The dynamic nature
of cloud environments requires organizations to apply and enforce frequent
changes to networks. These networks can consist of thousands of virtual
services elements, such as firewalls, load balancers, routers, and switches.
Cisco Prime Network Services Controller simplifies operations with
centralized, automated multi-device and policy management for Cisco network
virtual services. For the latest
Prime Network Services Controller
release updates and overview, see the corresponding
Prime Network Services Controller
data
sheet.
Cisco Prime Network Services Controller (Prime Network Services Controller) is the primary management element
for Cisco Nexus 1000V (Nexus 1000V) Switches and Services that can
enable a transparent, scalable, and automation-centric network management
solution for virtualized data center and hybrid cloud environments.
Nexus 1000V switches and services deliver a
highly secure multitenant environment by adding virtualization intelligence to
the data center network. These virtual switches are built to scale for cloud
networks. Support for Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) helps enable a highly
scalable LAN segmentation and broader virtual machine (VM) mobility.
Prime Network Services Controller enables the centralized management
of Cisco virtual services to be performed by an administrator, through its GUI,
or programmatically through its XML API.
Prime Network Services Controller is built on an information-model
architecture in which each managed device is represented by its subcomponents
(or objects), which are parametrically defined. This model-centric approach
enables a flexible and simple mechanism for provisioning and securing
virtualized infrastructure using
Cisco VSG and
Cisco Adaptive Security
Appliance 1000V (ASA 1000V) Cloud Firewall virtual security
services.
InterCloud
With Cisco
Nexus 1000V InterCloud, the enterprise network
can be securely extended to the cloud, with its enterprise network and security
configurations such as VLANs and policies extended to the cloud. Using
Prime Network Services Controller, workloads can be migrated from the
enterprise data center to the public cloud while retaining the same IP
addresses and other networking parameters, thus avoiding the need to redesign
the application.
Using
Prime Network Services Controller, workloads in the public cloud can
use the same security policies as their counterparts in the enterprise data
center. System administrators get the policy consistency and network visibility
that they require while retaining control of the cloud environment as a
transparent extension of the enterprise data center.
With
Prime Network Services Controller, customers have a unified view of
the workloads across the enterprise data center (private cloud) and public
cloud. They can select and migrate workloads from the enterprise data center to
the public cloud.
Hypervisor
Support
The
Prime Network Services Controller platform supports multiple VM
Managers through their APIs and through tight integration with
Nexus 1000V
Virtual Supervisor
Modules (VSMs) and Virtual Ethernet Modules
(VEMs).
Cisco Dynamic Fabric
Automation Integration Support
Cisco Dynamic Fabric
Automation (DFA) delivers fabric optimization, management, and automation
capabilities under Cisco Unified Fabric.
Prime Network Services Controller plays a critical role in the Cisco
DFA solution with L4-7 services integration.
Prime Network Services Controller integrates with Cisco Data Center
Network Manager (DCNM) to support the managed resources and services in a
VMware vSphere environment.
Consistent and
Efficient Security Policies
Prime Network Services Controller uses security profiles for
template-based configuration of security policies. A security profile is a
collection of security policy sets and integrated policies and rules that can
be predefined and applied on demand at the time of virtual machine
instantiation. This profile-based approach significantly simplifies authoring,
deployment, and management of security policies, including dense multi-tenant
environments, while enhancing deployment agility and scaling. Security profiles
also help reduce administrative errors and simplify audits.
The XML API for
Prime Network Services Controller facilitates integration with
northbound network provisioning tools for programmatic network and security
provisioning and management of
Cisco VSG (VSG) and
ASA 1000V. The option of programmatic control
of those virtual appliances can greatly simplify operational processes and
reduce infrastructure management costs.
Nondisruptive
Administration Model
By providing visual
and programmatic controls,
Prime Network Services Controller can enable the security operations
team to author and manage security policies for virtualized infrastructure and
enhance collaboration with the server and network operations teams. This
nondisruptive administration model helps ensure administrative segregation of
duties to reduce errors and simplify regulatory compliance and auditing:
- Network administrators can
author and manage port profiles, and manage
Nexus 1000V switches. Port profiles with
referenced security profiles are available in VMware vCenter through the
Nexus 1000V
VSM programmatic interface with VMware
vCenter.
Efficient
Management for Easier Scalability
Prime Network Services Controller implements an information-model
architecture in which each managed device, such as
VSG or Cisco
ASA 1000V, is represented by the device's
object-information model. This model-based architecture helps enable the use
of:
-
Dynamic device
allocation—A centralized resource management function manages pools of devices
that are commissioned (deployed) in service and a pool of devices that are
available for commissioning. This approach simplifies large-scale deployments
because managed devices can be preinstantiated and then configured on demand,
and devices can be allocated and deallocated dynamically across commissioned
and noncommissioned pools.