Build custom observability solutions

Cisco Observability Platform (COP) enables developers to build custom observability solutions to gain valuable insights across their technology and business… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Build custom observability solutions

Cisco Observability Platform (COP) enables developers to build custom observability solutions to gain valuable insights across their technology and business stack. While storage and query of Metric, Event, Log, and Trace (MELT) data is a key platform capability, the Knowledge Store (KS) enables solutions to define and manage domain-specific business data. This is a key enabler of differentiated solutions. For example, a solution may use Health Rules and FMM entity modeling to detect network intrusions. Using the Knowledge Store, the solution could bring a concept such as “Investigation” to the platform, allowing its users to create and manage the complete lifecycle of a network intrusion investigation from creation to remediation.

In this blog post we will teach the nuts and bolts of adding a knowledge model to a Cisco Observability Platform (COP) solution, using the example of a network security investigation. This blog post will make frequent use of the FSOC command to provide hands-on examples. If you are not familiar with FSOC, you can review its readme.

First, let’s quickly review the COP architecture to understand where the Knowledge Store fits in. The Knowledge Store is the distributed “brain” of the platform. The knowledge store is an advanced JSON document store that supports solution-defined Types and cross-object references. In the diagram below, the Knowledge Store is shown “connected” by arrows to other components of the platform. This is because all components of the platform store their configurations in the knowledge store. The Knowledge Store has no ‘built-in’ Types for these components. Instead, each component of the platform uses a system solution to define knowledge types defining their own configurations. In this sense, even internal components of the platform are solutions that depend on the Knowledge Store. For this reason, the Knowledge Store is the most essential component of the platform that absolutely nothing else can function without.

To add a more detailed understanding of the Knowledge Store we can understand it as a database that has layers. The SOLUTION layer is replicated globally across Cells. This makes the SOLUTION layer suitable for relatively small pieces of information that need to be shared globally. Any objects placed inside a solution package must be made available to subscribers in all cells, therefore they are placed in the replicated SOLUTION layer.

Solution Level Schema

Get a step-by-step guide

From this point we will switch to a hands-on mode and invite you to ‘git clone git@github.com:geoffhendrey/cop-examples.git’. After cloning the repo, take a look at https://github.com/geoffhendrey/cop-examples/blob/main/example/knowledge-store-investigation/README.md which offers a detailed step-by-step guide on how to define a network intrusion Type in the JSON store and how to populate it with a set of default values for an investigation. Shown below is an example of a malware investigation that can be stored in the knowledge store.

Malware Investigation

The critical thing to understand is that prior to the creation of the ‘investigation’ type, which is taught in the git repo above, the platform had no concept of an investigation. Therefore, knowledge modeling is a foundational capability, allowing solutions to extend the platform. As you can see from the example investigation below, a solution may bring the capability to report, investigate, remediate, and close a malware incident.

If you cloned the git repo and followed along with the README, then you already know the key points taught by the ‘investigation’ example:

The knowledge store is a JSON document store
A solution package can define a Type, which is akin to adding a table to a database
A Type must specify a JSON schema for its allowed content
A Type must also specify which document fields uniquely identify documents/objects in the store
A solution may include objects, which may be of a Type defined in the solution, or which were defined by some different solution
Objects included in a Solution are replicated globally across all cells in the Cisco Observability Platform.
A solution including Types and Objects can be published with the fsoc command line utility

Provide value and context on top of MELT data

Cisco Observability Platform enables solution developers to bring powerful, domain specific knowledge models to the platform. Knowledge models allow solutions to provide value and context on top of MELT data. This capability is unique to COP. Look for future blogs where we will explore how to access objects at runtime, using fsoc, and the underlying REST APIs. We will also explore advanced topics such as how to generate knowledge objects based on workflows that can be triggered by platform health rules, or triggers inside the data ingestion pipeline.

