Cisco Catalyst 8000V Edge Software
Take the cloud-smart route
Overview:
Cisco IOS XE Software
Extend your WAN across clouds and applications with a virtual routing platform—purpose-built for the cloud.
The Cisco® Catalyst® 8000V Edge Software (Catalyst 8000V) is a virtual-form-factor router that delivers comprehensive SD-WAN, WAN gateway, and network services functions into virtual and cloud environments. Using familiar, industry-leading Cisco IOS® XE Software networking capabilities, the Catalyst 8000V enables enterprises to transparently extend their WANs into provider-hosted clouds. Similarly, cloud providers themselves can use the Catalyst 8000V to offer enterprise-class networking services to their tenants or customers.
To save costs and become more agile, businesses small and large are increasingly virtualizing their data center infrastructures and applications. Many enterprises have started deploying IT applications in virtualized data centers that are built and managed by third-party service providers. These external data centers, known as provider-hosted clouds, allow enterprises to gain infrastructure and resources on demand and become even more operationally efficient.
However, the shared-infrastructure, shared-resource cloud environment poses networking and security problems for enterprises:
- An enterprise does not own its cloud connectivity, so it cannot extend its network configuration into the cloud.
- An enterprise does not enjoy the same levels of privacy and security for its cloud deployment as it does for its premises.
- An enterprise cannot directly connect its distributed sites to its cloud applications, having to, instead, backhaul all network traffic through its data center because it lacks a network-aware endpoint in the cloud.
The cloud also presents networking challenges for cloud providers:
- The primary concern is the limitations of scaling the current network switching architecture.
- The cloud provider also lacks all the components of an end-to-end managed connectivity service offering to its customers, including Quality of Service (QoS), application visibility, and Service-Level Agreements (SLAs).
The Cisco Catalyst 8000V addresses these cloud-based networking and security constraints.
In addition to bringing enterprise-class networking services and security to public cloud environments, the Cisco Catalyst 8000V can be used as a building block for scalable network service offerings. The Network-Functions-Virtualization (NFV) components allow the Catalyst 8000V to fill roles traditionally reserved for hardware-based devices. Virtualizing these complex functions allows service providers to consolidate numerous instances onto a single server, and to easily scale as new customers come on board or networks are expanded.
Built on the same proven Cisco IOS XE Software platform for the Cisco Catalyst 8000 portfolio, it offers a rich set of features, including routing, VPN, firewall, Network Address Translation (NAT), QoS, application visibility, failover, and WAN optimization. Additional NFV uses such as virtual Route Reflector (vRR) is also supported by the Catalyst 8000V platform. This broad suite of functions empowers enterprises and cloud providers to build highly secure, optimized, scalable, and consistent hybrid networks.
Bridge the WAN edge and the cloud edge
Get agility, security, and visibility for a hybrid cloud world with Catalyst 8000V Edge Software.
Cloud services that scale
Quickly and securely deploy a broad set of networking services with any cloud.
Security by design
Apply and enforce centralized policies for all users.
Cloud-native agility
Make migration to the cloud simple with a unified, programmable software image.
Intelligence at the edge
Optimize cloud applications and enhance user experience with advanced analytics.
Benefits:
The Cisco Catalyst 8000V is a software router that an enterprise or a cloud provider can deploy as a virtual machine in a provider-hosted cloud or in its own virtual environment. It can run on Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS®) servers as well as on servers from leading vendors that support VMware ESXi, Red Hat KVM virtualization, or on the Amazon EC2 cloud, Microsoft Azure cloud, or Google Cloud Platform. It contains Cisco IOS XE Software networking and security features.
A typical cloud provides IT infrastructure and resources to multiple customers or tenants. The Cisco Catalyst 8000V serves primarily as a router per tenant (Figure 1). That is, each tenant gets its own routing instance and hence, its own VPN connections, firewall policies, QoS rules, access control, and so on. The router can, however, also be deployed as a multitenant router, using Virtual Route Forwarding (VRF) to maintain separate routing tables and feature configurations for each tenant it services.
Figure: Cisco Catalyst 8000V positioned as a WAN gateway in a multitenant cloud
The Cisco IOS XE Software advantage
The Cisco Catalyst 8000V contains the same operating system—Cisco IOS XE Software—that runs inside the Catalyst 8000 product line. Providing control- and data-plane separation, multicore forwarding, and a modular architecture that allows for smooth insertion of networking features, Cisco IOS XE Software is well-suited for dynamic cloud environments. Cisco IOS XE Software is based on the stable, robust, and feature-rich Cisco IOS Software that has powered Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) and other hardware routers in demanding enterprise, service provider, and government networks for more than two decades.
Some key benefits of Cisco IOS XE Software include:
- Proven functions with industry-leading Cisco IOS Software networking and security features.
- Operational efficiency through rapid integration into any Cisco IOS Software environment, such as a branch office, WAN, data center, or cloud.
- Consistent user experience. IOS XE uses the same Cisco IOS Command-Line Interface (CLI) and management tools across the Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms Family, including the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Edge, Catalyst 8200 Edge, and Cisco Catalyst 8000V.
Specifications: Cisco Catalyst 8000V features
| Features | Description | |||
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| Cisco IOS XE Software version | Cisco IOS XE Software (CSR Edition with selected Cisco IOS XE Software features) The software is available in ISO, BIN, OVA, and QCOW2 formats. |
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| Supported hypervisors |
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| Supported public clouds |
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| Supported I/O modes | The Catalyst 8000V supports several modes of communication between virtual Network Interface Cards (vNICs) and the physical hardware:
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| Virtual-machine specifications | The Catalyst 8000V can run on Cisco UCS servers as well as servers from vendors that support VMware ESXi, Red Hat KVM, or on the cloud: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. The Catalyst 8000V requires the following from the virtualized server hardware:
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| Cisco IOS XE Software networking |
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| Cisco IOS XE Software security |
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| Management |
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Ordering and support
Subscription licensing with support for Cisco Catalyst 8000V is offered using the three licenses of Cisco DNA Essentials, Cisco DNA Advantage, and Cisco DNA Premier.
- Cisco DNA Essentials covers all types of connectivity and router lifecycle management and support for network and application visibility, coupled with basic premises and transport security.
- Cisco DNA Advantage provides for advanced WAN topologies and application-aware policies supported by enhanced network security.
- Cisco DNA Premier provides for cloud connectivity with unlimited segmentation, advanced application optimization, and network analytics, secured by advanced threat protection.
Documentation:
Download the Cisco Catalyst 8000V Edge Software Data Sheet (.PDF)