Setting Up Resources
Customers
A customer site is a set of IP systems with mutual IP connectivity between them without the use of a VPN. Each customer site belongs to exactly one customer. A customer site can contain one or more (for load balancing) edge device routers. This section describes how to create, edit, and delete customers. This section includes the following:
•Accessing the Customers Window
•Creating a Customer
•Editing a Customer
•Deleting Customers
•Accessing the Customer Sites Window
•Creating a Customer Site
•Editing a Customer Site
•Deleting Customer Sites
•Customer Devices
•Create CPE Device
•Edit CPE Device
•Delete CPE Device
Accessing the Customers Window
The Customers feature is used to create, edit, and delete customers.
Choose Service Design > Resources > Customers to access the Customers window shown in Figure 5-1.
Figure 5-1 Customers Window
The Customers window contains the following:
•Customer Name—Lists the names of customers. You can sort the list by customer name.
From the Customers window, you can create, edit, or delete customers using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new customers.
•Edit—Click to edit selected customer (select by checking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single customer is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected customer (select customer by checking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more customers are selected.
Creating a Customer
From the Create Customer window, you can create different customers.
To create a customer, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Customers.
Step 2 Click the Create button.
The Create Customer window appears, as shown in Figure 5-2.
Figure 5-2 Create Customer Window
The Create Customer window contains the following fields:
•Name (required)—Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters.
•Customer Abbreviation—This field is used only for L2VPN and L2TPv3 Frame Relay service requests. The entry in this field is used to construct a connect name. When this field is left blank, DLCI switching is the transport mode used. Limited to 9 characters.
•Contact Information (optional)—Any pertinent information about the customer that could be helpful to service provider operators. Limited to 256 characters.
•Site of Origin Enabled (optional)—This check box appears only when you have MPLS permissions. Check this check box to enable the site of origin.
Step 3 Enter the name and information for the Customer that you are creating. Check the Site of Origin Enabled check box if you want this enabled.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Customers window reappears.
Editing a Customer
From the Edit Customer window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular customer.
To access the Edit Customer window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Customers.
Step 2 Select a single customer to modify by checking the check box to the left of the Customer Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a customer is selected.
The Edit Customer window appears.
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected customer.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Customers window reappears.
Deleting Customers
From the Delete window, you can remove selected customers from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Customers.
Step 2 Select one or more customers to delete by checking the check box to the left of the Customer Name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more customers are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the customer(s) listed. The Customers window reappears with the specified customer(s) deleted.
Accessing the Customer Sites Window
The Customer Sites window feature is used to create, edit, and delete customer sites.
Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Sites.
The Customer Sites window appears as shown below.
Figure 5-3 Customer Sites Window
The Customer Sites window contains the following:
•Site Name—Lists the names of sites. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by site name.
•Customer Name—Lists the names of customer. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by customer name.
From the Customer Sites window, you can create, edit, or delete customer sites using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new customer sites. Enabled only if no customer site is selected.
•Edit—Click to edit selected customer sites (select by checking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single customer site is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected customer site(s) (select by checking the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more customer sites are selected.
Creating a Customer Site
From the Create Customer Sites window, you can create different customer sites.
To create a customer sites, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Sites.
Step 2 Click the Create button.
The Create New Customer Sites window appears, as shown in Figure 5-4.
Figure 5-4 Create New Customer Sites Window
The Create New Customer window contains the following fields:
•Name (required)—Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters.
•Customer (required)—Enter the customer name. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters.
•Site Information (optional)—Any pertinent information about the site that could be helpful to service provider operators. Limited to 256 characters.
Step 3 Enter the name and information for the Customer that you are creating. To enter the customer name follow these steps:
a. Click the Select button next to the Customer field.
A list of customer names appears.
b. Click the radio button next to customer name and then Select.
Step 4 Enter the Site Information.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Customer Site window reappears.
Editing a Customer Site
From the Edit Customer Sites window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular customer sites.
To access the Edit Customer Sites window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Sites.
Step 2 Select a single site name to modify by checking the check box to the left of the Site Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a customer is selected.
The Edit Customer window appears.
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected customer site.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Customer Site window reappears.
Deleting Customer Sites
From the Delete window, you can remove selected customer sites from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Sites.