Find related resources

Learn more about Cisco Full-Stack Observability and explore developer resources for:

Infrastructure Monitoring
Application Monitoring
Application Security
Digital Experience Monitoring

  The Knowledge Store (KS) enables solutions to define and manage domain-specific business data on the Cisco Observability Platform. Learn how to add a knowledge model to a Cisco Observability Platform (COP) solution.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

In times of crisis, armed conflict, or natural disasters, people are forced to adapt and make big, life-changing decisions under extreme pressure. Access to timely, accurate, and straightforward… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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In times of crisis, armed conflict, or natural disasters, people are forced to adapt and make big, life-changing decisions under extreme pressure. Access to timely, accurate, and straightforward safety information is an invaluable resource for these communities as they relocate, search for critical services and struggle with complex problems. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) teamed up with Mercy Corps to provide durable solutions for people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster. Together, they created Signpost: a responsive, digital information service that leverages innovative software to respond to the informational needs of populations impacted by crises.

Partnering with IRC from the start

Cisco has supported the development of Signpost since its inception. Our partnership with IRC began through our work with Mercy Corps in 2015, when Cisco provided funding to develop “Refugee Info Hub,” the precursor to Signpost. At the time, Cisco’s Crisis Response team was deploying Wi-Fi connectivity to refugees in Greece—directing landing pages to Refugee Info Hub, signposting them to where they could get relevant help and support.

With the increased need for digital information services to reach particularly vulnerable populations during the pandemic, Cisco funded the launch of Signpost in three new countries and supported the development of additional features necessary to scale Signpost’s impact, including off-line functionality.

Cisco answers the call with a voice solution

In April 2022, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Google.org, a long-time partner of IRC and Signpost, approached Cisco to collaborate on a contact center solution. IRC had partnered with United for Ukraine to provide critical information to those affected by the war, and Google.org was looking for a contact center specialist to help them create a responsive voice bot that could handle crisis caller-requests. Their request for expertise led them to Paul Tindall, the EMEA lead of Cisco’s contact center technical team. With his team’s dedicated efforts, Paul quickly turned around with a proposed solution.

“In the midst of a crisis, it’s a rare occurrence for someone
to ask if there’s a contact center specialist in the house.”

– Paul Tindall, EMEA Lead, Cisco Contact Center Technical Team

The proposed solution involved Signpost creating a call center equipped with local phone numbers, interactive voice response capabilities, and multi-lingual voice services (offering support in English, Ukrainian, and Russian). If the automated voice bot failed to meet the caller’s needs, they would have the option to connect to a local agent.

Challenges on the way to solutions

Photo credit: Olivia Blinn (IRC)

However, the path to implementation was not without its hurdles. To set up a call center with local numbers, the solution required a partner with a public switched telephone network provider. Finding a provider capable of working quickly without incurring costs was a challenge that introduced some delays. Ultimately, Signpost received invaluable support from a Cisco partner, CallTower, who provided pro-bono service numbers in Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Google played a critical role in supporting the IRC technology team with a robust fellowship program through Google.org that make the Ukraine program possible and generously supported staffing of the call center with personnel from their customer success division in Poland. While callers could now connect through these local numbers, the local agents responding to a call presented an additional challenge. These agents utilized a variety of devices, exposing unexpected security risks. Cisco’s dedicated team worked diligently to support agents by patching any platform and program vulnerabilities.

One of the most heartwarming aspects of encountering and overcoming these challenges was the incredible responsiveness of our partners once they grasped the profound significance of Signpost’s mission.

Signpost’s remarkable impact

Cisco continues to invest in Signpost, enabling the platform to scale to over 20 countries across 5 continents, impacting the lives of more than 12.8 million people in over 25 languages. This collaborative effort has proven that technology and shared commitment can make a tangible difference in the face of humanitarian crises, reaffirming the power of partnership and innovation.

