Manage Cable Devices
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:
- Ensuring that the cBR-8 devices, and Cisco Smart PHY are up and available for configuring.
- Adding the cBR-8 device and ensuring that the inventory collection status for the device is 'Completed'. See Add Devices to Cisco EPN Manager
- (Optional) Configuring the required access in Cisco EPN Manager by providing Cisco Smart PHY credentials.
- (Optional) Monitoring the devices using the network topology to view the associated monitoring policies, alarms information, and link information.
- (Optional) Managing device images using Software Image Management. See Manage Device Software Images.
Features and Limitations
Cisco EPN Manager supports the following features to manage cable devices:
- Configuring Cisco Smart PHY with Cisco EPN Manager.
- Monitoring and visualizing RPD to cBR-8 L2TP links in the network topology.
- Ability to place unmapped cable devices on the network topology.
- Managing software images on cBR-8 devices.
- Performing configuration audit using compliance for cBR-8 devices.
- Viewing cBR-8 device 360 and interface 360 information.
- Viewing cBR-8 device details in the chassis view.
- Viewing cable device syslogs.
Cisco EPN Manager has the following limitation in managing cable devices:
- You cannot set the location of devices in bulk using the Import and Export Locations options on the network topology.