The Cisco ONE platform extends the Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) to unify network automation and management across data centers and enterprise networks.
As networks become increasingly important in meeting the need to connect the billions of things, people, and applications that make up the Internet of Everything, IT professionals are challenged to deliver ever-higher-performance applications, from data centers to wide area networks (WANs) to access networks (LANs). Many IT organizations still work in separate and inefficiently isolated environments, manually performing tasks between devices. These tasks are estimated to account for up to 80% to 90% of their time.
To help IT companies address these challenges, Cisco is expanding its application-centric infrastructure (ACI) offering by introducing the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) Enterprise Module, which delivers ACI solutions not only to data centers, but also to wide-area and access networks.
Cisco is constantly enriching its portfolio of data center and networking solutions products, and with this expansion of APIC, it offers Software Defined Networking (SDN) capabilities within a coherent policy framework that covers everything from data centers to wide area and access networks.
Cisco also announced a new hybrid cloud solution, Cisco InterCloud, paving the way for interoperable and highly secure public, private and hybrid clouds.
Cisco APIC
The Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) Enterprise Module provides IT organizations with complete visibility into their networks through network automation and policy configuration, while enabling them to manage applications across wide area and access networks. This automated process can handle traditionally repetitive and complex tasks, freeing IT staff from mundane tasks and allowing them to focus on more strategic activities that help grow their organizations’ businesses.
New main points:
•The Cisco APIC Enterprise Module offers the unique ability to treat the entire network as a single entity, rather than individual network components. This leads to reduced complexity, faster application deployment across wired and wireless infrastructures, and increased efficiency in network management and troubleshooting.
•The Cisco APIC Enterprise Module also frees up time for IT departments that would otherwise be spent configuring network equipment and updating policy changes from device to device. It also automates many IT activities by allowing configuration and policy changes to be transferred to individual network elements, without the need for IT to manually update each element. As a result, IT departments can now devote their time to creating innovative business applications based on network information and deliver immediate results in terms of their companies’ business goals.
•In addition, the Cisco APIC Enterprise Module uniquely supports both new and existing network infrastructures, supporting a variety of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), including OpenFlow, onePK, and Command Line Interface (CLI). The Cisco APIC Enterprise Module also supports both new SDN-enabled devices and legacy Cisco network equipment, enabling IT departments to automate tasks across a large number of existing equipment. This eliminates the need to remove and replace existing network equipment in order for an organization to leverage this new functionality.
•The Cisco APIC Enterprise Module consists of three components: a unified network intelligence database, a policy infrastructure, and automation. Together, these components can significantly increase network automation and agility, reducing IT time spent on system operations by up to 36%.
•To address security-related issues, the Cisco APIC Enterprise Module automates a process to rapidly identify and remediate threats across the network by integrating and automating Cisco Sourcefire security solutions.
•For compliance management across branches and corporate headquarters, the Cisco Enterprise APIC Enterprise Module also offers automation of Quality of Service (QoS) and intelligent WAN (IWAN) deployments.
•In a post on Cisco's blog, Jeff Reed, vice president and general manager of SDN for Cisco's Enterprise Networking Group, discusses how customers are using the product today and the business benefits it can deliver.
Availability
The Cisco APIC Enterprise Module is scheduled to be available in late Q1 2014.
Source: businessnews.gr
