Cisco® Network Registrar® 6.3 is a full-featured Domain Name System (DNS)/Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) system that provides scalable naming and addressing services for enterprise and service provider networks. It significantly improves the reliability of naming and addressing services for enterprise networks. Cisco Network Registrar provides scalable DNS and DHCP services for hundreds of thousands of devices in cable networks and forms the basis of a DOCSIS® cable modem provisioning system. Additionally, Cisco Network Registrar continues to play an important role in service activation for data, voice-over-IP (VoIP), and mobile services.
The Cisco Network Registrar scalable deployment architecture consists of several local clusters and one regional cluster. The local cluster is deployed in the network to handle DNS and DHCP services, whereas the regional cluster is usually deployed at the data center or the network operations center (NOC) to centrally manage the local clusters.
The regional cluster implements many IP address management (IPAM) features to help users reduce operational costs. With IPAM, Cisco Network Registrar administrators can control and monitor DNS and DHCP servers from a centralized location. This capability eliminates many manual, repetitive, and error-prone tasks in configuring the local servers deployed in the network and allows for a single point of data aggregation and delegation.
Cisco Network Registrar 6.3 introduces new features that aim to improve the DNS performance and to add support for additional operating environments.
New Features
Cisco Network Registrar is based on a distributed architecture that delivers the highest DNS and DHCP performance in its class. With the latest release, Cisco Network Registrar continues to further heighten its leadership with the following new features:
• Resolution exception forwarding: Resolution exception is a feature that allows the user to specify a list of forwarders (that is, servers) for a given domain. When a DNS server receives a query for that domain and the server doesn't have the answer in its cache, it will forward the query to the configured (resolution exception) server. An intelligent DNS server needs to be able to handle resolution exceptions and name server records of a server for a given domain simultaneously. Traditional DNS servers allow users to configure exception resolution for forwarding queries of a domain. However, if there is a name server record of a server for the same domain in the cache, the DNS server will ignore the setting in the resolution exception. With support of this feature, Cisco Network Registrar gives user the flexibility of specifying how DNS queries are handled in the situation where both resolution exceptions and name server records of the server for the same domain are configured on the same server.
• Enhancement to forwarding performance: The Cisco Network Registrar DNS server can be configured as a caching server, which forwards all DNS queries to authoritative servers. This release improves the way Cisco Network Registrar forwards queries to improve its DNS performance. One of the enhancements is to use a hashing algorithm to quickly determine whether there are duplicate requests coming from a client. This detection prevents Cisco Network Registrar from adding unnecessary traffic on the network and still correctly and efficiently resolves DNS queries. This enhancement effectively improves DNS throughput in Cisco Network Registrar and allows for better management of the DNS load in the server.
• Support for Solaris 10: Sun Microsystems today ships its servers with Solaris 10 preinstalled. Without support of Solaris 10, users must remove the operating system from the server and then install either the Solaris 8 or Solaris 9 operating system before they can actually begin the Cisco Network Registrar installation. To help users improve their business operation, Cisco Network Registrar now supports Solaris 10 and can be installed on a server with this operating system preinstalled.
Upgrade Paths
Existing Cisco Network Registrar customers with an active Software Application Support (SAS) contract can upgrade to Cisco Network Registrar 6.3 components.
Customers with an active Software Application Support plus Upgrades (SASU) contract can request a new local cluster license and a product kit at no cost through the product upgrade tool available at http://tools.cisco.com/gct/Upgrade/jsp/index.jsp. When accessing this tool, customers need to provide the SASU contract number and then request the Cisco Network Registrar 6.3 upgrade kits, which are shipped from manufacturing in 5 to 10 days after receipt of the request. Because the regional cluster was not covered by the SASU entitlements, customers need to purchase these optional features separately through additional product licenses.
Availability
Cisco Network Registrar is available on Oct 5, 2007.
Ordering Information
Cisco Network Registrar 6.3 products are available for order from Cisco sales representatives or online at http://www.cisco.com.
To run Cisco Network Registrar 6.3, customers need to order the base product that includes a media kit and right-to-use licenses to manage 1000 IP nodes. Customers can buy additional licenses needed to cover their network size.
Customers wishing to deploy the IPAM features need to purchase the regional cluster license, which includes cluster management and address management capabilities. A license key is also required if a customer wants to activate the router-interface-configuration (RIC) server features. Note that both the regional cluster and RIC licensing are based on the number of IP nodes. Customers need to buy the appropriate number of licenses to cover the IP nodes in their network.
