Chapter 1 Cisco Service Control Overview

Cisco Service Control Capabilities

Report and analyze network traffic at subscriber and aggregate level for capacity planning

Provide customer-intuitive tiered application services and guarantee application service level agreements (SLAs)

Implement different service levels for different types of customers, content, or applications

Identify network abusers who are violating the acceptable use policy (AUP)

Identify and manage peer-to-peer traffic, NNTP (news) traffic, and spam abusers

Enforce the AUP

Integrate Service Control solutions easily with existing network elements and business support systems (BSS) and operational support systems (OSS)

Cisco Service Control Capabilities

The core of the Cisco service control solution is the network hardware device: the Service control engine (SCE). The core capabilities of the SCE platform, which support a wide range of applications for delivering service control solutions, include:

Subscriber and application awareness—Application-level drilling into IP traffic for real-time understanding and controlling of usage and content at the granularity of a specific subscriber.

Subscriber awareness—The ability to map between IP flows and a specific subscriber to maintain the state of each subscriber transmitting traffic through the SCE platform and to enforce the appropriate policy on this subscriber’s traffic.

Subscriber awareness is achieved either through dedicated integrations with subscriber management repositories, such as a DHCP or a RADIUS server, or through sniffing of RADIUS or DHCP traffic.

Application awareness—The ability to understand and analyze traffic up to the application protocol layer (Layer 7).

For application protocols implemented using bundled flows (such as FTP, which is implemented using Control and Data flows), the SCE platform understands the bundling connection between the flows and treats them accordingly.

Application-layer, stateful, real-time traffic control—The ability to perform advanced control functions, including granular bandwidth (BW) metering and shaping, quota management, and redirection, using application-layer, stateful, real-time traffic transaction processing. This requires highly adaptive protocol and application-level intelligence.

Programmability—The ability to quickly add new protocols and adapt to new services and applications in the service provider environment. Programmability is achieved using the Cisco Service Modeling Language (SML).

Programmability allows new services to be deployed quickly and provides an easy upgrade path for network, application, or service growth.

Robust and flexible back-office integration—The ability to integrate with existing third-party systems at the service provider, including provisioning systems, subscriber repositories, billing systems, and OSS systems. The SCE provides a set of open and well-documented APIs that allows a quick integration process.

Scalable high-performance service engines—The ability to perform all of these operations at wire speed.

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Cisco Systems SCE8000 manual Cisco Service Control Capabilities

SCE8000 specifications

Cisco Systems SCE8000 is an advanced service control edge solution designed to enhance the management and performance of service provider networks. Targeted at carriers and large enterprises, the SCE8000 is characterized by its capacity to efficiently handle traffic management, quality of service (QoS), and policy enforcement across various services including voice, video, and data.

One of the main features of the SCE8000 is its scalability. The platform supports a high-density architecture, allowing service providers to seamlessly expand their networks to accommodate growing traffic demands. This scalability is complemented by an impressive throughput, which enables the handling of millions of concurrent sessions, making it ideal for environments with significant user activity.

The SCE8000 employs advanced traffic management capabilities, leveraging deep packet inspection (DPI) technology. This allows for granular visibility into network traffic, enabling service providers to make informed decisions about resource allocation and policy application. Additionally, the device supports multiple protocol analysis, ensuring compatibility across various network services and enhancing overall efficiency.

Quality of Service (QoS) is another critical characteristic of the SCE8000. The platform provides sophisticated mechanisms to prioritize traffic, thereby ensuring that delay-sensitive applications such as VoIP and video streaming receive the necessary bandwidth. This capability is enhanced by Cisco's intelligent traffic shaping and congestion management features, which work together to optimize the user experience even in congested network conditions.

The SCE8000 also integrates robust security features, including session initiation protocol (SIP) security, to protect against malicious attacks and maintain service integrity. This is particularly important in today's cyber landscape where service providers must safeguard their infrastructure from various threats.

Automation and programmability are essential characteristics of the SCE8000, enabling operators to implement policies quickly and efficiently. This feature allows for dynamic scaling and rapid deployment of new services, significantly reducing the time to market for new offerings.

In conclusion, Cisco Systems SCE8000 stands out as a powerful platform for managing service provider networks. With its high scalability, advanced traffic management, quality of service assurance, robust security features, and automation capabilities, the SCE8000 enables service providers to deliver a superior customer experience while optimizing their operational efficiency. This makes it an invaluable asset for any organization looking to enhance its network performance and service delivery.