Learn more about Cisco Partnering for Purpose Crisis Response and how you can get involved:

Visit the Partnering for Purpose SalesConnect

Read our stories and Partnering for Purpose blogs

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

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  In times of crisis, armed conflict, or natural disasters, people are forced to make life-changing decisions under extreme pressure. Access to timely, accurate, and straightforward safety information is an invaluable resource for these communities as they relocate, search for critical services and struggle with complex problems.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

We are thrilled to announce that Cisco’s unified OT security and networking architecture is named “Smart Manufacturing Solution of the Year” in the 2024 IoT Breakthrough Awards.

Industrial security ca… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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We are thrilled to announce that Cisco’s unified OT security and networking architecture is named “Smart Manufacturing Solution of the Year” in the 2024 IoT Breakthrough Awards.

Industrial security can be a complex undertaking, and yet OT security is quintessential for modern Industrial IoT (IIoT) operations. IIoT systems generally contain a variety of interconnected systems and technologies, each with its own security needs. Some of these are older and not designed with modern security threats in mind. Furthermore, OT teams, with their limited resources, may not be able to dedicate adequate time and personnel to security, and IT teams often do not understand operations well enough. Potential production losses resulting from increased security measures can also sometimes conflict with the need to address security concerns.

OT security has, therefore, traditionally been an afterthought and built using a piecemeal approach, relying on a patchwork of solutions provided by different vendors, each designed to provide only a single security function. Customers are forced to deploy point solutions that lead to unnecessary hardware deluge, increased complexity, and an overall security solution that does not scale or deliver.

An integrated network and security architecture

At Cisco we take a simpler, scalable, and more effective approach by integrating security functions directly into the network fabric. Our innovations enable the industrial network to replace the many one-function point products.

Figure 1: Cisco industrial switches and routers integrate security functions and help eliminate many separate products

With a unified industrial security and networking architecture, Cisco brings simplicity and scale to both connect and protect operations. It reduces complexity by delivering visibility, segmentation, remote access, and other security services on Cisco industrial switches and routers without the need to introduce additional hardware.

Visibility into connected assets, network traffic, and assessing existing asset vulnerabilities is recognized as the first step in securing operations. Traditional security vendors provide a deep packet inspection (DPI) server for this purpose to which you need to span traffic from your switch ports, adding to the network complexity and costs. Cisco Cyber Vision runs within Cisco industrial devices and performs the same functions without the extra server, complications, and expense.
The second step once visibility is established is to partition your industrial network into smaller segments to contain any malware that may find its way inside, but in a way that allows legitimate traffic to flow unhindered. Traditionally, this network segmentation has been done with sets of firewalls or Access Control Lists (ACL) configuration in switches. Both are either expensive, difficult to get right and maintain, or both. Native capabilities in Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches allow dynamic and automated multiple levels of segmentation without the firewalls or manual ACLs.

Figure 2: Cisco industrial equipment runs Cyber Vision for visibility and segmentation policies

A third necessity is to enable operations personnel to securely access industrial assets remotely. Traditionally, organizations have depended on solutions like VPNs that require frequent manual updates to firewall rules and jump server settings, potentially unsecure methods such as cellular gateways, to name a few. With the Secure Equipment Access solution, Cisco industrial network equipment enables secure zero-trust network access (ZTNA) by embedding ZTNA gateway functionality without the need for extra servers. Enabling remote access is now just a software feature to activate in your Cisco industrial network.

Figure 3: Cisco industrial networking hosts a ZTNA gateway for secure remote access

Put the award-winning solution to work for you

We have not only designed an award-winning architecture, but we have also made it easy for you to adopt it, meeting you in your security journey where you are and guiding you gradually to where you want to be. Our four-step process can lead you from building a solid security foundation, through visibility, remote access, and segmentation to incident reporting and response.

Figure 4: Cisco four-step journey for industrial security

The network embedded security architecture scales across all OT use cases like manufacturing, transportation, utilities, oil & gas, renewable power generation, and mining among others.