Tables 1 through 7 give ordering information for Cisco Network Registrar.
Table 1. Local Cluster Ordering Information
Part Number
Description
CNR-6.3-BASE1K
Nwk Reg 6.3, base license/kit, all pltfms, 1K IPV4 nodes
CNR-6.3-ADD5K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 5K IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-ADD10K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 10K IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-ADD25K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 25K IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-ADD50K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 50K IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-ADD100K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 100K IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-ADD500K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 500K IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-ADD1M
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 1M IPV4 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-IPV6-BASE
Nwk Reg 6.3, IPv6 base license/kit all pltfms, 1K nodes
CNR-6.3-IPV6-A10K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 10K IPv6 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-IPV6-A50K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 50K IPv6 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-IPV6-A100K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 100K IPv6 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-IPV6-A500K
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 500K IPv6 nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-IPV6-A1M
Nwk Reg 6.3, add 1M IPv6 nodes, lic-only
Table 2. Regional Cluster Ordering Information
Part Number
Description
CNR-6.3-RCM-BASE
Nwk Reg 6.3, Rgnl Svr base license/kit all pltfms, 1K nodes
CNR-6.3-RCM-A50K
Nwk Reg 6.3, Rgnl Svr add 50K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-RCM-A100K
Nwk Reg 6.3, RCM Svr add 100K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-RCM-A500K
Nwk Reg 6.3, Rgnl Svr add 500K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-RCM-A1M
Nwk Reg 6.3, Rgnl Svr add 1M IP nodes, lic-only
Table 3. RIC Server Ordering Information
Part Number
Description
CNR-6.3-RIC-BASE
Nwk Reg 6.3, RIC Svr base license/kit all pltfms, 1K nodes
CNR-6.3-RIC-A50K
Nwk Reg 6.3, RIC Svr add 50K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-RIC-A100K
Nwk Reg 6.3, RIC Svr add 100K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-RIC-A500K
Nwk Reg 6.3, RIC Svr add 500K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-RIC-A1M
Nwk Reg 6.3, RIC Svr add 1M IP nodes, lic-only
Table 4. Upgrade Local Cluster Ordering Information
Part Number
Description
CNR-6.3-UPG-BASE1K
Nwk Reg 6.3, ver upg, base lic/kit, all pltfms, 1K
CNR-6.3-UPG-A5K
Nwk Reg, 6.3 ver upg, 5K, all pltfm, lic only
CNR-6.3-UPG-A10K
Nwk Reg, 6.3, ver upg, 10K, all pltfm, lic only
CNR-6.3-UPG-A25K
Nwk Reg, 6.3 ver upg, 25K, all pltfm, lic only
CNR-6.3-UPG-A50K
Nwk Reg 6.3, ver upg, add 50K IP nodes, lic-only
CNR-6.3-UPG-A100K
Nwk Reg, 6.3, ver upg, 100K, all pltfm, lic only
CNR-6.3-UPG-A500K
Nwk Reg 6.3, ver upg, add 500K IP, lic-only kit
CNR-6.3-UPG-A1M
Nwk Reg, 6.3, ver upg, 1M, all pltfm, lic only
Table 5. Upgrade Regional Cluster Ordering Information
Part Number
Description
CNR-6.3-RM-U-BASE
Nwk Reg 6.3, Rg Sv upg, base lic/kit all pltfms, 1K nodes
Table 7. Cisco Network Registrar-Universal Broadband Router Ordering Information
Part Number
Description
CNR-UBR-6.3-12K
CNR V6.3 Cbl Pkg used with Cisco uBR, 12K IP
CNR-UBR-6.3-24K
CNR V6.3 Cbl Pkg used with Cisco uBR, 24K IP
CNR-UBR-6.3-2K
CNR V6.3 Cbl Pkg used with Cisco ubR, 2K IP
CNR-UBR-6.3-32K
CNR V6.3 Cbl Pkg used with Cisco uBR, 32K IP
CNR-UBR-6.3-1K
CNR V6.3 Cbl Pkg used with Cisco uBR, 1K IP
CNR-UBR-6.3-5K
CNR V6.3 Cbl Pkg used with Cisco uBR, 5K IP
Service and Support
Cisco offers a wide range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative programs are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco services help you to protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare your network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco services, see Cisco Technical Support Services.
For More Information
For more information about the Cisco Network Registrar solution, visit http://www.cisco.com or contact your local Cisco account representative.
