Cisco has expanded its cloud-scale networking solutions portfolio to create what it describes as the industry’s first Network-as-a-Fabric.
The expanded offering will help service providers and web companies take full advantage of software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV) as they shift their central offices to next-generation data centres.
It simplifies processes for increased agility and efficiency for multi-vendor network programmability.
The company plans to implement OpenConfig data models in Cisco IOS XR to support the operational requirements of its customers.
The newly-launched capabilities, which are enabled by Cisco IOS XR, include ethernet virtual private network (EVPN), which offers separation between the data plane and the control plane,
Segment routing end-to-end creates a unified, common-forwarding underlay to further simplify network operations, while model-driven telemetry delivers increased, granular, real-time visibility through native, open, common data models for automation and efficient operation of physical and virtual resources.
The company cited a recent study from Heavy Reading demonstrating that over 70% of service providers surveyed are in the process of or are planning central office transformations using NFV and SDN techniques.
The networking firm said cloud-scale networking creates a unified network-as-a-fabric across central office, metro, core, and data center environments, allowing transformation through simplification, automation and virtualisation.
Cisco senior vice president of service provider business Yvette Kanouff said: “Our continued progress with the Cloud Scale Networking platform is proof of our commitment to NFV and SDN solutions for open, programmable and automated networks.
“Central office transformations are part of our customers’ top priorities worldwide, and we are in a unique position to help them with easy upgrades to their existing routing platforms using the Cisco IOS XR software.”
The company is taking part in several working groups in the Internet Engineering Task Force, managing or supporting to advance crucial vendor-neutral projects such as segment routing and streaming telemetry.
