Features and benefits Feature Benefit Fully automated initial installation
● Bootable ISO: To simplify installation, Cisco IOS XR 64 Bit on ASR 9000 images are in the form of a bootable ISO that’s installed on the system. The software also supports iPXE, which allows the administrator to boot from TFTP, HTTP, or FTP.
● Auto provisioning: Auto provisioning starts at the end of the software’s boot process in a fresh system installation and serves two functions: static configuration application and script execution. It allows administrators to customize settings easily and automatically, without wasting time on manual configuration. Visibility for smarter control, simpler monitoring, and faster troubleshooting
● Streaming telemetry: Users can take advantage of streaming telemetry to direct data to a configured receiver. Data can be pushed out at intervals determined by the administrator, at a cadence as low as 10 seconds. Using sophisticated algorithms, a back-end server can then analyze data received from Cisco IOS XR 64 Bit on ASR 9000. The data can be encoded in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or Google Protocol Buffers (GPB). This analysis enables back-end management systems to measure and even predict control-plane and data-plane trends.
● Model-driven interfaces: Prior to Release 6.0, administrators relied on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and syslog—techniques that are neither scalable nor easily automated. With this latest release of Cisco IOS XR Software, administrators can more easily work together using the internal system database (SysDB) represented by YANG models. SysDB is not a database in a strict sense, but rather a treelike file system that can provide a common mechanism for management clients to modify or access system information. SysDB stores a variety of types of data, including integers of different sizes, character strings, and externally managed data items. Flexible design for agile maintenance and updates
● Application hosting: The Cisco IOS XR 64 Bit on ASR 9000 architecture supports third-party off-the-shelf applications built with Linux tool chains. Users can run custom applications built with the software development kit that Cisco provides. Application hosting gives administrators a platform for experimenting with their own tools and utilities.
● Flexible packaging and provisioning: The Release 6.1.1 architecture facilitates modular software delivery of individual components, which increases operational agility and efficiency. Modular delivery of software also eases difficulties during outine upgrades and maintenance fixes, promoting flexible, asynchronous upgrades.
Open architecture ●
Linux-based OS: Release 6.1.1 opens up the architecture of Cisco IOS XR Software using a 64-bit Linux-based operating system. (It uses the Wind River 7 distribution, which is compatible with Yocto 1.5 and approved by the Yocto project.) In contrast to the traditional 32-bit QNX OS, Release 6.1.1 can easily integrate applications, configuration-management tools, and auto provisioning. These attributes make it highly automatable and transparent to monitoring and management tools. In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU)
● Cisco IOS XR 64 Bit on ASR 9000 will have a new foundation for ISSU. The virtualized environment running instances of Cisco IOS XR 64 Bit will enable the platform to orchestrate the software upgrade process to minimize the disruption of services in the network without powering down the system to upgrade the operating system.