Step 2 Select one or more customer sites to delete by checking the check box to the left of the Site Name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more customer sites are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to delete this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the customer site(s) listed. The Customer Sites window reappears with the specified customer site(s) deleted.
Customer Devices
The CPE feature provides a list of CPEs that have been associated with a site through the CPE editor or Inventory Manager.
Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Devices. The CPE Devices window appears, as shown in Figure 5-5.
Figure 5-5 CPE Devices Window
The CPE Devices window contains the following:
•Device Name—Lists the names of devices. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by device name.
•Customer Name—Lists the names of customer. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by customer name.
•Site Name—Lists the names of sites. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by site name.
•Management Type—When associating a CE with a customer site, you can select Managed or Unmanaged. Other choices are available (see below), but they should not be confused with this primary choice.
–Managed—A managed CE can be provisioned directly by the provider using Prime Fulfillment. The CE must be reachable from an Prime Fulfillment server.
–Unmanaged —An unmanaged CE cannot be provisioned directly by the provider. If Unmanaged is selected, the provider can use Prime Fulfillment to generate a configuration, and then send the configuration to the customer for placement on the CE.
–Managed - Management LAN —A managed Management LAN or Management CE (MCE) is configured like a managed CE router, but it resides in the provider space. Normally, an MCE acts as the network operations center (NOC) gateway router.
–Unmanaged - Management LAN —An unmanaged Management LAN or MCE is configured like an unmanaged CE router, but it resides in the provider space. Normally, an MCE acts as the network operations center (NOC) gateway router.
–Directly Connected —In most cases, the CE is connected to a PE router. In this case, the CE is connected to a workstation or other device.
–Directly Connected Management Host —In most cases, the CE is connected to a PE router. In this case, the CE is connected to a workstation or other device, on which Prime Fulfillment resides.
–Multi-VRF —A multi-VRF CE (MVRFCE) is owned by the customer, but resides in the provider space. It is used to offload traffic from the PE.
–Unmanaged Multi-VRF—An unmanaged multi-VRF CE is provisioned like an unmanaged CE (configurations are not uploaded or downloaded to the device by the provider). It is owned by the customer and resides in the provider space.
Create CPE Device
From the Create Customer Devices window, you can create different CPE devices.
To create a CPE device, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Devices.
Step 2 Click Create to create new CPE devices. Enabled only if no customer site is selected.
The resulting window is shown in Figure 5-6.
Figure 5-6 Create New CPE Device Window
Step 3 Click Select for the required Device Name and Site Name.
For each, you receive a list of the devices and sites, respectively, from which you can choose one in each window and then click Select. Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Note The Customer Name is displayed only if the customer site is created.
Step 4 The drop-down window for Management Type allows you choose the management type of the CPE device you are creating.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are saved and the CPE Device window reappears.
Edit CPE Device
From the Edit Customer Device window, you can modify the fields that have specified for a particular CPE device.
To edit a CPE device, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Sites.
Step 2 Select a single device name to modify by checking the check box to the left of the Device Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a device name is selected.
The Edit Customer window appears, as shown in Figure 5-7.
Figure 5-7 Edit CPE Device Window
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected CPE device.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Customer Device window reappears.
Delete CPE Device
From the Delete window, you can remove selected customer device from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Customer Devices.
Step 2 Select one or more device name to delete by checking the check box to the left of the Device Name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more device names are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the device name(s) listed. The Customer Devices window reappears with the specified device name(s) deleted.
Providers
This section describes how to create and manage providers. This section includes the following:
•Accessing the Providers Window
•Creating a Provider
•Editing a Provider
•Deleting Providers
•Accessing the Provider Regions
•Accessing the PE Devices
•Accessing the Access Domains
Accessing the Providers Window
The Providers feature is used to create and manage providers.
Choose Service Design > Resources > Providers to access the Providers window shown in Figure 5-8.
Figure 5-8 Providers Window
The Providers window contains the following:
•Provider Name—Lists the names of providers. You can sort the list by provider name.
•Provider BGP AS—The Unique number assigned to each BGP autonomous system. Range: 1 to 65535.
From the Providers window, you can create, edit, or delete providers using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new providers. Enabled only if no customer is selected.
•Edit—Click to edit a selected provider (check the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single provider is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected provider(s) (check the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more providers are selected.
