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Cisco® Crosswork Hierarchical Controller (HCO) enables multilayer visibility of transport networks, IP to optical topologies. And leverage automation of operations across vendors and domains.
Product overview
Cisco Crosswork HCO is a multilayer, multivendor, multidomain transport controller. It provides powerful and intuitive applications to simplify operations in IP and optical networks.
Crosswork HCO covers a variety of use cases throughout the network and services lifecycle.
Visualization – End-to-end, 3D view of IP and optical topologies and services, across domains and layers, using schematic or satellite maps. Enables contextual launch of controller UI on managed objects (device, link, tunnel, service)
Analytics – Simulate failures, find alternative paths, and find single points of failure and diversity violations, all across optical and IP layers.
Assurance – Collects performance metrics on packet, L1, and photonic links. Smart analysis of bundles links and LSPs.
Provisioning – Unified and generic way to provision new optical transport services on optical domains, with proven integration to all lead vendors.
Crosswork HCO reduces complexity of operations across domains and layers and increases efficiency and network utilization.
Table 1. HCO Features and Applications
| Feature |
Benefit |
| 3D Explorer |
Visualize IP and optical links/tunnels/services between geo sites on a satellite or schematic map, with correlation between layers. |
| Layer Relations |
Show relationships between links in different layers (for example, show all SR policies over all or specific physical links). |
| Network Inventory |
Show full tabular view of devices, cards, ports, links, SR policies, and services. |
| Time Machine |
Go back in time to a date in the past and analyze the network as it was at that point in time. |
| Dashboard |
View visual widgets displaying inventory, topology, and services info. Define rule-based widgets with SHQL queries. |
| Network History |
Analyze historical records of all inventory resources, topology, and service changes (add, modify, and delete). |
| Failure Impact |
Plan a maintenance event, finding which connections will be impacted by taking resources down and if there is an alternative path. When found, comparing existing and alternative path latency, cost, and hops. Supported for OTN, ETH, and RSVP-TE tunnels. |
| Shared Risk Analysis |
Find if there are commonly shared resources (node, site, link, and card) between selected group of links in any layer. Group can be selected explicitly or as an SHQL rule. |
| SHQL |
Simple, yet sophisticated multilayer query language to get inventory, topology, tunnels, and services. All based on multilayer correlation. |
| Model settings (tags, regions, sites) |
Add external data and tag resources based on rules. |
| Service Manager |
Service CRUD, show and provision all these service types. L2-L3-VPNs, RSVP-TE, and SR policies. ETH/OTN connections, OCH, and ZR links. |
| Service Assurance |
View E-Line, L3VPN and L2VPN service configuration and status, as well as service underlay topology, mapped to optical topology over 3D map. |
| Link Assurance |
Analyze multi-layer topologies of IP links, over ZR/ZR+ pluggables or OTN to WDM network, view link hop-by-hop path and performance graps per selected port and link. |
| Link Manager |
Enable managing inter-domain and inter-layer links. User can manually add cross-links and let HCO validate link connectivity. |
Table 2. Product HW specifications
| Details |
Feature |
| HW requirements |
A single VM with 96G RAM, 3Tb disk, 12 vCPUs |
| Operating system |
HCO comes as OVA package with Linux OS |
| High Availability |
Three-node cluster, need 3 VMs (2 as main and standby instances, 1 as witness) |
| Scalability |
10,000 NEs, 50,000 links, 100,000 services |
| Architecture |
Docker container based, with Postgres DB, Python applications |
Crosswork HCO is unique in providing full support of lifecycle operations of IP and optical transport networks, with proven integration (pre-SDN and SDN) to all lead vendors.
● Pre-integrated with all vendors: Both pre-SDN and SDN APIs
● Ensuring tight SLA: Provisioning and assurance for both service overlay and underlay
● Unique discovery solution for all network layers, all services, and cross-layer and cross-domain links
● Sophisticated path computation allowing to optimize paths for multilayer constraints using powerful path computation algorithms
● Network analytics engine: Understand network anomalies and track changes and degradations over time using powerful query language
● Scalability: Hierarchical control scales to over 10,000 elements in real time
● Supporting evolution from pre-SDN to SDN and from legacy networks to new ones
● Demonstrable leadership for advanced use cases: Multilayer restoration, optimization, and predictive failure avoidance
SDN controllers and NMSs support
Table 3. HCO supported integrations with SDN controllers and NMSs
| Product Family |
Platforms Supported |
Content coverage |
| Optical SDN controllers |
Ciena MCP |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services Service provisioning for OTN, E-Line, OCH, Alien Wavelength Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
| Huawei NCE-T |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services Service provisioning for OTN, E-Line Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
|
| Nokia NSP |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
|
| Cisco ONC |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services Service provisioning for RON automation where ZR pluggables are connected to NS1010 as OLS Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
|
| Optical NMSs |
Cisco EPNM Nokia NFM-T |
NCS2k discovery for inventory, topology, services Network discovery for inventory, topology, services |
| IP NMSs |
Cisco EPNM |
ASR9k discovery for inventory, topology, assurance |
| IP SDN Controllers |
Cisco CNC |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services Service provisioning for L2VPN, L3VPN Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
| Nokia NSP |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services Service provisioning for L2VPN, L3VPN Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
|
| Juniper Northstar |
Network discovery for inventory, topology, services RSVP-TE tunnel provisioning Link and service assurance (performance monitoring) |
Information about Cisco’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives and performance is provided in Cisco’s CSR and sustainability reporting.
Table 4. Product sustainability
| Sustainability Topic |
Reference |
|
| General |
Information on product-material-content laws and regulations |
|
| Information on electronic waste laws and regulations, including our products, batteries, and packaging |
||
| Information on product takeback and reuse program |
||
| Sustainability inquiries |
Contact: csr_inquiries@cisco.com |
|
| Material |
Product packaging weight and materials |
Contact: environment@cisco.com |
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| New or revised topic |
Described in |
Date |
| Updated HW requirements |
July 25, 2024 |
|
| Added Cisco EPNM Adapter under IP NMSs |
July 25, 2024 |
|
| Updated the list of network adapters supported. Added more details of the specific features per adapter |
June 11, 2024 |
|
| Removed deprecated applications from the list (Network Vulnerability and Path Optimization) |
June 11, 2024 |