Cisco Tetration Platform: Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics

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1 Data Sheet Cisco Tetration Platform: Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics The Cisco Tetration platform, extends machine learning capability to provide unprecedented insights into network performance and enables superior diagnostics capabilities. Hardware and software sensors provides exceptional visibility for such capabilities in a software defined network. Product overview Today, applications are the critical entities in the data center. All the main infrastructure decisions are being made based on application structure, consumption, and service delivery models. Today s applications are also dynamic, using virtualization, containerization, micro services, and workload mobility technologies, with communication patterns between application components constantly changing. In addition, traffic volume within data centers has increased tremendously due to the way that modern applications are written. This increase has created a challenge, with customers lacking sufficient data-plane visibility for performance tracking, troubleshooting, and diagnostics. Often organizations find themselves using manual, imprecise, and time-consuming processes to determine the path of traffic, the places with higher latency, the places where packets are being dropped, and especially the flows that are affected by latency and packet drops and other characteristics of the flow. To address these challenges, you need a system that can handle streaming data-plane telemetry information, analyze this information at scale using machine-learning technologies, and provide insights that you didn t have before. The Cisco Tetration platform now provides a Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics (NPMD) capability that enables data center operations teams to better visualize network communication characteristics for missioncritical applications running both in on-premises data centers and in the public cloud. The Cisco Tetration platform is designed to support this feature through the comprehensive traffic telemetry information it collects from servers and from Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches. The platform performs advanced analytics processing using an algorithmic approach and monitors various network performance statistics. In addition, it discovers and tracks the physical topology of the network in time series covering the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI ) fabric (Figure 1) and external devices such as servers. The platform s advanced features enhance the flow search capabilities, allowing operations teams to search all flows through a link or queue and pivot around flows that exceed certain latency and drop thresholds, all of which can be related to discovered application components Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 10

2 Figure 1. Cisco Tetration NPMD time-series view of the topology Network performance monitoring and diagnostics using hardware sensors Using the comprehensive telemetry data collected from the hardware sensors on the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches, the Cisco Tetration platform provides detailed time-series views of traffic flows, packet-drop indications, and hop-by-hop latency insights (Figure 2). This extensive visibility into the traffic flows within the data center allows operations teams to understand: Where congestion occurs in the network Which applications are affected by link congestion Which applications use which links What the latency is within the fabric, on each hop Which flows are experiencing packet drops What the hop-by-hop path looks like for each application flow What the flow end-to-end latency is What the Class-of-Service (CoS) is per flow 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 10

3 Figure 2. Cisco Tetration NPMD fabric overview: Link level throughput and drop indicators Network performance monitoring and diagnostics using software sensors The Cisco Tetration platform enhances performance monitoring for applications by collecting telemetry data from the software sensors installed on the servers as well as from the hardware sensors on the switches. The platform provides insights that identify the processes that cannot process packets fast enough, helping operations teams identify whether the problem is on the client side or the server side. Additional insight into network performance can significantly reduce the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) needed to resolve application and network issues. These TCP and network performance statistics are independent of the network and hardware used (Figure 3). The platform performs advanced analytics processing on the data collected from the software sensors to provide performance metrics such as: Smoothed Round-Trip-Time (SRTT) latency Latency perceived by the application TCP retransmissions TCP window-size tracking Long TCP handshakes Location of bottleneck: whether network or application 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 3 of 10

4 When it uses both hardware and software sensors, the Cisco Tetration platform can provide insight into the hop-byhop path and performance statistics for an application all the way from the server process to the client. It can better correlate flow bottlenecks with the client or the server and with the network or the application. With visibility into the location of congestion on the network, operations team can make intelligent decisions about network changes and bandwidth upgrades. Analytics-based insights into these performance statistics enables service providers to gain a unique perspective on the data center s operations and serves as a catalyst for increased efficiency. Figure 3. Cisco Tetration NPMD: Monitoring TCP performance Features and benefits Table 1 lists the main features and benefits of Cisco Tetration network performance monitoring using embedded hardware sensors in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches running in Cisco ACI mode. Table 1. Feature Main features and benefits: Hardware sensors Benefit Network physical topology Data-plane information and visualization Get a time series view of network topology, including server host information where possible. Keep track of topology changes over a period of time. Map a flow to the fabric topology through the switch ports and queue. Find flows passing through a link. Find flows passing through a link and queue. Find flows passing through a link that exceed a specified latency. Find flows passing through a link with packet drops Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 4 of 10