Creating a Provider
From the Create Provider window, you can create different providers.
To create a provider, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Providers.
Step 2 Click the Create button.
The Create Provider window appears, as shown in Figure 5-9.
Figure 5-9 Create Provider Window
The Create Provider window contains the following fields:
•Name (required)—Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters.
•BGP AS (required)—Each BGP autonomous system is assigned a unique 16-bit number by the same central authority that assigns IP network numbers. Range: 1 to 65535.
•Contact Information (optional)—Any pertinent information about the provider that could be helpful to service provider operators. Limited to 256 characters.
Step 3 Enter the name, BGP AS, and any contact information for the Provider that you are creating.
Step 4 Click Save.
The Providers window reappears with the new provider listed.
Editing a Provider
From the Edit Provider window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular provider.
To access the Edit Provider window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Providers.
Step 2 Select a single provider to modify by checking the check box to the left of the Provider Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a customer is selected.
The Edit Provider window appears.
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected provider.
Step 5 Click Save.
The changes are saved and the Providers window reappears.
Deleting Providers
From the Delete window, you can remove selected providers from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Providers.
Step 2 Select provider(s) to delete by checking the check box to the left of the Provider Name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more Providers are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click the Delete button to confirm that you want to delete the provider(s) listed.
The Providers window reappears with the specified provider(s) deleted.
Accessing the Provider Regions
A Provider Region is considered to be a group of provider edge routers (PEs) within a single BGP autonomous system. The primary objective for defining Provider Regions is to allow a provider to employ unique IP address pools in large Regions, such as Europe, Asia Pacific, and so forth.
Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Regions.
The Provider Regions window appears, as shown in Figure 5-10.
Figure 5-10 Provider Regions Window
The Provider Regions window contains the following:
•PE Region Name—Lists the names of regions. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by region name.
•Provider Name—Lists the names of providers. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by provider name.
From the Provider Regions window, you can create, edit, or delete provider regions using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new provider regions. Enabled only if no customer is selected.
•Edit—Click to edit selected provider regions (check the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single provider region is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected provider regions (check the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more provider regions are selected.
Creating a Provider Region
From the Create Provider Region window, you can create different PE regions.
To create a provider region, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Regions.
Step 2 Click the Create button.
The Create Provider Regions window appears, as shown in Figure 5-4.
Figure 5-11 Create Provider Regions Window
The Create Customer window contains the following fields:
•Name (required)—Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters.
•Provider (required)—Enter the provider name.
Step 3 Enter the name and information for the Provider that you are creating. To enter the provider name follow these steps:
a. Click the Select button next to the Provider field.
A list of provider names appears.
b. Click the radio button next to provider name and then Select.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Customer Site window reappears.
Editing a Provider Regions
From the Edit Provider Regions window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular provider region.
To access the Edit Provider Regions window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Regions.
Step 2 Select a single site name to modify by checking the check box to the left of the PE Region Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a PE region name is selected.
The Edit Provider Region window appears.
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected provider region.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Provider Region window reappears.
Deleting Provider Regions
From the Delete window, you can remove selected provider regions from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Regions.
Step 2 Select one or more region to delete by checking the check box to the left of the PE Region Name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more PE region name are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the region name(s) listed. The Provider Regions window reappears with the specified PE region name(s) deleted.
Accessing the PE Devices
The PE Devices feature provides a list of provider edge routers (PEs) that have been associated with the region, either through the PE editor or Inventory Manager.
Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Devices.
The PE Devices window appears, as shown in Figure 5-12
Figure 5-12 PE Devices Window
The PE Devices window contains the following:
•Device Name—Lists the names of devices. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by device name.
•Provider Name—Lists the names of providers. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by provider name.
•PE Region Name—Lists the names of regions. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by region name.
•Role Type—Choices include: N-PE, U-PE, P, PE_AGG.
From the PE Devices window, you can create, edit, or delete providers using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new PE device. Enabled only if no PE device is selected.
•Edit—Click to edit selected PE device (check the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single PE device is selected.
Note Next to the PE Role Type, for both the Create and Edit selections, is a 6VPE check box. During the configuration collect operation, the device is detected as 6VPE if it is feature compatible.
•Delete—Click to delete selected PE device(s) (check the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more PE devices are selected.
Creating a Provider Devices
From the Create Provider Device window, you can create different PE regions.