We are grateful to the IoT Breakthrough Award judges for recognizing the benefits of our integrated security and networking architecture.

For more details and to discover what’s possible, please refer to the whitepaper, Harness the Power of Networking to Secure Industrial Operations, or set up a free no-obligation consult with one of our experts.

  Cisco is recognized for its unified industrial security and networking architecture that not only helps avoid extra costs and complexity, but also offers better protection.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

In the rapidly evolving retail sector, businesses are continually seeking innovative ways to gain a competitive edge, increase efficiency, and enhance the customer experience. One technology that’s… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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In the rapidly evolving retail sector, businesses are continually seeking innovative ways to gain a competitive edge, increase efficiency, and enhance the customer experience. One technology that’s making a significant impact is computer vision, especially when coupled with the power of AI with hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure.

Almost every week now, there are new advancements in AI that has the potential to improve business operations and bring automation to a new level. It is almost impossible to keep up with all the innovation for retailers, let alone how to implement these. Building an end-to-end solution in computer vision generally also involves several hardware and software components. Putting all the pieces together at multiple locations can be a daunting challenge for any retailer. But there are some major upsides if solutions can be deployed at scale using the combination of cameras and the right AI tools.

Enhanced Security

Computer vision can enhance security measures. It can help in finding suspicious activities, identify unauthorized access, and even recognize specific objects.

Real-time Analytics

Retailers can leverage real-time analytics to make data-driven decisions. Computer vision can analyze video streams for customer behavior, product interaction, and store traffic patterns. This real-time data can help businesses optimize store layouts, improve product placements, and boost overall sales.

Inventory Management

Use Computer vision technology to monitor stock levels on shelves and alert staff when there is a need to restock. This not only optimizes inventory management but also ensures that customers can always find what they’re looking for.

Efficient Checkout Processes

Computer vision can also facilitate faster, more efficient checkout processes. For instance, it can analyze congestion at the checkout, helping store operational teams reduce the time customers spend waiting in line.

Combining edge and cloud

To enable scaling, Cisco Meraki MV cameras are built with the capability to run AI models directly at the edge. Using Microsoft Azure, these models can be trained and developed in the cloud and insights created with support from AI. The combination of Meraki simplicity, and the power of Azure AI, has torn down major barriers of adoption.

By leveraging these capabilities, retailers can harness the power of computer vision without the need for significant hardware investment. Moreover, the scalability of cloud solutions means that as the business grows, the technology can easily grow with it. Retailers can not only improve their operational efficiency but also enhance the customer experience, leading to increased sales and growth.

The collaboration between Cisco Meraki and Microsoft has resulted in an impressive showcase of how to combine cloud computing and computer vision to deliver powerful solutions. Building a computer vision solution end-to-end has never been easier.

You can find the complete step-by-step guide and a video that showcases these building blocks and read more about analytics on MV Smart Cameras.

If you happen to be at NRF’24 in NYC on January 14-16th, please

come by the Cisco booth 5639 and meet with us to learn more.

  If you happen to be at the NRF’24 in NYC on January 14-16th,  please come by the Cisco booth 5639 and meet with us to learn more.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco was honored last year to win the top spot on People’s 2023 List of Companies That Care, and a key factor was our employee culture of giving back.

We’ve been on a multi-year journey to engage our… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Cisco was honored last year to win the top spot on People’s 2023 List of Companies That Care, and a key factor was our employee culture of giving back.

We’ve been on a multi-year journey to engage our employees for positive impact at scale. Four years in, the results surprised even us. Not only did we see significant increases in donations and volunteerism to our global communities, but tangible benefits back to Cisco.

“We learned from Cisco’s own business transformation to make giving back a habit.”

Leveraging Business Transformation for Employee Giving

It all started with an audacious goal around 2016 to engage 80% of our employees in giving back annually by the year 2020. We diligently adopted best practices in the field such as offering year-round donation matching, raised annual match amounts to $25,000 per employee, and offered 40 hours of volunteer time off per year. These were an excellent foundation and edged our engagement up to 50%. Good, but not enough.

