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The Cisco cBR-8 Converged Broadband Router (Cisco cBR-8) is a 13 rack unit (RU) chassis. It supports multiple card modules and is designed with back-to-back midplanes; a front facing Digital Midplane and a rear facing RF Midplane. In a cable network with the Remote PHY architecture, multiple Remote PHY Devices (RPDs) connect to Cisco cBR-8 devices based on the Data Over Cable Systems Interface Standard (DOCSIS) and EuroDOCSIS standards that define two-way operation over the cable network.
Remote PHY is an architectural strategy that removes the PHY element from a product and places that PHY element in a separate access point interconnected with an IP network. The Cisco Remote-PHY solution leverages existing IP technologies like Ethernet PON (EPON), Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON), and Metro Ethernet (MetroE) equipment; it deploys DOCSIS in Multi Dwelling Units (MDUs) over digital fiber to enable two-way services over cable.
Using Cisco EPN Manager , you can add and discover Cisco cBR-8 and devices and RPDs, view their L2TP links and topology on the network topology, and further configure them. You can also continuously monitor the health of RPDs to Cisco cBR-8 device links. See Manage Cisco cBR-8 and RPDs Association.
For more information about cBR-8 devices, see http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cable/cbr/Cisco-cBR/index.html:
The process of managing cable devices in Cisco EPN Manager involves:
Cisco EPN Manager supports the following features to manage cable devices:
Cisco EPN Manager has the following limitation in managing cable devices:
The following table lists the various cBR-8 and RPD management tasks supported by Cisco EPN Manager and the supported user groups. See View and Change the Tasks a Group Can Perform for information on the tasks that pertain to each user group and the default settings.
Cable Management Features |
Root / Admin / Super Users |
Config Managers |
System Monitoring |
Monitor Lite |
User Assistant |
Other Users |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Viewing the Cable RPD Association page. |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
– |
Listing and exporting RPDs. |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
– |
– |
Using quick launch hyperlinks. From the Cable RPD Association page to the network topology and vice versa. |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
– |
– |
– |
Viewing cable devices in the network topology |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
– |
– |
Viewing, adding, and editing Cable Application client credentials. |
Yes |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
To manage cBR-8 devices and RPDs, you must first configure the Cable Application client credentials. This enables Cisco EPN Manager to set up a connection with the cable devices via Cable Application.
To configure cable client credentials:
Ensure that you log in with the required credentials for configuring the client credentials. For information on the user groups and supported tasks, see Cable Management Features and Supported User Groups.
Note | Cable Application must not be configured with more than one Cisco EPN Manager server. You must also ensure that after you configure Cable Application client credentials in the Admin Settings page, you must not change the configuration to a new Cable Application client. |
Add the required cBR-8 devices to Cisco EPN Manager by device discovery, manual addition, or by importing device details using a CSV file. For more information about adding devices, see Add Devices to Cisco EPN Manager.
After you add devices, and before you configure cable devices, you must first ensure that the inventory collection status for the devices is Completed. You can then proceed with adding RPDs and associating them with the cable devices. See Manage Cisco cBR-8 and RPDs Association.
You can use Cisco EPN Manager to monitor and discover RPDs from Cisco cBR-8 devices. You can view the topology of the cable network in the network topology and monitor the health of the links between the devices.
To do this you must first establish the pairing between the devices as explained in the sections below.
You can launch the Cable RPD Association page in two ways:
RPD Auto Discovery: As part of the Cisco cBR-8 device discovery, RPDs associated with the devices are automatically added to the Cisco EPN Manager database. In this scenario, you do not need to add or import the RPDs as shown below.
Before you can manage Cisco cBR-8 devices and RPDs, you need to first discover the cBR-8 - RPDs pairing information to Cisco EPN Manager from the Cisco cBR-8 devices.
Pre-requisites:
Note | When Cisco cBR-8 devices are in sync with Cisco EPN Manager with a pending integration with the Cable application, the auto discovered service templates (associated with RPDs) cannot be edited. Once the integration with the Cable application is complete, the service templates that are marked None are auto assigned to the default service template. |
RPD Device Parameters |
Description |
---|---|
RPD Name |
Hostname of the RPD device. |
RPD MAC ID |
MAC ID of the RPD. |
Associated cBR-8 |
Cisco cBR-8 device that the selected RPD is linked to. |
Interface |
Interface of the cBR-8 device that is physically connected to the RPD. |
Service Templates |
Cisco EPN Manager cable service template applied to the RPD. When field is left blank during the import operation, the default service template is assigned to the RPD automatically. When the Cable Application client is not configured, this field is marked 'Unknown'. |
Latitude and Longitude |
Represents the exact location of the RPD. This then helps visualize the location of the device on the Cisco EPN Manager Network Topology. |
Information (i) icon |
The information (i) icon allows you to launch the device 360 view for the selected Cisco cBR-8 device and its associated interfaces. For more information, see, Get Basic Device Information: Device 360 View. |
The links between cBR-8 devices and its connected RPDs are represented with the link type L2TP in Cisco EPN Manager . To view the links in the network topology and display the associated link 360 details, see Get More Information About Links.
The table below explains the link states once cBR-8-RDPs association details are added to Cisco EPN Manager :
Icon |
Status |
Description |
---|---|---|
|
Down |
Cisco cBR-8 device to RPD association is not formed and the L2TP tunnel creation process is down. |
|
Online/Up |
Online-Cisco cBR-8 device to RPD association is formed and the L2TP tunnel creation process is initiated. Up-Cisco cBR-8 device to RPD association is completed and the link is active. |
|
In Progress |
The status of Cisco cBR-8 device to RPD association is being discovered. |
|
Not Reachable |
Cisco cBR-8 device to RPD association is not formed and hence the L2TP tunnel creation process is not initiated. |
For more information about the service states icons in the Link 360 view, see Link Serviceability States.
When RPDs are discovered from Cisco cBR-8 devices, you can view the L2TP links and other alarm information from the network topology view. You can launch cable devices in the network topology in the following ways:
For more information on the network topology features, see View Your Network on a Geographical Map (Geo Map)