To create a provider region, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Devices.
Step 2 Click the Create button.
The Create New Provider Devices window appears, as shown in Figure 5-13.
Figure 5-13 Create New Provider Devices Window
Step 3 To enter the Device Name follow these steps:
a. Click the Select button next to the Device Name field.
A list of Device Name window appears.
b. Click the radio button next to device name and then Select.
Step 4 To enter the PE Region Name follow these steps:
a. Click the Select button next to the PE Region Name field.
A list of Region Name window appears.
b. Click the radio button next to device name and then Select.
Step 5 Select the PE Role Type from drop-down list. The options are N-PE, U-PE, P, and PE-AGG.
Step 6 Check the check box next to the 6VPE.
Step 7 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Provider Device window reappears.
Editing a Provider Devices
From the Edit Provider Devices window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular provider region.
To access the Edit Provider Devices window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Devices.
Step 2 Select a single site name to modify by checking the check box to the left of the Device Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a PE Device name is selected.
The Edit Provider Region window appears.
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected PE device name.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Provider Device window reappears.
Deleting Provider Devices
From the Delete window, you can remove selected provider device from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Provider Devices.
Step 2 Select one or more region to delete by checking the check box to the left of the Device Name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more PE Device name are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the provider device(s) listed. The Provider Devices window reappears with the specified provider device(s) deleted.
Accessing the Access Domains
To access the Access Domains window:
Choose Inventory > Resources > Access Domains.
The Access Domains window appears as shown below.
Figure 5-14 Access Domains Window
The Access Domains window contains the following:
•Access Domain Name—Lists the names of access domain. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by access domain name.
•Provider Name—Lists the names of providers. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by provider name.
From the Access Domains window, you can create, edit, or delete access domains using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new access domain. Enabled only if no access domain is selected.
•Edit—Click to edit a selected access domain (check the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single access domain is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected access domain(s) (check the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more access domains are selected.
Creating a Access Domains
From the Create Access Domains window, you can create different access domain.
To create a access domain, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Access Domains.
Step 2 Click the Create button.
The Create New Access Domains window appears, as shown in Figure 5-15.
Figure 5-15 Create New Access Domains Window
Step 3 Enter the access domain name. This is a required field.
Step 4 To enter the Provider follow these steps (this is a required field):
a. Click the Select button next to the Provider field.
A list of Provider Name window appears.
b. Click the radio button next to provider name and then Select.
Step 5 Enter the PEs information (required field). This information about the PE will be helpful to the access domain operators. Limited to 256 characters.
Step 6 Enter the Reserved VLAN information (this is optional).
Step 7 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Access Domains window reappears.
Editing a Access Domains
From the Edit Access Domains window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular provider region.
To access the Edit Access Domains window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Access Domains.
Step 2 Select a single access domain to modify by checking the check box to the left of the Access Domains Name.
Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a access domain name is selected.
The Edit Access Domains window appears.
Step 4 Enter the changes you want to make to the selected access domain.
Step 5 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Save. The changes are then saved and the Access Domains window reappears.
Deleting Access Domains
From the Delete window, you can remove selected access domain from the database.
To access the Delete window, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Inventory > Resources > Access Domains.
Step 2 Select one or more access domain to delete by checking the check box to the left of the Access domain Names.
Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more access domains are selected.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click Cancel if you do not want to save this information, and you will proceed to the previous window.
Otherwise, click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the access domain(s) listed. The Access Domains window reappears with the specified access domain(s) deleted.
Resource Pools
Cisco IP Solution Center enables multiple pools to be defined and used during operations. The following resource pools are available:
•IP address pool: The IP address pool can be defined and assigned to regions or VPNs. This feature gives the service operator the flexibility to manage the allocation of all IP addresses in the network.
•Multicast pool: The Multicast pool is used for Multicast MPLS VPNs.
•Route Target (RT) pool: A route target is the MPLS mechanism that informs PEs as to which routes should be inserted into the appropriate VRFs. Every VPN route is tagged with one or more route targets when it is exported from a VRF and offered to other VRFs. The route target can be considered a VPN identifier in MPLS VPN architecture. RTs are a 64-bit number.