The breakthrough came when we shifted to learn from Cisco’s own business transformation and re-design around the question: How do we make giving back a habit? We landed on these design principles:

Center on inclusion and make it simple for nonparticipants to take their first give back action. For example, we provided new hires with $15 donation credits to direct to their preferred charity on their first day at Cisco.
Leverage digitization to engage at scale. From virtual volunteerism to Webex chatbots that encouraged people to donate, we deployed digital features to keep it top of mind, make it easy to get started, and keep coming back.
Follow the data. In near real time, we tested new programs and approaches, tweaked campaigns and communications, and monitored adoption rates all to help us get the best fit for and connection with our people.

We continued to iterate through 2019, and that year we hit our goal with 81% employee participation. Since then, we haven’t looked back. We have been sustaining these rates, including an increase to 85% participation in fiscal year 2023.

Hitting our goal felt like a feat unto itself, but what came out of it was even better—increased social impact and substantial business value. Let’s look at the numbers.

Leveraging Employee Giving for Social Impact

Not surprisingly, engaging at scale grew our employee volunteerism and giving exponentially. From 2016 to 2020 when we first hit 80%, we saw a 176% increase in volunteer hours and a 150% increase in employee donations and matching.

And each year that we’ve hit 80%, we have sustained record levels of contributions, providing a total of $130 million to nearly 7,000 nonprofits over the past four years. When you look closely at the nearly one million actions taken over these years, you see meaningful stories of change, like:

400 employees and friends hiking the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain to raise funds for global cancer charities
Six Cisco engineers designing and installing a network for homeless shelters in San Jose, California, so residents can access information and resources for a better life
Cisco employee Daniel volunteers every week to take live calls with the Trevor Project to support LGBTQ+ youth experiencing crisis

Leveraging Social Impact for Business Value

Cisco employee and system engineer volunteering at local food bank

Cisco’s purpose is to Power an Inclusive Future for All, and at the heart of this is the belief that doing good for the world is good for business—and we have the data to prove that it is.

With the help of Cisco’s Research and Intelligence team, we conducted a longitudinal study to explore the relationship between giving back at Cisco and individual, leader, and team performance data. We examined the first three years of Cisco’s 80% engagement data—who gave back, what they did, and how frequently—against performance data to analyze business factors like attrition, promotion, bonuses, and recognition.

The results were eye-opening. Compared to employees who did not take any community impact action, those who took at least one per year stayed longer at Cisco, had higher bonuses, had higher odds of promotion, and received more recognition from others.

The same held true for specific subgroups like teams, leaders, and new hires. For example, when a team collectively engaged in giving back, the whole team had higher rates of promotion and higher recognition.

Particularly compelling was that when leaders engaged in giving back, their team was more likely to give back as well. Such leaders had 20% lower attrition rates for their teams than their non-engaged counterparts.

Doing Good for the World is Good for Business

When we put these elements together—social impact and business value—this is the foundation for building a purpose-driven employee culture. Our journey has helped us demonstrate that doing good for the world is good for business.

And like any good story, the end is just the beginning. While we continue to engage at scale, we also invite our broader ecosystem of business partners, customers, and suppliers to join us. Check out our Partnering for Purpose blog stories for examples and contact us to share your story.

  Cisco's purpose is to Power an Inclusive Future for All, and at the heart of this is the belief that doing good for the world is good for business. Our journey to engage our employees for positive impact has been the foundation for building a purpose-driven employee culture.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Do you feel a bit lost when people refer to certain environmental sustainability topics and aren’t sure where to start when it comes to learning more? Sustainability 101 is a blog series that you can … Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Do you feel a bit lost when people refer to certain environmental sustainability topics and aren’t sure where to start when it comes to learning more? Sustainability 101 is a blog series that you can turn to for information about different environmental terms that may come up at work, during discussions with friends, and even at your annual holiday gathering.

