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DWDM + MPLS done right
April 16, 2021

DWDM + MPLS done right

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco NCS Optical Series

We use Cisco NCS Optical Series as a leaf on our CIN network. Currently use it on various sites and helps us converge networks. It will be a replacement for nokia routers which we consider legacy. So far we have found it to be resilient, but working on a couple of bug fixes with Cisco.
  • Label switch routing.
  • Multiprotocol Label Switching Transport Profile.
  • Ethernet switching.
  • iOS XR has SW bugs.
  • Monitor session not working well.
  • As it supports up to 3 TB ps, support high-bandwidth.
  • No negative impact so far.
I have used Cisco 5000 series mostly as it has other L3 routing capabilities. We use it on core to route IS-IS, OSPF and also peer it on BGP.
Nokia 7750 Service Router (SR), Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS XR7
It is well suited as an aggregation layer for at a data center to converge multiple devices and technologies, as the device has multiple capabilities such as wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), Optical Transport Network (OTN), Multiprotocol Label Switching Transport Profile (MPLS-TP), Carrier Ethernet, and label switch router (LSR). Not appropriate for core.

Cisco NCS Optical Series Implementation

As it runs on XR there the config is very straightforward. We implement the design obtained from the engineering team and haven't had issues. I have opened few tickets to resolve any doubts and Cisco has been supportive so far.

Cisco NCS Optical Series Reliability

It supports hundred-gig links and ten-gig links, and scalability hasn't been a problem with this device. It can used on distribution layer.