•Route Distinguisher (RD) pool: The IP subnets advertised by the CE routers to the PE routers are augmented with a 64-bit prefix called a route distinguisher (RD) to make them unique. The resulting 96-bit addresses are then exchanged between the PEs, using a special address family of Multiprotocol BGP (referred to as MP-BGP). The RD pool is a pool of 64-bit RD values that Cisco IP Solution Center uses to make sure the IP addresses in the network are unique.
•Site of origin pool: The pool of values for the site-of-origin (SOO) attribute. The site-of-origin attribute prevents routing loops when a site is multihomed to the MPLS VPN backbone. This is achieved by identifying the site from which the route was learned, based on its SOO value, so that it is not readvertised back to that site from a PE in the MPLS VPN network.
•VC ID pool: VC ID pools are defined with a starting value and a size of the VC ID pool. (VC ID is a 32-bit unique identifier that identifies a circuit/port.) A given VC ID pool is not attached to any Inventory object. During the deployment of an Ethernet Service (EWS, ERS for example), VC ID is auto-allocated from the VC ID pool.
•VLAN ID pool: VLAN ID pools are defined with a starting value and a size of the VLAN pool. A given VLAN ID pool can be attached to an Access Domain. During the deployment an Ethernet Service (EWS, ERS for example), VLAN ID can be auto-allocated from the Access Domain's VLAN pools. This gives the Service Provider a tighter control of VLAN ID allocation.
All these resources, that are made available to the service provider, enable the automation of service deployment.
This section describes how you can create and manage pools for various types of resources. This section includes the following:
•Accessing the Resource Pools Window
•Creating an IP Address Pool
•Creating a Multicast Pool
•Creating a Route Distinguisher and Route Target Pool
•Creating a Site of Origin Pool
•Creating a VC ID Pool
•Creating a VLAN Pool
•Deleting Resource Pools
Accessing the Resource Pools Window
The Resource Pools feature is used to create and manage various types of resource pools.
Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools to access the Resource Pools window shown in Figure 5-16.
Figure 5-16 Resource Pools Window
From the Resource Pools window, you have access to the following buttons:
•Pool Type—Choices include: IPV4 Address, Multicast, Route Distinguisher, Route Target, Site of Origin, VC ID, and VLAN. The fields displayed in the Resource Pools window vary depending on the pool type selected.
•Create—Click to create new resource pools. Enabled only if no resource pool is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected resource pools (select by checking the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more resource pools are selected.
Creating an IP Address Pool
Prime Fulfillment uses IP address pools to automatically assign IP addresses to PEs and CEs. Each Region has an IP address pool to use for IP numbered addresses (/30 pools) and a separate IP address pool for IP unnumbered addresses (/32 loopback address pools).
Within a VPN or extranet, all IP addresses must be unique. Customer IP addresses must not overlap with the provider's IP addresses. Overlapping IP addresses are only possible when two devices cannot see each other—that is, when they are in isolated VPNs.
From the Create IP Address Pool window, you can create IP address pools.
To create an IP address pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select IPV4 Address from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New IP Address Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-17.
Figure 5-17 Create New IP Address Resource Pool Window
The Create New IP Address Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•IP Address Pool (required)—Text field in the format a.b.c.d/mask, for example 172.0.0.0/8.
•Pool Mask (bits) (required)—Choices include: 30 and 32
where:
30 is used for IP numbered address pools (/30)
32 is used for IP unnumbered loopback address pools (/32).
•Pool Association (required)—Choices include: Region, VPN, and Customer from the drop-down list. Then you can click the Select button to receive all selections for the choice you made in the drop-down list. From this new window, make your selection and click Select.
Note If you choose VPN, an additional optional field appears, Pool Name Suffix, when you return to Figure 5-17. This field allows the creation of multiple address pools within the same VPN. If you are creating this address pool for DMVPN usage, the recommendation is to use this field to specify a suffix.
•Pool Name Suffix (optional)—Suffixes are used to make a pool name unique. You can append this IP Address Pool to an existing pool by selecting a previously defined suffix, or click New to create a new pool.
Step 4 Enter the required information for the IP address pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click Save.
The Resource Pools window reappears with the new IP address pool listed.
Creating a Multicast Pool
From the Create Multicast Pool window, you can create multicast pools. These pools are global and are not associated with any provider or customer.
To create a multicast pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select Multicast from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New Multicast Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-18.