Electricity delivery was simpler 50 years ago than it is today: centralized power stations generated electricity, transmission and distribution networks delivered it to homes and businesses, and the consumer accessed it at the plug. Lights came on when you flipped the switch. Demand peaked at fairly predictable times, like during the evening when workers came home and cooked dinner, adjusted the temperature, watched television and did laundry.

Today, electricity grids are more dynamic. Power plants — including solar, wind, and geothermal — can be located at a wide range of locations across the network. Utilities can adjust how much electricity is generated at a given time. They can also reduce demand by remotely turning off or reducing sources of load, including consumers’ heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or refrigeration systems. Lastly, consumers and businesses are using software and devices to manage electricity usage themselves, including smart thermostats that learn what temperature you prefer and adjust settings throughout the day to minimize energy consumption. Consumers can also be producers of energy (e.g. solar) and their consumption patterns can be difficult to predict based on the power they can generate.

Cities, regions and countries are creating electricity networks that use digital communications technology to detect and react to local changes in usage (“smart grids”).  Digitalization of electric grids is supporting new ways to source and use energy more sustainably while also enhancing cybersecurity.

Why are smart grids necessary?

Electricity is a perishable commodity, because it must generally be used at the instant it is generated. Moreover, the pathways to deliver it must be built and maintained, and there are limits on how much electricity they can transmit.

Think of our electricity system as a series of water pipes:

If you try to send too much water through the pipes at a pressure that is too high, you can have floods — or in the case of electricity, delivery interruptions from overloading power lines and related equipment.
If you send too little water through, you can have shortages or even drought — or in the case of electricity, the risk of brownouts or even blackouts from inadequate voltage.

When power was primarily generated from centralized power plants, that flow was predictable and easier to manage. Newer types of power generation – especially renewable resources like solar and wind farms – are being installed from rooftops to parking garages to mountaintops to cornfields. As a result, the number of power-generating assets has grown significantly, and so has the amount of data that grid operators and utilities have to monitor and take into account.

Newer resources like batteries for energy storage and demand response are providing unparalleled new ability to control how power is supplied and load is managed. Regarding smart grids, enhanced data gathering is required to support that level of sophistication and speed.

Two-way communications via the Internet of Things

Building smart grids starts with adding capabilities to capture more granular data — building out the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT refers to devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies, which connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communications networks.

For our electricity system, this means utilizing “smart meters” that can measure electricity usage much more often. Smart meters can provide your utility with real-time data on electricity use, reducing the need for estimated bills, a change that can save money for consumers. This data can also help utilities improve performance and quality of service in its service area.

IoT capabilities are also built into rooftop solar and home battery systems, enabling consumers’ equipment to share data with the utility.  In some cases, IoT can also enable utilities to send signals in case of extreme weather or disruptions, like a power plant going offline. Similarly, if opted-in, some connected devices can receive signals from your electric utility to adjust settings or turn off for a period of time to help reduce demand on the grid.

IoT-enabled building controls are another part of the electricity digitalization puzzle. They can help property managers monitor systems and devices, manage energy use, track occupancy levels to protect occupants’ health and safety, and troubleshoot issues.

Bringing together data from these disparate IoT resources is requiring more computing power — to compile it, to analyze it and to report on what’s happening so that grid operators and utilities can act on it.

Two-way power through energy storage and electric vehicles

Digitalization is also happening through the adoption of electric vehicles and larger-scale batteries — from residential systems to projects the size of multiple football fields.

First, electric vehicles represent a new category of load, drawing more electricity from our grids when they charge. Because people can charge their cars at any time, this adds a new layer of less predictable demand to the system. Conversely, some electric vehicles and chargers are capable of bidirectional charging. This means that if consumers’ vehicles are opted-in to utility programs, their batteries could support electric grids at times of high demand or other stress, then resume charging when those conditions end.

