To support service providers in delivering new cloud applications and services Cisco (CSCO) introduced Elastic Access portfolio of software and hardware products. The new solutions reduce network deployment costs by up to 56 percent and maintenance costs by up to 21 percent through virtualization, programmability, economical scale and architectural convergence in the access segment of the network.
The new software-defined networking (SDN)-enabled Cisco Elastic Access portfolio is a key element of the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network (EPN), the infrastructure layer consisting of physical and virtual devices working together to form an end-to-end unified fabric for a programmable network. Cisco EPN and its Evolved Services Platform (ESP) are key architectural elements for the Cisco Open Network Environment (ONE) for service providers.
"With this announcement, Cisco is leading the way to deliver the benefits of virtualization, management and software-defined networking-based advances to the last mile," said Liz Centoni, Cisco vice president and general manager of the service provider access group. "These new Cisco Elastic Access products demonstrate our commitment to delivering the most comprehensive and programmatic approach to software-defined networking and network function virtualization in the telecommunications and networking industries. With our elastic core, edge and access products, the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network is the most programmable, end-to-end solution on the market."
The new portfolio includes platforms for addressing service provider carrier Ethernet and mobile backhaul solutions, such as the Cisco ME 4600 Series Multiservice Optical Access platform, Cisco ASR 902 and ASR 920, and Cisco ME 1200 Ethernet Access device. It also features virtualized management-based controllers on the Cisco Unified Computing System, to allow cloud-based management to scale to thousands of access devices. Zero-touch network virtualization (nV) provisioning extends to the furthest endpoints with highly secure auto discovery and autoconfiguration.
Automatic provisioning and management for "bandwidth-on-the-fly" extensibility from the core to the most remote access point and back is possible. As a result of Cisco Elastic Access solutions working in conjunction with the Cisco ESP, orchestration, automation and simplification are extended to the last mile, creating the opportunity to reduce provisioning steps by up to 56 percent.
"The Cisco network has significantly lessened service delivery time, reducing by nearly two-thirds the number of provisioning procedures associated with configuring and turning up services," said Stephen Hon, co-president, Hawaii Dialogix Telecom. "This capability, in turn, is allowing Hawaii Dialogix Telecom to deliver a range of new products. In conjunction with this Cisco deployment, we've put a lot of time and effort into building a fixed wireless backhaul network around Oahu and the greater Honolulu area. The combination of fixed wireless and the Cisco ASR networking equipment is allowing us to provide products that are an order of magnitude better at little to no increase in network operating costs."
