Routing

IGP IP Flexible Algorithm for IS-IS Protocol

With IS-IS protocol extensions supporting Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) Flexible Algorithm (Flex-Algorithm) on the IP data plane, you can now use the Algorithm to calculate IGP paths in an IP network without running Segment Routing. The IGP Flex-Algorithm allows for user-defined algorithms where the IGP computes paths based on a user-defined combination of metric type and constraints.

Earlier, you could calculate IGP only using the Shortest Path First (SPF), which meant that you didn't have any choice except to use the default IGPpath calculated based on a native IGP metric.

The following command is introduced:

• data-plane ip

The following commands are modified:

• ipv4 address

• ipv6 address

• show isis topology

MPLS TE Preference for Tunnels

You can now configure the MPLS TE traffic for equal-cost multipath (ECMP) such that it flows only through TE tunnels. This is useful in scenarios where the hardware has resource constraints that limit the number of mixed ECMP routes.

In earlier releases, IS-IS installed multiple ECMPs for a route in the Routing Information Base (RIB) through TE tunnels and physical interfaces by default.

This feature introduces the following command:

• mpls traffic-eng tunnel preferred

32 IS-IS Instances

You can now configure up to 32 IS-IS instances, thus enhancing the ability to isolate resources within your router and on the network. This ability enables you to configure more instances consuming network-wide resources at different rates, giving you more flexibility to manage your networks efficiently.

In earlier releases, you could configure up to16 IS-IS instances.

Modular QoS

MPLS EXP Marking for EVPN Multi-Homed Services

This feature enables you to differentiate traffic in the MPLS forwarding domain and manage traffic from ingress PE to egress PE based on the MPLS EXP bit of the MPLS header for EVPN multi-home scenarios.

Multicast

Access Pseudowire in VPLS Bridge Domains

You can configure EVPN in the access node under the same bridge domain as EVPN in the core and create a pseudowire (PW) to the nearest PE that binds the access circuits using EVPN. This PW between the access PE and the single-homed PE ensures that the access nodes can leverage the benefits of EVPN.

Interface and Hardware Component

Local LAG hashing with PPPoE traffic

Load Balancing for Link Aggregation (LAG) AC and Equal Cost Multipath (ECMP) for PPPoE traffic is now available on Cisco NCS 560 routers and operates in the native and compatible modes. This load balancing is achieved by distributing PPPoE traffic on all available links.

L2VPN and Ethernet Services

Hierarchical EVPN Access Pseudowire

You can configure EVPN VPWS in the access node under the same bridge domain as EVPN in the core to build a PW to the nearest high-end PE that stitches those access circuits using EVPN. This allows the access nodes to leverage the benefits of EVPN.

This feature also allows you to reduce the number of pseudowires (PWs) between the network provider edge (N-PE) devices by replacing PE devices with user provider edge (U-PE) and network provider edge (N-PE) devices.

Flow-Label Support on FAT-PW

This enhancement enables the MPLS OAM pings to work between Cisco devices and the third-party devices. Thus, allowing Flow-Aware Transport (FAT) Pseudowires (PW) to provide the load-balance capability across equal-cost multipath (ECMP) routes by adding a new label, called Flow Label, onto the bottom of the label stack.

Enhancement to the show ethernet cfm command to include LTR and LTM statistics

This enhancement adds statistics for Linktrace Messages (LTM) and Linktrace Replies (LTR) in the show ethernet cfm local meps verbose command output. Using LTM and LTR count, you can trace the source of network failure and track the path to a unicast destination MAC address.

CFM on EVPN ELAN

This feature introduces CFM support for single-homed EVPN Emulated Local Area Network (ELAN) services.

This functionality helps you to monitor the ELAN services of users against their contractual service-level agreements (SLAs), thereby providing high speed Layer 2 and Layer 3 services with high resiliency and less operational complexity to different market segments.

Configurable Recovery Time for EVPN Core Isolation Group

You can now configure the recovery time for the EVPN core isolation group after the core interfaces recover from a network failure. This functionality is important because post-failure recovery, you can provide sufficient time for the EVPN PE nodes to relearn the MAC addresses and BGP routes received from the remote PEs. There's also time to handle delays in exchanging EVPN routes after recovery.

This feature introduces the core-de-isolation  command under the EVPN Timers configuration mode.

MPLS

Enhanced Targeted LDP Session Scale Values

With the unidimensional scale parameter value increased to 1999 on the router, you can now configure more targeted LDP sessions to discover extended neighbors.

Programmability

Accounting Records for NETCONF Operations

Depending on the accounting configuration command you use, every NETCONF operation that the router performs is reported to the local server as syslog messages or remote AAA servers like TACACS+ as accounting messages, or both.

Segment Routing

Programming Non-Active Candidate Paths of an SR Policy

By programming non-active candidate paths (CPs) in the forwarding plane, you ensure that if the existing active CP is unavailable, the traffic switches quickly to the new CP, thus minimizing loss of traffic flow.

In earlier releases, instantiating a non-active CP to the forwarding plane after the unavailability of the active CP could take a few seconds, resulting in potential loss of traffic flow.

This feature introduces the following command:

• max-install-standby-cpaths

Hardware

Optics

This release introduces the following optics:

• Cisco 10GBASE SFP+ modules

  • SFP-10G-AOCxxM

  • SFP-H10GB-CUxxM

  • SFP-H10GB-ACUxxM

  • SFP-10G-ER=

  • SFP-10G-ZR=

  • SFP-10G-BXD-I=

  • SFP-10G-BX40D-I=

  • SFP-10G-BX40U-I

• Cisco 2-Channel SFP WDM Transponder

  • CWDM-SFP-xxxx

  • DWDM-SFP-xxxx

• Cisco 100GBASE Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP)

  • QSFP-100G-AOCxxM

• Cisco 25GBASE SFP28 (Small Form-Factor Pluggable)

  • SFP-25G-AOCxM

  • SFP-H25G-CUxM

  • SFP-25G-ER-I

• Cisco Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) Gigabit Interface Converter

  • SFP-GE-S

  • GLC-SX-MM-RGD

  • GLC-LX-SM-RGD

  • GLC-ZX-SM-RGD

• Cisco ONS Pluggable Optical Modules

  • ONS-SC+-10G-SR

PTP and Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) 1G Mode on A900-IMA8Z-L interface modules

Based on the IEEE 1588-2008 standard, PTP is a protocol that synchronizes clocks in a network for networked measurement and control systems.

With this release, timing support for IEEE 1588-2008 (PTPv2) and SyncE is extended to the A900-IMA8Z-L interface module in 1G Mode.

For more information on the interface module slot and 1G mode support combinations on Cisco NCS 560-4 and Cisco NCS 560-7 routers, see Cisco N560-RSP4 and Cisco N560-RSP4-E Route Processor Hardware Installation Guide and Cisco NCS 560-4 Router Hardware Installation Guide.