Large-scale batteries and other types of energy storage are also being deployed in homes, businesses and at grid-scale. Energy storage enables the grid to capture and dispatch energy, which adds flexibility and resilience to electric grids. This is especially important when excess power is generated by solar during the day or by wind at night, so that energy generated isn’t wasted.

Having more flexible grids that receive granular data on both electricity supply and demand from smart meters can enable operators to accommodate a wider range of resources with different behaviors. On grids powered by a growing percentage of intermittent renewables, granular data can provide utilities with transparency to support customers’ needs and reliable power throughout the day.

Electric grids & cybersecurity

Digitalization of electric grids has a third key leg — enhancing cybersecurity through smart controls that can be accessed faster and remotely.

Cybersecurity is part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 16, which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions and includes upholding the right to privacy.

As IoT devices and smart meters are adopted, they are being manufactured and maintained to high cybersecurity standards. More important, this helps to protect grids from bad actors who might seek to disable them altogether. Enhanced cybersecurity can also help protect the privacy of electricity customers and keep both customer records and usage data safe.

How Cisco is advancing digitalization of electricity

Our technology can be used to help the world prepare for the outcomes of a changing climate—such as to monitor grid reliability, enable grid decarbonization, monitor transportation and water systems, and support the workplace of the future.

For example, Cisco has partnered with Italy’s largest electricity provider, Enel, to introduce innovative solutions for agile grid operation, regulation, and supervision. Using Cisco technology, Enel can monitor its energy grid and preemptively address any faults or failures that threaten the network. Cisco is also helping Enel connect its grid to renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy at scale, speeding the transition to a low-carbon electricity grid.

In addition, Cisco Meraki sensors, IoT devices that track a range of energy and environmental data, are helping creative agency WPP to reduce energy consumption from heating and cooling in its data center campuses.  WPP reports a 44 percent cut in cooling energy and a 27 percent drop in total energy consumption for its data center in Sea Containers House, London, thanks in part to closer monitoring. WPP intends to replicate this monitoring, and the associated savings, worldwide.

Learn more about how Cisco is supporting the digitalization of energy and the creation of smart grids and buildings in Cisco’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Reporting Hub.

  Curious about smart grids? Learn how the digitalization of electric grids is supporting new ways to source and use energy more sustainably.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

The Cisco Substation Automation solution enables utilities to support new business models, expand capacity, integrate renewable energy sources, reduce operational costs, reduce risks to grid… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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The Cisco Substation Automation solution enables utilities to support new business models, expand capacity, integrate renewable energy sources, reduce operational costs, reduce risks to grid operations, and meet regulatory requirements. The solution supports more than just the core supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, adding key use cases involving protection of key assets and power management. Its technology upgrades and network management capabilities reduce operational costs by reducing the network footprint and automating key tasks. The network infrastructure can support more devices and handle more bandwidth with more resiliency and new capabilities for the network, such as time synchronization and hosting applications. The Substation Automation solution builds on the visibility and security of our Grid Security solution to meet the needs of a wide range of transmission and distribution substations. The updated solution helps utilities overcome the following business and operational challenges:

Growing number of process and station bus devices driving higher bandwidth requirements
Limited space and power in substations for equipment
Need to reduce cybersecurity risks by providing visibility into and segmentation of substation devices and traffic flows.
Lack of networking skills in grid operations teams
Requirements to Integrate and monitor legacy devices
Regulatory requirements, especially NERC-CIP and NIS2
Need to scale to support more substations

The Substation Automation solution helps utilities overcome these challenges and lays the foundation for more reliable, sustainable, efficient grid operations at a lower cost. Key features of this solution include:

