Cisco IoT Field Network Director Data Sheet

Data Sheet

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Updated:July 26, 2023

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Updated:July 26, 2023
 

 

The Cisco IoT Field Network Director (FND) is the network management system for managing multiservice Field Area Networks (FANs), which include Cisco industrial routers, connected grid routers, gateways, and endpoints.

Features that distinguish the IoT FND are as follows:

      Ease of deployment at scale with Zero-Touch Deployment (ZTD) of IoT gateways and endpoints

      Secure and scalable end-to-end enrollment and management of gateways, endpoints, and Cisco IOx applications

      Optimization to operate on a FAN with constrained bandwidth

      Enterprise visibility into the health of gateways and endpoints

      Rich set of northbound APIs for third-party application integration

IoT FND is essential to the success of Internet of Things (IoT) solution deployments: Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Distribution Automation (DA), Demand Response (DR), outdoor lighting, transportation, asset tracking, and LoRaWAN infrastructures. It is a proven system on which many of our customers rely every day to deliver critical infrastructure services to millions of their customers.

Cisco IoT Field Network Director is built on a layered system architecture to enable clear separation   between network management functionality and applications in fleet management, asset tracking, and utility, such as a Distribution Management System (DMS), Outage Management System (OMS), and Meter Data Management (MDM). This clear separation between network management and applications helps customers deploy IoT projects incrementally, for example, by extending AMI into a utility’s DA using a   shared multiservice network infrastructure and a common network management system across various utility operations. Further, a northbound API from the IoT Field Network Director allows various applications to pull and subscribe to appropriate, service-specific network communications data from a shared, multiservice communication network infrastructure. (See Figures 1 and 2.)

IoT Field Network Director operator view

Figure 1.            

IoT Field Network Director operator view

Multiservice field area network and IoT FND in the head end

Figure 2.            

Multiservice field area network and IoT FND in the head end

Core functionalities and supported devices

Table 1 describes IoT FND functionality, and Tables 2 through 4 list supported devices.

Table 1.        Functionality

Function

Description

End-to-end security management

  Fully automated, highly secure ZTD for gateways and endpoints
  Provisions mobile field technicians with time-bound security credentials to perform authorized field maintenance
  Integrates with enterprise security policies and role-based access control for network devices
  Provides device-level authentication through Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) and RADIUS integration and alerts operators of attempted rogue device access to communication networks
  Integrates with standard Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) to help enable security and reporting needs (NERC-CIP compliance)

Fault management

  Fault event collection, filtering, and correlation for communication network monitoring
  Supports a variety of fault event mechanisms for threshold-based rule processing, custom alarm generation, and alarm event processing
  Faults can be visualized on a color-coded GIS map view for the various gateways and endpoints
  Allows operator-level custom fault event generation, processing, and forwarding to various applications, such as an outage management system
  Automatic issue tracking based on events collected

Configuration management

  Performs over-the-air software and firmware upgrades to remote endpoints
  Allows centralized configuration management, including change control enforced through operator role-based access control
  Delivers flexible device grouping options, including policy-based management and methods for deploying configuration changes

Accounting management

  Logs access information for user activity for audit, regulatory compliance, and SIEM integration
  Simplifies management and enhances compliance by integrating monitoring, reporting, and troubleshooting capabilities

Performance management

  Displays color-coded, real-time performance information on a GIS-based map
  Monitors and collects network device status and statistics
  Collects a standard set of metrics related to the operations network
  Provides a powerful threshold-based rule processing engine for exception reporting and visualization on a GIS map in real time
  Enables customized metrics collection frequency, along with historical trend reporting to suit operational needs

GIS map visualization, diagnostics, and troubleshooting tools

  Allows entire network and security management function visualization on a GIS map view for operator ease of use
  Provides a color-coded state view, enabling a network operator to easily pinpoint network regions and devices to troubleshoot
  Provides real-time troubleshooting using ping and traceroute with visual output on a GIS map, with primary metrics for each link, node, and endpoint
  Provides geo tracking for mobile gateways based on GPS coordinates

Northbound API

  Allows ease of integration for existing applications, such as OMS, MDM, trouble-ticketing systems, and manager of managers

Table 2.        Supported gateways and endpoints

Product name

Product ID

Cisco 1000 Series Connected Grid Routers

CGR1120/K9

CGR1240/K9

Cisco 500 Series Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) Industrial Routers