Figure 5-18 Create New Multicast Resource Pool Window
The Create New Multicast Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•Multicast Address (required)—Text field in the format a.b.c.d/mask, for example 239.0.0.0/8. Range: 224.0.1.0/8 to 239.255.255.255/32.
•Use for default MDT (optional)—This is a check box. Default: selected.
•Use for Data MDT (optional)—This is a check box. The data MDT contains a range of multicast group addresses and a bandwidth threshold. Thus, whenever a CE behind a multicast-VRF exceeds that bandwidth threshold while sending multicast traffic, the PE sets up a new data MDT for the multicast traffic from that source. The PE informs the other PEs about this data MDT and, if they have receivers for the corresponding group, the other PEs join this data MDT. Default: selected.
Step 4 Enter the required information for the multicast pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click Save.
The Resource Pools window reappears with the new multicast pool listed.
Creating a Route Distinguisher and Route Target Pool
MPLS-based VPNs employ Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to communicate between PEs to facilitate customer routes. This is made possible through extensions to BGP that carry addresses other than IPv4 addresses. A notable extension is called the route distinguisher (RD).
The purpose of the route distinguisher (RD) is to make the prefix value unique across the network backbone. Prefixes should use the same RD if they are associated with the same set of route targets (RTs) and anything else that is used to select routing policy. The community of interest association is based on the route target (RT) extended community attributes distributed with the Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI). The RD value must be a globally unique value to avoid conflict with other prefixes.
The MPLS label is part of a BGP routing update. The routing update also carries the addressing and reachability information. When the RD is unique across the MPLS VPN network, proper connectivity is established even if different customers use non-unique IP addresses.
For the RD, every CE that has the same overall role should use a VRF with the same name, same RD, and same RT values. The RDs and RTs are only for route exchange between the PEs running BGP. That is, for the PEs to do MPLS VPN work, they have to exchange routing information with more fields than usual for IPv4 routes; that extra information includes (but is not limited to) the RDs and RTs.
From the Create Route Distinguisher Pool window, you can create route distinguisher pools.
To create a route distinguisher pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select Route Distinguisher from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New Route Distinguisher Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-19.
Figure 5-19 Create New Route Distinguisher Resource Pool Window
The Create New Route Distinguisher Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•RD Pool Start (required)—Range: 0 to 2147483646.
•RD Pool Size (required)—Range: 1 to 2147483647.
•Provider (required)
Step 4 Enter the RD Pool Start and Size information for the route distinguisher pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click the Select button.
The Provider for new Resource Pool window appears.
Step 6 Select one of the providers listed and click Select.
Step 7 Click Save.
The Resource Pools window reappears with the new route distinguisher pool listed.
To create a Route Target Pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select Route Target from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New Route Target Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-20.
Figure 5-20 Create New Route Target Resource Pool Window
The Create New Route Target Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•RT Pool Start (required)—Range: 0 to 2147483646.
•RT Pool Size (required)—Range: 1 to 2147483647.
•Provider (required)
Step 4 Enter the RT Pool Start and Size information for the route target pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click the Select button.
The Provider for new Resource Pool window appears.
Step 6 Select one of the providers listed and click Select.
Step 7 Click Save.
The Resource Pools window reappears with the new route target pool listed.
Creating a Site of Origin Pool
In MPLS VPN, CE sites use private/public AS numbers and when one AS number is used for each VPN, all sites belonging to the same VPN share the same private/public AS number. The default BGP behavior is to drop any prefix if its own AS number is already in the AS path. As a result, a customer site does not learn prefixes of a remote site in this situation. AS-OVERRIDE must be configured (if there are hub sites involved, ALLOWAS-IN must be configured) to allow those prefixes to be sent by PE routers but a routing loop can occur.
For example, CE1 and CE2 belong to the same customer VPN and have the same AS number 65001. The AS path between two customer sites is 65001 - 1234 - 65001 and prefixes cannot be exchanged between customer sites because AS 65001 is already in the path. To solve this problem, AS-OVERRIDE options are configured on PE routers; but it introduces a routing loop into the network without using extended community site of origin attributes.