5 Feature Per-link aggregate statistics (per link and per queue) Benefit View link throughput. View packet-drop indications. View latency information. Performance visibility per flow Get a hop-by-hop view. View packet-drop Indications. View average and maximum latency. View the maximum latency in a time series. Table 2 lists the main features and benefits of Cisco Tetration network performance monitoring using deep-visibility software sensors on servers. Table 2. Feature Main features and its benefits: Software sensors Benefit Application network performance Identify the location of a performance bottleneck: server or client. Identify whether the application process can handle packets quickly enough. Network performance diagnostics Identify the network congestion causing the TCP window size to collapse. Gain TCP performance insight: Application limited Network limited Consumer or provider limited TCP performance statistics View SRTT latency. View session establishment latency. View application perceived latency. View TCP retransmissions. View TCP window-size tracking (reduced or zeroed). View Long TCP handshakes. View TCP Maximum Segment Size (MSS) change. Hardware supported Table 3 lists the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches that support the Cisco Tetration NPMD function. Table 3. Supported Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches Software Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches Required Software version Cisco ACI software Top-of-the-Rack (ToR) switches: Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX Switch * Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX Switch * Cisco Nexus 9348GC-FXP Switch * Spine switches (Cisco Nexus 9500 series) with the following line cards: N9K-X9736C-FX * Fabric module: N9K-C9504-FM-E, N9K-C9508-FM-E and N9K-C9516-FM-E ACI software release 3.1 or later * Hardware sensors on Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches require an additional telemetry license on the switch. Refer to the appropriate switch data sheet for the telemetry license part number Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 5 of 10

6 Licensing Cisco Tetration Analytics platform software is licensed based on the number of workloads (virtual machines and bare-metal servers) on which the platform performs analytics. The NPMD function is included as part of the base license. For the NPMD function, telemetry data can be collected using software sensors or hardware sensors or both. Currently this function is not supported for Encapsulated Remote Switched Port Analyzer (ERSPAN) sensors. If a customer has multiple Cisco Tetration clusters, the software license can be pooled across these clusters. Licensing terms In addition to being subject to the Cisco End User License Agreement (EULA) terms ( your Cisco Tetration Analytics software is subject to the Cisco Supplemental End User License Agreement (SEULA) terms ( Deployment models and scale The Cisco Tetration Analytics platform provides an appliance-like experience. It offers flexible deployment options based on the data center size and whether the deployment is located on physical hardware or in a public cloud. Three deployment options currently are available: Cisco Tetration Platform: This deployment option consists of 36 servers and 3 Cisco Nexus 9300 platform switches. It is suitable for data centers hosting more than 5000 servers (virtual machine or bare metal). Table 4 shows the verified and supported scale for this deployment option with the NPMD function. Table 4. Cisco Tetration Platform scale Platform feature Number of concurrent servers (virtual machine or bare metal) from which telemetry data can be analyzed Number of flow events that can be processed per second Value Up to 25,000 Number of hardware sensor enabled Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches Up to 100 Up to 2 million per second Cisco Tetration-M (Small Form Factor [SFF]): This deployment option consists of 6 servers and 2 Cisco Nexus 9300 platform switches. It is suitable for data centers with fewer than 5000 servers (virtual machine or bare metal). Table 5 shows the verified and supported scale for the Cisco Tetration-M platform with the NPMD function. Table 5. Cisco Tetration-M scale Platform feature Number of concurrent servers (virtual machine or bare metal) from which telemetry data can be analyzed Number of flow events that can be processed per second Value Up to 5000 Number of hardware sensor enabled Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches Up to 100 Up to 500,000 per second 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 6 of 10

