Cisco Systems® announces the end-of-sale and end-of-life dates for the Windows Media Technologies (WMT) streaming options available for Cisco ACNS Software Version 5.4 and earlier. These options will be replaced by new WMT streaming options available in Cisco ACNS 5.5. The last day to order these Windows Media Technologies (WMT) streaming options for Cisco ACNS Version 5.4 and earlier is June 15, 2006. Customers with active service contracts will continue to receive support from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) until ACNS 5.4 is end of support.
Table 1 describes the end-of-life milestones, definitions, and dates for the affected product. Table 2 lists the product part numbers affected by this announcement.
The availability and support for the WMT streaming option for ACNS is however maintained when migrating to the Cisco ACNS Software Version 5.5. Customers are encouraged to migrate to the Cisco ACNS Software Version 5.5 when available for download from the Software Center on Cisco.com by early May 2006. Aligning with Microsoft's strategy to transition from the legacy Microsoft Media Streaming (MMS) protocol to the more open and feature-rich Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Cisco ACNS 5.5 will no longer support the MMS protocol while continuing support for the RTSP and MMS-over-HTTP protocols.
New Windows Media Technologies (WMT) streaming licenses (Table 3) will be introduced late April, 2006 and available only with the Cisco ACNS Software Version 5.5 and later. Cisco ACNS customers who purchased the older WMT streaming licenses affected by this end-of-life announcement (see Table 2 for the complete list) before June 15, 2006 for Cisco ACNS Software 5.4 and earlier, will be able to upgrade to Cisco ACNS 5.5 without changing their current WMT streaming license keys and will not need to purchase any of the new WMT streaming licenses (as defined in Table 3).
Table 2 provides relevant information for migrating to the replacement products.
Table 1. End-of-Life Milestones and Dates for the Cisco WMT Streaming Options for Cisco ACNS 5.4 and Earlier
Milestone
Definition
Date
End-of-Life Announcement Date
The date the document that announces the end of sale and end of life of a product is distributed to the general public.
March 15, 2006
End of Software License Availability
The last date to purchase a software license for the affected product.
June 15, 2006
Last Shipment Date
The last-possible ship date that can be requested of Cisco and/or its contract manufacturers. Actual ship date is dependent on lead time.
July 15, 2006
End of Software Maintenance Releases Date
The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.
January 30, 2007
Table 2. Product Part Numbers Affected by This Announcement
End-of-Sale Product Part Number
Product Description
Replacement Product Part Number
Replacement Product Description
SF-WMS-28 (=)
28 Mbs Windows Media License for CE-507-K9
New licensing model applicable to ACNS software version 5.5 and higher.
See Table 3 for more information
SF-WMS-56 (=)
56 Mbs Windows Media License for CE-507/510, NM-CE
SF-WMS-84 (=)
84 Mbs Windows Media License for CE/WAE 500 series
SF-WMS-168 (=)
168 Mbs Windows Media License for CE-590-K9, CE-7320-K9
SF-WMS-224 (=)
224 Mbs Windows Media License for CE-56X and WAE-61X
SF-WMS-448 (=)
448 Mbs Windows Media License for CE-7325-K9
SF-WMS-560 (=)
560 Mbs Windows Media License for CE-7305-K9
SF-WMS-1008 (=)
1008 Mbs Windows Media License for CE, WAE 7300 series
PRODUCT MIGRATION OPTIONS
A new set of WMT streaming licenses with higher bandwidth limits (see Table 3 for details) will be introduced to enable the WMT streaming option on Cisco ACNS Software Version 5.5 and later.
• Customers who want to enable the WMT streaming option on supported hardware platforms running Cisco ACNS version 5.4 or earlier, must purchase the older WMT streaming options, before June 15, 2006.
• Customers who already purchased the WMT streaming option for ACNS 5.4 and earlier do not need to purchase a new WMT streaming license when upgrading to ACNS 5.5 and later.
• The new WMT streaming options are available on supported Cisco wide area application engines, Cisco content engines, and Cisco network modules running Cisco ACNS Software Version 5.5 and later (see Release Notes for ACNS 5.5 when published by early May 2006 at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/conntsw/ps491/prod_release_notes_list.html).
• The new WMT streaming options will not be supported on ACNS releases earlier than ACNS 5.5, such as ACNS 5.4, ACNS 5.3, ACNS 5.2, etc.
Table 3. New Windows Media Streaming (WMS) Options-Support Matrix for Cisco ACNS 5.5