IR509UWP-915/K9

IR529WP-915S/K9

IR510-OFDM-FCC/K9

IR510-OFDM-ANZ/K9

IR529UWP-915D/K9

IR510-OFDM-BRZ/K9

IR529UBWP-915S/K9

IR530D-OFDM-FCC/K9

IR529UBWP-915D/K9

IR530S-OFDM-FCC/K9

Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Industrial Router

IR1101-K9

IR1101-A-K9

 

Cisco 800 Series Industrial Integrated Services Routers

IR809G-LTE-GA-K9

IR809G-LTE-LA-K9

Dual LTE

IR829M-2LTE-EA-AK9

IR809G-LTE-NA-K9

IR829M-2LTE-EA-BK9

IR809G-LTE-VZ-K9

IR829M-2LTE-EA-EK9

 

IR829B-2LTE-EA-AK9

IR807G-LTE-GA-K9

IR829B-2LTE-EA-BK9

IR807G-LTE-NA-K9

IR829B-2LTE-EA-EK9

IR807G-LTE-VZ-K9

IR829-2LTE-EA-AK9

 

IR829-2LTE-EA-BK9

 

IR829-2LTE-EA-EK9

 

Single LTE

IR829M-LTE-EA-AK9

IR829M-LTE-EA-BK9

IR829M-LTE-EA-EK9

IR829M-LTE-LA-ZK9

IR829B-LTE-EA-AK9

IR829B-LTE-EA-BK9

IR829B-LTE-EA-EK9

IR829GW-LTE-NA-AK9

IR829GW-LTE-VZ-AK9

IR829GW-LTE-GA-EK9

IR829GW-LTE-GA-ZK9

IR829GW-LTE-GA-CK9

IR829GW-LTE-GA-SK9

IR829GW-LTE-LA-*K9

Cisco 819 Integrated Services Routers

Hardened

C819HG-U-K9

C819HG-S-K9

C819HG-V-K9

C819HG-B-K9

C819HG+7-K9

C819HGW+7-E-K9

C819HGW+7-N-K9

C819HGW+7-A-A-K9

C819HGW-V-A-K9

C819HGW-S-A-K9

C819HWD-E-K9

C819HWD-A-K9

C819H-K9

C819HG-4G-V-K9

C819HG-4G-A-K9

C819HG-4G-G-K9

Nonhardened

C819G-U-K9

C819G-S-K9

C819G-V-K9

C819G-B-K9

C819G+7-K9

C819G-4G-V-K9

C819G-4G-A-K9

C819G-4G-G-K9

Cisco 5900 Series Embedded Services Routers

ESR 5921

 

Cisco IC3000 Industrial Compute Gateway

IC3000-2C2F-K9

 

Cisco Wireless Gateway for LoRaWAN

IXM-LPWA-800-16-K9

IXM-LPWA-900-16-K9

Cisco Connected Grid Endpoint

CGE

 

Cisco Catalyst IR8100 Series Industrial Router

IR8140H-K9

IR8140H-P-K9 (PoE enabled)

Cisco Catalyst IR1800 Rugged Series Industrial Router

IR1821-K9

IR1831-K9

IR1833-K9

IR1835-K9

Table 3.        Supported head end routers

Product name

Product ID

Cisco Integrated Services Routers

ISR3900

ISR4431

ISR4321

Cisco Aggregation Services Routers

ASR1002-X

ASR1002

 

Cisco Cloud Services Router

CSR1000V

 

Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platform

C8500L-8S4X

C8000V

Note: IoT Field Network Director does not manage head end routers. It only monitors them for reachability and tunnel status.

Table 4.        Supported third-party gateways and endpoints

Vendor

Product

Cohda Wireless

MK5 OBU MK5 RSU

Itron

OpenWay Riva ACT

OpenWay Riva ACT Gateway

OpenWay Riva ACT Extender

OpenWay Riva BACT

OpenWay Riva BACT Controller

OpenWay Riva CAM1

Landis+Gyr

N2450 Gateway

Revelo Endpoints

M125, M225 Endpoints

R661 Extender

Cisco IoT Field Network Director License Product IDs

To deploy FND, a perpetual application license needs to be purchased along with a set of device licenses (perpetual or subscription).