Site of origin is a concept in MPLS VPN architecture that prevents routing loops in sites that are multi-homed to the MPLS VPN backbone and in sites using AS-OVERRIDE in conjunction. Site of origin is a type of BGP extended community attribute used to identify a prefix that originated from a site so that the re-advertisement of that prefix back to the site can be prevented. This attribute uniquely identifies the site from which the PE router learned the route. Site of origin is tagged at PE in peering with BGP neighbors using an inbound route-map and works in conjunction with BGP CE-PE routing protocol.
Site of origin must be unique per customer site per VPN/customer (when these sites are multi-homed). Therefore, the same value of site of origin must be used on PE routers connected to the same CE router or to the same customer site.
Note Each time a customer site is created, Prime Fulfillment generates a unique site of origin value from the selected site of origin provider pool if Site of Origin is enabled. This site of origin value must be unique per customer site per customer/VPN.
From the Create Site of Origin Pool window, you can create site of origin pools.
To create a site of origin pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select Site of Origin from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New Site of Origin Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-21.
Figure 5-21 Create New Site of Origin Resource Pool Window
The Create New Site of Origin Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•SOO Pool Start (required)—Range: 0 to 2147483646.
•SOO Pool Size (required)—Range: 1 to 2147483647.
•Provider (required)
Step 4 Enter the SOO Pool Start and Size information for the site of origin pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click the Select button.
The Provider for new Resource Pool window appears.
Step 6 Select one of the providers listed and click Select.
Step 7 Click Save.
The Site of Origin pools window reappears with the new route target pool listed.
Creating a VC ID Pool
From the Create VC ID Pool window, you can create VC ID pools. These pools are global and are not associated with any provider or customer
To create a VC ID pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select VC ID from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New VC ID Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-22.
Figure 5-22 Create New VC ID Resource Pool Window
The Create New VC ID Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•VC Pool Start (required)—Range: 1 to 2147483646.
•VC Pool Size (required)—Range: 1 to 2147483647.
Step 4 Enter the required information for the site of origin pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click Save.
The VC ID Pools window reappears with the new VC ID pool listed.
Creating a VLAN Pool
From the Create VLAN Pool window, you can create VLAN pools.
To create a VLAN pool, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select VLAN from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Click the Create button.
The Create New VLAN Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 5-23.
Figure 5-23 Create New VLAN Resource Pool Window
The Create New VLAN Resource Pool window contains the following fields:
•VLAN Pool Start (required)— Range: 1 to 4094.
•VLAN Pool Size (required)—Range: 1 to 4094.
•Access Domain (required)
Step 4 Enter the VLAN Pool Start and Size information for the VLAN pool you are creating.
Step 5 Click the Select button.
The Access Domain for new VLAN Pool window appears.
Step 6 Select one of the access domains listed and click Select.
Step 7 Click Save.
The VLAN Pools window reappears with the new VLAN pool listed.
Deleting Resource Pools
From the Resource Pool window, you can delete specific resource pools.
To delete resource pools, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Resource Pools.
Step 2 Select a pool type from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.
Step 3 Select one or more resource pools to delete by checking the check box(es) to the left of the resource pool(s).
Step 4 Click the Delete button.
A Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 5 Click the new Delete button to confirm that you want to delete the resource pool(s) listed.
The Resource Pools window reappears with the specified pool(s) deleted.
Route Targets
A VPN can be organized into subsets called Route Targets. A Route Target describes how the CEs in a VPN communicate with each other. Thus, Route Targets describe the logical topology of the VPN. Cisco Prime Fulfillment can be employed to form a variety of VPN topologies between CEs by building hub and spoke or full mesh CE routing communities. Route Targets are building blocks that allow you to form complex VPN topologies and CE connectivity.
The most common types of VPNs are hub-and-spoke and full mesh.
•A hub-and-spoke Route Target is one in which one or a few CEs act as hubs, and all spoke CEs talk only to or through the hubs, never directly to each other.
•A full mesh Route Target is one in which every CE connects to every other CE.
These two basic types of VPNs—full mesh and hub and spoke—can be represented with a single Route Target. Whenever you create a VPN, the Prime Fulfillment software creates one default Route Target for you. This means that until you need advanced customer layout methods, you will not need to define new Route Targets. Up to that point, you can think of a Route Target as standing for the VPN itself—they are one and the same. If, for any reason, you must override the software's choice of route target values, you can do so only at the time you create a Route Target in the Prime Fulfillment software.
