Co-author: Venkata Suresh Babu Chamala

Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (Cisco EPN Manager™) simplifies end-to-end lifecycle management for carrier-grade network of all sizes. It offers full service/network and device visibility, and visualization as the single source of truth.

Cisco EPN Manager offers network infrastructure convergence that enables multilayer Service Provisioning and Service Assurance within a single management system, thereby increasing operational efficiency, reducing operational expenses, and improving business agility. It provides end-to-end network management of Carrier Ethernet, Optical Transport, Cable Technologies, Mobile Backhaul/Front haul, Aggregation, Access, and Circuit Emulation over Packet Networks.

Apart from these network service provisioning and assurance capabilities, Cisco EPN Manager also offers an integrated solution comprising device lifecycle management with capabilities for managing faults, performance, configuration, software image distribution and operator account management, and audit.

This “converged” support (combination of device lifecycle management, assurance visibility, and troubleshooting capabilities) is available for a wide range of routers, core switches, and data center switches.

Built on an open model-based architecture with content decoupled from the platform, the integrated solution greatly improves agility in content delivery. It is a flexible, easy-to-deploy, integrated solution with a visually appealing user interface and a common inventory, and data model.

Source: Cisco Systems Inc.

Need for Multi-vendor Support

With ever-growing complex hybrid networks, the elements that constitute carrier grade networks are composite and comprise of multiple vendor products. The ecosystem expands in volume and diversity rapidly, thereby posing an increasing challenge for a single lifecycle management solution.

Customers require an integrated solution to manage their third-party devices within the framework of single pane management. They need a lifecycle management solution that will:

• Reduce operational expenses and overhead of maintenance
• Eliminate the need to build custom operational applications to deploy and maintain different vendor products for a single network

Cisco EPN Manager 3PP Solution Overview

Cisco EPN Manager provides deployment and management centric infrastructure that supports a wide range of extension options – both northbound and southbound.

Cisco EPN Manager Third Party Pack program (3PP) is developed based on generic support within EPNM with the opportunity for extensibility using southbound interfaces. The interfaces enable a partner to develop Third Party Packs independently without the need for making changes to EPNM main product. Thus, EPNM acts as an open platform to enable multi-vendor device support.

EPNM Architecture

Source: Cisco Systems Inc.

Third Party Device Features / Capabilities in Cisco EPN Manager

• Device Identification
• Inventory System - Summary, Physical Modules, Physical Ports, Environment, Memory Pool
• Inventory Interfaces - Ethernet, IP, All Interfaces
• Configuration - BGP, OSPF, STP
• Service Discovery - CE Services
• Topology - BGP, OSPF
• Event and Fault Management - Standard and Device Specific
• Configuration Archive - Archive, Deploy, and Rollback
• Software Image Management - Import, Distribute, Image Activate
• Performance Monitoring - Interface Statistics, CPU and Memory Utilization
• Reports

Commercials & Ecosystem

The Third-Party Pack (3PP) program enables partners to develop device packs independently and monetize with customers who require multi-vendor support in EPNM. This integrated solution opens up a new revenue opportunity for partners.

Partners work with Cisco to take the device packs to market.

Case Study

HCLTech has been a long time engineering partner for Cisco. HCLTech has developed third party device packs for EPNM to enable single pane of management of Cisco & non-Cisco devices and actively working with Cisco around several opportunities. For HCLTech, apart from the revenue opportunity, this integrated solution provides exposure in service provider market.

HCLTech has been a long time engineering partner for Cisco.

Third-party devices supported:

Juniper devices: Juniper M40e M7i, M10i, MX960
Nokia device - Nokia 7750SR

Juniper device support

Features implemented for Juniper devices in Cisco EPN Manager:

• Device Identification
• Inventory System - Summary, Physical Modules, Physical Ports, Environment, Memory Pool
• Inventory Interfaces - Ethernet, IP, All Interfaces
• Configuration - BGP, OSPF, STP
• Topology - BGP, OSPF
• Event and Fault Management - Standard and Device Specific
• Configuration Archive - Archive, Deploy, and Rollback
• Software Image Management - Import, Distribute, Image Activate
• Reports – Inventory

Nokia device support

Features implemented for Nokia device in EPNM

• Device Identification
• Inventory System - Summary, Physical Modules, Physical Ports, Environment, Memory Pool
• Inventory Interfaces - Ethernet, IP, All Interfaces
• Configuration - BGP
• Topology - BGP
• Service Discovery - CE Services
• Event and Fault Management - Standard
• Performance Monitoring - Interface Statistics, CPU and Memory Utilization, Y1731
• Reports

References

Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager Technical Data Sheet