Table 5 lists subscription product IDs, and Table 6 lists perpetual product IDs

Table 5.        Subscription product IDs

Subscription PID

Description

IOTFND-SOFTWARE-K9

Top-level PID for subscription licenses for devices

IOTFND-EP-1K

IoT FND subscription license for managing 1000 endpoints

IOTFND-BEP-1K

IoT FND subscription license for managing 1000 battery endpoints

IOTFND-CGR1000

IoT FND subscription license for managing CGR1000 router

IOTFND-IR509

IoT FND subscription license for managing IR500 endpoints

IOTFND-IR1100

IoT FND subscription license for managing IR1101 router

IOTFND-IR800

IoT FND subscription license for managing IR800 router

IOTFND-IC3000

IoT FND subscription license for managing IC3000 gateway

IOTFND-C800

IoT FND subscription license for managing C800 router

IOTFND-LORAWAN

IoT FND subscription license for managing LoRAWAN gateway

IOTFND-EP-100

IoT FND subscription license for managing 100 endpoints

IOTFND-CEP-1K

IoT FND subscription license for managing 1000 cellular endpoints

IOTFND-IR8100

IoT FND Subscription License for Managing IR8100 router

IOTFND-IR1800

IoT FND Subscription License for Managing IR1800 router

IOTFND-N2450

IoT FND Subscription License for Managing L+G N2450 router

Note: Maintenance price and IOx license are included in the pricing with subscription PIDs.

Table 6.        Perpetual product IDs

Perpetual PID

Description

IOT-FND

Top-level PID for perpetual FND application license

R-IOTFND-K9

IoT FND RPM distribution for bare metal deployment without the database

R-IOTFND-V-K9

IoT FND OVA virtual machine with Oracle DB & embedded license (recommended for RF mesh; also compatible with gateways)

R-IOTFND-VPI-K9

IoT FND OVA virtual machine with Postgres DB (recommended for gateway management)

L-IOTFND-GIS-3YRS

License for GIS map

L-IOTFND-OPTIONKIT

Top-level PID for perpetual device licenses

L-IOTFND-EP-1K

IoT FND device license for managing 1000 endpoints including IR530

L-IOTFND-BEP-1K

IoT FND device license for managing 1000 battery endpoints (gas/water)

L-IOTFND-CGR1K

IoT FND device license for managing CGR1000 router

L-IOTFND-IR509

IoT FND device license for managing IR500 endpoints

L-IOTFND-IR800

IoT FND device license for managing IR800 router

L-IOTFND-C800

IoT FND device license for managing C800 router

L-IOTFND-LORAWAN

IoT FND device license for managing LoRaWAN gateway

Note:      Maintenance will need to be purchased separately with perpetual PIDs.

Recommended hardware configuration

Tables 7 and 8 list recommended generic server hardware configurations for running Cisco IoT Field Network Director software and Oracle in bare metal deployment to manage up to 8 million endpoints in an AMI use case. Table 9 & 10 recommend these configurations for gateway deployments only. Please refer  to the system requirements and resource management guidelines of the latest / relevant IOT-FND release notes here for up-to-date information.

Table 7.        Application server hardware requirements for routers and endpoints

Nodes

(Routers/Endpoints)

CPU

(Virtual Cores)

Memory

(RAM GB)

Disk Space

(GB)

25/10,000

2

16

100

50/50,000

4

16

200

500/500,000

4

16

250

1,000/1,000,000

8

16

250

2,000/2,000,000 1

8

16

500

5,000/5,000,000 1

8

16

500

6,000/6,000,000 1

8

16

500

8,000/8,000,000 1

8

32

500

1 .Clustered installation

Table 8.        Recommended Oracle DB server hardware configurations

Nodes

(Routers/Endpoints)

CPU

(Virtual Cores)

Memory

(RAM GB)

Disk Space

(GB)

25/10,000

2

16

100

50/50,000

4

16

200

500/500,000

8

32

500

1,000/1,000,000

12

48

1000

2,000/2,000,000

16

64

1000

6,000/6,000,000

20

96

1000

8,000/8,000,000

32

160

2000

Tables 9 lists recommended minimum server hardware requirements for deploying a small OVA distribution of up to 25 routers.