More ports and faster speeds: Introduction of the IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 compliant Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Series Switches with 28 Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports for secure, reliable, low-latency station and process bus communication
Higher port density via stackable switching
Greater reliability: Support for a range of resiliency and synchronization protocols
Multifunctional router: Introduction of IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 substation certified Cisco Catalyst IR8340 Rugged Series Router and Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Routers for a combination of scalable WAN connectivity, firewall security, and application hosting
Reliability: Support for a range of resiliency and synchronization protocols
Greater security: Enable highly secure WAN with advanced firewalling, URL filtering, intrusion prevention (IDS/IPS), malware protection, IPsec/MACsec encryption, and DNS security. Enforce network access control using Cisco Trustsec and IEEE 802.1x. Gain visibility of substation assets, their communication activities and your security posture with Cisco Cyber Vision. Control remote access into assets with Cisco Secure Equipment Access. All built into Cisco networking equipment that have secure boot, signed firmware, and SUDI.
Flexibility: Highly modular platforms to support switching, routing, synchronization, and edge compute needs
Availability: Support for IEC62439-3 lossless network topologies and protocols (such as High-Availability Seamless Redundancy [HSR] and Parallel Redundancy Protocol [PRP])
Precision: Support for substation-wide time synchronization (for example, the 2017 IEEE Precision Time Protocol – Power Profile or IEC61850-9-3 PUP)
Critical functions: Support for substation communications such as IEC 61850, Modbus, IEC 60870-5-104 (IEC 104) and Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3)
Simplicity: Range of management options, including Cisco Catalyst Center for substation switching and Cisco SD-WAN Manager for SD-WAN routing capabilities

Evolution to segment routing and Ethernet VPN (EVPN) for substation WAN connectivity

Prior to segment routing, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) packets were forwarded using label switching instead of IP-based routing, which means the routers forwarded traffic based on the label and not the destination address. This required only the “edge” routers to perform an IP lookup, while intermediate “core” routers performed only a label lookup.

Unfortunately, MPLS didn’t remove complexity from an existing network. In fact, it added more complexity through additional protocols and each MPLS node requiring the state to be synchronized across the entire network. As the size of networks grew, so did the state and complexity, making it more difficult to operate and manage.

Segment routing relies on a small number of extensions to Cisco Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocols. It can operate with an MPLS or an IPv6 data plane, and it integrates with the rich multi service capabilities of MPLS, including Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN), Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS), Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), and EVPN.

Segment routing can be directly applied to the MPLS architectures with no change in the forwarding plane. Segment routing utilizes the network bandwidth more effectively than traditional MPLS networks and offers lower latency.

EVPN

EVPN is the next generation L2VPN technology, it provides layer-2 as well as layer-3 VPN services in a scalable and simplified manner. The evolution of EVPN started due to the need of a scalable solution to bridge various layer-2 domains and overcome the limitations faced by VPLS such as scalability, multi-homing, and per-flow load balancing.

Use cases considered in the new Cisco Validated Designs

We have 3 categories of services to consider for the transport network:

Layer 3 IP based Substation to Datacenter: IP based Scada data, IP based CCTV, enterprise data and IP telephony.
Layer 2 Non routable Substation to Substation: Layer 2 ethernet based multicast protocols (such as IEC61850 GOOSE & SV), Virtual machine migrations (for virtualised applications) and third party Scada traffic.
Layer 2 Substation to Substation for Traditional Teleprotection: Power Protection services, which are low latency point to point using specific utility protocols and strict engineered paths across the network.

SEL Partnership

Cisco partners with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories to provide the Teleprotection services and interfaces within the substation, which are via the SEL ICON platform. This platform provides the interfaces required for substation protection devices while providing an Ethernet based uplink to the Cisco Converged Transport network (NCS). SEL expertise in grid automation is coupled with Cisco’s Industrial substation and converged transport network products provides a best of breed end to end solution.

Validated Designs

Substation Automation CVD
Converged Transport Network Validated Designs

Datasheets

Cisco Catalyst IR8300 Rugged Series Router
Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Series Switches
Cisco Network Convergence System (NCS) 540 Series
SEL ICON Integrated Communications Optical Network Platform

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