Intercluster Lookup Service Overview
The Intercluster Lookup Service (ILS) allows you to create networks of remote Cisco Unified Communications Manager clusters. When you configure ILS on multiple clusters, it updates Cisco Unified Communications Manager with the current status of remote clusters in the ILS network.
In Cisco Unified CM Administration, you can configure ILS on a pair of clusters and then join those clusters to form an ILS network. ILS allows you to join additional clusters to the network without having to configure the connections between each cluster.
- Hub clusters
- Spoke clusters
- Global dial plan imported catalogs
Hub Clusters
Hub clusters form the backbone of an ILS network. Hub clusters exchange ILS updates with the other hub clusters in the ILS network, and then relay that information to and from their spoke clusters.
When a new hub cluster registers to another hub cluster in an existing ILS network, ILS automatically creates a full mesh connection between the new hub cluster and all the existing hub clusters in the ILS network.
Spoke Clusters
A spoke cluster connects to the hub cluster in an ILS network to relay ILS updates to and from the rest of the ILS network. Spoke clusters contact only their local hub cluster and never directly contact other hub clusters or other spoke clusters.
Global Dial Plan Imported Catalogs
To provide URI dialing compatibility with third-party systems, you can manually import a third-party directory URI or +E.164 number catalog from a CSV file into any hub cluster in the ILS network. ILS maintains the imported catalog and replicates that catalog out to the other clusters in the network. You can dial one of the third-party directory URIs or +E.164 numbers catalog from any server in the ILS network.
ILS Networking Capacities
Following are recommended capacities to keep in mind when planning an ILS network:
-
ILS networking supports up to 10 hub clusters with 20 spoke clusters per hub, up to a 200 total cluster maximum. A hub and spoke combination topology is used to avoid many TCP connections created within each cluster.
-
There may be a performance impact with utilizing your hub and spoke clusters at, or above, their maximums. Adding too many spoke clusters to a single hub creates extra connections that may increase the amount of memory or CPU processing. We recommend that you connect to a hub cluster with no more than 20 spoke clusters.
-
ILS networking adds extra CPU processing to your system. The CPU utilization and sync time is dependent on the number of records that are being synced across the cluster. When planning your hub and spoke topology, make sure that your hub clusters have the CPU to handle the load.
![]() Note |
These recommendations are based on system testing and taking resource utilization into account. Although the system does not prevent you from exceeding these recommendations, by doing so you would risk the overutilization of resources. Cisco recommends the above capacities for optimal performance. |