7 Supported operating systems Table 6 lists the operating systems supported for full visibility sensors that support the NPMD function. Table 6. Supported operating systems for full-visibility sensors Server mode Operating system Distribution and release Virtual machines and baremetal servers Linux Microsoft Windows Server (server core and full desktop) Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release 5.0 and later. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release 6.0 and later. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4. CentOS Release 5.0 and later. CentOS Release 6.0 and later. CentOS Release 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4. Oracle Linux Release 6.0 and later. Oracle Linux Release 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4. SUSE Linux Release 11.2, 11.3, and SUSE Linux Release 12.0 and Ubuntu Release 12.04, 14.04, 14.10, and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, Essentials, and Datacenter Editions. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Essentials, and Datacenter Editions. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Standard, Foundation, Essentials, and Datacenter Editions. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, Foundation, Essentials, and Datacenter Editions. Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard, Essentials, and Datacenter Editions. Table 7 shows the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches that support the NPMD function. Table 7. Supported switches and hardware sensors Product line Platform Software release Cisco Nexus 9300 platform Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX, 93108TC-FX ** switches (Cisco ACI mode) * Cisco Nexus 9348GC-FXP ** Cisco Nexus 9500 platform with N9K-X9736C- FX * line cards Cisco ACI Release 3.1 and later. Cisco ACI Release 3.1 and later. Cisco ACI Release 3.1 and later. * Hardware sensors require an additional telemetry license on the switch. Refer to the appropriate switch data sheet for the telemetry license part number. Ordering information Table 8 provides hardware and software bundle part numbers for the Cisco Tetration Analytics LFF option. Table 8. Hardware and subscription software bundle for Cisco Tetration Platform Bundle part number Part numbers included in bundle Description C1-TETRATION TA-CL-G1-39-K9 Cisco Tetration Analytics bundle part number that includes the hardware, software subscription license, and Cisco Advanced Services Fixed (AS-Fixed) service for deployment. AS-Fixed is included at no additional cost. Cisco Tetration Analytics hardware platform with 36 servers and 3 switches that will support processing of Cisco Tetration Analytics telemetry data from up to 25,000 servers (virtual machine or bare metal) Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 7 of 10

8 Bundle part number Part numbers included in bundle Description C1-TA-SW-K9 ASF-DCV1-TA-QS-M Bundle part number for the Cisco Tetration Analytics software subscription license. See Table 10 for details. AS-Fixed part number for Cisco Tetration Analytics implementation services. Table 9 provides hardware and software bundle part numbers for the Cisco Tetration-M (8 Rack Unit [8RU]) option. Table 9. Hardware and subscription software bundle for Cisco Tetration-M option Bundle part number C1-TETRATION-M Part numbers included in bundle TA-CL-G1-SFF8-K9 C1-TA-SW-K9 ASF-DCV1-TA-QS-M Description Cisco Tetration Analytics bundle part number that includes the hardware, software subscription license, and Cisco Advanced Services Fixed (AS-Fixed) service for deployment. AS-Fixed is included at no additional cost. Cisco Tetration Analytics hardware platform with 6 servers and 2 switches, required for Cisco Tetration-M. Bundle part number for the Cisco Tetration Analytics software subscription license. AS-Fixed part number for Cisco Tetration Analytics implementation services. Table 10 provides subscription software bundle part numbers for the Cisco Tetration Platform and Cisco Tetration- M options. Table 10. Subscription software license for Cisco Tetration Platform and Cisco Tetration-M options Bundle part number Part number in bundle Description C1-TA-SW-K9 C1-TA-BASE-1K-K9 Bundle part number for the Cisco Tetration Analytics software subscription license. Cisco Tetration Analytics subscription software license in multiples of 1000 servers (virtual machine or bare metal). For example, a quantity of 5 will provide the license price for up to 5000 software sensor instances. C1-TA-ENF-1K-K9 Cisco Tetration Analytics subscription software enforcement add-on license in multiples of 1000 servers (virtual machine or bare metal). For example, a quantity of 5 will provide the license price for up to 5000 software sensor instances. Also note the following additional information about the software subscription license part number: You can select a one-year, three-year, or five-year subscription term. The subscription price includes software support. The subscription tier is selected automatically based on the quantity entered. Enforcement is an add-on license and cannot be ordered without the base software license. You can select the annual billing option or prepay for the entire term. You can add more software sensor instance licenses. This software subscription license can be used with both Cisco Tetration hardware clusters and the Cisco Tetration Cloud platform. Licensing terms In addition to being subject to the Cisco EULA terms ( your Cisco Tetration Analytics software is subject to the Cisco SEULA terms ( Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 8 of 10