To build very complex topologies, it is necessary to break down the required connectivity between CEs into groups, where each group is either fully meshed, or has a hub and spoke pattern. (Note that a CE can be in more than one group at a time, if each group has one of the two basic patterns.) Each subgroup in the VPN wants its own Route Target. Any CE that is only in one group just joins the corresponding Route Target (as a spoke if necessary). If a CE is in more than one group, then you can use the Advanced Setup choice during provisioning to add the CE to all the relevant groups in one service request. Given this information, the provisioning software does the rest, assigning route target values and VRF tables to arrange exactly the connectivity the customer requires. You can use the Topology tool to double-check the Route Target memberships and resultant VPN connectedness.
Prime Fulfillment supports multiple CEs per site and multiple sites connected to the same PE. Each Route Target has unique route targets (RT), route distinguisher (RD), and VPN Routing and Forwarding instance (VRF) naming. After provisioning a Route Target, it is a good idea to run the audit reports to verify the Route Target deployment and view the topologies created by the service requests. The product supports linking two or more CE routing communities in the same VPN.
This section describes how you can create and manage CE routing communities. This section includes the following:
•Accessing the Route Targets Window
•Creating Route Targets
•Deleting Route Targets
Accessing the Route Targets Window
The Route Targets feature is used to create and manage Route Targets.
Choose Service Design > Resources > Route Targets to access the Route Targets window shown in Figure 5-24.
Figure 5-24 Route Targets Window
From the Route Targets window, you can create, edit, or delete CE routing communities using the following buttons:
•Create—Click to create new CE routing communities. Enabled only if no CE routing community is selected.
•Edit—Click to edit selected CE routing communities (select by checking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one CE routing community is selected.
•Delete—Click to delete selected CE routing communities (select by checking the corresponding box(es)). Enabled only if one or more CE routing communities are selected.
Creating Route Targets
When you create a VPN, the Prime Fulfillment software creates one default Route Target for you. But if your network topology and configuration require customized Route Target definitions, you can define Route Targets customized for your network.
Tip Customized Route Targets should be defined only in consultation with the VPN network administrator. To build complex topologies, it is necessary to break down the required connectivity between CEs into groups, where each group is either fully meshed or has a hub-and-spoke pattern. A CE can be in more than one group at a time, as long as each group has one of the two basic configuration patterns.
Each subgroup in the VPN wants its own Route Target. Any CE that is only in one group just joins the corresponding Route Target (as a spoke if necessary). If a CE is in more than one group, then you can use the Advanced Setup choice during provisioning to add the CE to all the relevant groups in one service request. Given this information, Cisco IP Solution Center does the rest, assigning route target values and VRF tables to arrange the precise connectivity the customer requires.
To create a CE routing community, follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Route Targets.
Step 2 Click Create.
The Create CE Routing Community window appears, as shown in Figure 5-25.
Figure 5-25 Create CE Routing Community Window
Step 3 Complete the Route Target fields as required for the CE Routing Community:
a. Provider Name (required)—To specify the service provider associated with this Route Target, click Select.
The Select Provider window is displayed.
b. From this new window, choose the name of the service provider, then click Select.
c. Name (required)—Enter the name of the Route Target.
d. Route Target Type—Specify the Route Target type: Hub and Spoke or Fully Meshed.
e. Auto-Pick Route Target Values—Choose to either let Cisco IP Solution Center automatically set the route target (RT) values or set the RT values manually.
By default, the Auto-pick route target values check box is checked. If you uncheck the check box, you can enter the Route Target values manually.
Caution
If you choose to bypass the
Auto-pick route target values option and set the route target (RT) values manually, note that the RT values cannot be edited after they have been defined in the Prime Fulfillment software.
Step 4 When you have finished entering the information in the Create CE Routing Community window, click Save.
After creating the Route Target, you can add it to the VPN.
Deleting Route Targets
From the CE Routing Community window, you can delete specific Route Targets.
To delete Route Target(s), follow these steps:
Step 1 Choose Service Design > Resources > Route Targets.
Step 2 Select Route Target(s) to delete by checking the check box(es) to the left of the Route Target name.
Step 3 Click the Delete button.
The Confirm Delete window appears.
Step 4 Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the Route Target(s) listed.
The Route Targets window reappears with the specified Route Target(s) deleted.