K9
Upg To ISC 5.0 Apps For 4.x Customers With >6K->30K A/Cs
ISC4-5.0-UP-6K-K9
Upg To ISC 5.0 Apps For 4.x Customers With >2K->6K A/Cs
ISC4-5.0-UP-2K-K9
Upg To ISC 5.0 Apps For 4.x Customers With Up To 2K A/Cs
MDE21-UPG-ISC50-K9
Upgrade From MDE 1.x, 2.0 to 2.1, For Customers NOT On SAS
Technical support services are orderable on these products through the Cisco Software Application Support Programs. Service part numbers can be found on the Cisco online ordering tools and price lists.
For More Information
For more information about Cisco IP Solution Center, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/isc, contact your local account representative, or send an e-mail to the product marketing group at isc-mktg@cisco.com.
1Automated diagnostics features are not available for Layer 2 and Metro Ethernet VPNs in Cisco IP Solution Center as of today.