9 Tables 11 and 12 provide bundle part numbers for the Cisco Tetration Cloud option. Table 11. Software bundle for Cisco Tetration Cloud option Bundle part number C1-TETRATION-V Part numbers included in bundle C1-TA-V-SW-K9 ASF-DCV1-TA-QS-M Description Cisco Tetration Analytics bundle part number that includes the software subscription license for the virtual form factor. Bundle part number for the Cisco Tetration Analytics software subscription license. Optional AS-Fixed part number for Cisco Tetration Analytics implementation services. Table 12. Subscription software license for Cisco Tetration Cloud option Bundle part number C1-TA-V-SW-K9 Part numbers included in bundle C1-TA-BASE100-K9 Description Bundle part number for the Cisco Tetration Analytics software subscription license, applicable only for Cisco Tetration Cloud. Cisco Tetration Analytics subscription software license in multiples of 100 servers (virtual machine or bare metal). Choose a quantity between 1 and 10. For example, a quantity of 5 will provide the license price for up to 500 software sensor instances. C1-TA-ENF100-K9 Cisco Tetration Analytics subscription software enforcement add-on license in multiples of 100 servers (virtual machine or bare metal). Choose a quantity between 1 and 10. For example, a quantity of 5 will provide the license price for up to 500 software sensor instances. Also note the following additional information about the software subscription license part number: You can select a one-year, three-year, or five-year subscription term. The subscription price includes software support. The subscription tier is selected automatically based on the quantity entered. Enforcement is an add-on license and cannot be ordered without the base software license. You can select the annual billing option or prepay for the entire term. You can add more software sensor instance licenses. This software subscription license can be used only with a Cisco Tetration Cloud deployment. Licensing terms Your license for Cisco Tetration Cloud software does not include the public cloud instances (for example, Amazon Web Services [AWS] or Microsoft Azure) required to run the software. You are responsible for acquiring the required public cloud instances directly from your public cloud provider (for example, AWS or Microsoft Azure). Not all public cloud environments are certified for use with Cisco Tetration Cloud. Please check the Cisco Tetration documentation for the requirements for supported public cloud environments. Cisco Tetration Cloud performance may vary, because Cisco cannot guarantee public cloud service levels. In addition to being subject to the Cisco EULA terms (see your Cisco Tetration Analytics software is subject to Cisco SEULA terms (see Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 9 of 10

10 Put Cisco expertise to work to accelerate success Cisco provides professional and support services to help organizations get the most value from the Cisco Tetration Analytics platform. Cisco Services experts help integrate the platform into your production data center environment, define use cases relevant to your business objectives, tune machine learning, and validate policies and compliance to improve application and operation performance. Cisco Solution Support for Cisco Tetration Analytics provides hardware, software, and solution-level support. One annual contract covers all support needs. With Cisco Tetration Analytics Services expertise, you experience faster time to value, comprehensive adoption in your environment, optimized policies and application performance, and solutionwide support. Cisco Capital financing to help you achieve your objectives Cisco Capital financing can help you acquire the technology you need to achieve your objectives and stay competitive. We can help you reduce Capital Expenditures (CapEx), accelerate your growth, and optimize your investment dollars and ROI. Cisco Capital financing gives you flexibility in acquiring hardware, software, services, and complementary third-party equipment. And there s just one predictable payment. Cisco Capital financing is available in more than 100 countries. Learn more. For more information For more information about the Cisco Tetration Analytics platform, please visit or contact your local Cisco account representative. Printed in USA C / Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 10 of 10