Table 9.        Recommended minimum server hardware requirements up to 25 routers with 4 and 6 cores

Nodes

(CGR1K / IR1101 / Other Field Area Supported Routers)

CPU

(Virtual Cores)

Memory

(RAM GB)

Disk Space

(GB)

-

4

32

250

Tables 10 lists recommended server hardware for gateway management of up to 15,000 industrial routers. Please refer the release notes for latest information.

Table 10.     Recommended server hardware configuration up to 15,000 industrial routers with 4 and 6 cores

Nodes

(CGR1K / IR1101 / Other Field Area Supported Routers)

CPU

(Virtual Cores)

Memory

(RAM GB)

Disk Space

(GB)

15,000

6

32

500

Recommended software packages

Table 11 lists the recommended FND software packages for different use cases. For Cisco resilient mesh deployment in AMI, DA, DR, and outdoor lighting, use the package with Oracle Enterprise DB. For gateway management up to 15,000 gateways in a combination of industrial routers, industrial compute gateways, and LoRaWAN gateways, the Postgres OVA offers a simple way of getting the management system up and running.

Table 11.     Recommended FND software package options for different use cases

Use case

Recommended software package

AMI and Demand Response (DR) with up to 8 million meters

IoT FND RPM distribution for bare metal deployment (R-IOTFND-K9) plus Oracle Enterprise1

Distribution Automation (DA) up to 15,000 routers OR

Gateway/router management in transportation, utility, smart city (LoRa), and oil and gas with maximum of 15,000 gateways / routers

IoT FND RPM distribution for bare metal deployment (R-IOTFND-K9) plus Oracle Enterprise1

IoT FND OVA virtual machine distribution for gateway management (R-IOTFND-VPI-K9)

1 Customer will need to purchase the DB, separate servers & RHEL subscriptions to run FND.

2 Oracle is included in the OVA. No additional license from Oracle is required. RHEL subscription is required and not provided.

High availability

IoT FND is a critical application for monitoring and managing a connected grid. IoT FND High Availability (IoT FND HA) solutions address the overall availability of IoT FND during software, network, or hardware failures.

IoT FND provides two main levels of HA:

      IoT FND Server HA

      IoT FND Database HA

For high system throughput, high availability, server load balancing, and redundancy, we recommend having at least two servers running the Cisco IoT Field Network Director software application and two servers running the primary and secondary databases in replication mode. High availability is only supported through Oracle in bare metal deployment model referenced in Tables 7 and 8 above. Please see FND installation guides for more information on supported High Availability deployments.

Cisco Environmental Sustainability

Information about Cisco’s environmental sustainability policies and initiatives for our products, solutions, operations, and extended operations or supply chain is provided in the “Environment Sustainability” section  of Cisco’s 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report.

Reference links to information about key environmental sustainability topics (mentioned in the “Environment Sustainability” section of the CSR Report) are provided in the following table:

Sustainability topic

Reference

Information on product-material-content laws and regulations

Materials

Information on electronic waste laws and regulations, including products, batteries, and packaging

WEEE Compliance

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For more information

For more information about the Cisco IoT Field Network Director, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/fnd.

For more information about the Cisco Field Area Network solution, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/fan .

For more information about the Cisco 1000 Series Connected Grid Routers, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/cgr1000.

For more information about the Cisco 500 Series WPAN Industrial Routers, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ir500.

For more information about the Cisco 1101 Industrial Integrated Services Router, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ir1101.

For more information about the Cisco 1800 Industrial Integrated Services Router, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ir1800.

For more information about the Cisco 8100 Heavy Duty Series Router, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ir8100.

For more information about the Cisco 829 Industrial Integrated Services Routers, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ir829.

For more information about the Cisco 809 Industrial Integrated Services Routers, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ir809.

For more information about the Cisco IC3000 Industrial Compute Gateways, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/ic3000.

For more information about the Cisco LoRaWAN solution and product, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/lorawan.

For more information about the Cisco 819 Integrated Services Routers, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/m2m.

Document history

New or revised topic

Described in

Date

Revised message

Introduction

November 25th, 2019

Added new devices supported and new product IDs

Tables 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

November 3rd, 2022

Updated recommended hardware configuration

Table 7, Table 8

November 3rd, 2022

Added recommended hardware configuration for OVA deployments

Table 9, Table 10

November 3rd, 2022

Updated recommended software packages

Table 11

November 3rd, 2022

Added new devices supported and new product IDs

Tables 2, 4, and Table 5

June 28th, 2023

 

 

 

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