13/8/2015 GlobalKnowledgeTrainingBlogIsCiscoIOSXEtheFutureofCisco?http://blog.globalknowledge.com/technology/datacenter/isciscoiosxethefutureofcisco/ 1/7YourSourceforTechnical,ProfessionalandLeadershipTrainingHomeAboutUsOurAuthorsAllCategoriesStayConnectedSearchthearchive...HomeCisco,DataCenter,ServiceProviderIsCiscoIOSXEtheFutureofCisco?Author:JohnnyBass4August20152,351viewsNoCommentsTags:CiscoIOSXE,CompactGatewayServer13/8/2015 GlobalKnowledgeTrainingBlogIsCiscoIOSXEtheFutureofCisco?http://blog.globalknowledge.com/technology/datacenter/isciscoiosxethefutureofcisco/ 2/7CiscoInternetworkOperatingSystem(IOS)hasbeenaroundsincealittleaftertheinceptionofCiscoSystemsasacompany.In1984,LenandSandyBosackfromStanfordUniversityfoundedCiscoSystemswithasmallcommercialgatewayserver.ThefirstCiscorouterthatItouchedwasanAdvancedGatewayServer(AGS),whichwasthefirstmarketedproductofthecompany.AfterthiscametheMidRangeGatewayServer(MGS),theCompactGatewayServer(CGS)andlatertheIntegratedGatewayServer(IGS)andAGS+.ThefirstversionofIOSthatItouchedwas8.2(7).TheoperatingsystemwasbasedonaUnixbasedsystemandwasdesignedasamonolithicoperatingsystem,meaningthatprocessesarestackedandinterrelated.LaterCiscoIOSreleases9.21through11.2representengineeringeffortstoredesignCiscoIOSintomodularcomponentsorsubsystems.TheCiscoIOSevolutiontoportreadystatusindicatesthatCiscoIOS11.3andlatercanbemoreeasilyportedtonewplatforms.ThisisaboutwhenIOSbasedswitcheswasintroduced,whichchangedthemeaningofIOSfromrouterstoauserinterfaceforroutersandswitches.ThirtyyearsofIOSisagoodrun,butitstimetomoveon.IOSisstillrunningonalotofCiscoproduct(aswellasIOSXR,NexusOSandothers),butcanitbebetter?CiscoIOSXE,thefuture?WhatsetsIOSXEapartfromtheothersandwhatIthinkcouldbethefutureforCiscoroutersandswitches(outsidethecoreanddatacenter)?IOSXErepresentsthecontinuingevolutionofCiscosIOSoperatingsystem.IOSXEisarchitectedforrouters,switchesandappliances,leveragingtheyearsoffunctionalitythatisprovidedbyIOS,whileaddingnewfunctionalityandbenefitsfromaPortableOperatingSystemInterface(POSIX)environment.IOSXEretainstheexactsamelookandfeelofIOS,whileprovidingenhancedfutureproofingandimprovedfunctionality.InIOSXE,IOS15.0runsasasingledaemonwithinamodernLinuxoperatingsystem.Additionalsystemfunctionsnowrunasadditional,separateprocessesinthehostOSenvironment.Theoperation,supportandmanagementofIOSXEdoesnotrequireretrainingfromclassicIOS.IOSdwithintheIOSXEenvironmentsupportsmultiplethreadsandmulticoreCPUs.13/8/2015 GlobalKnowledgeTrainingBlogIsCiscoIOSXEtheFutureofCisco?http://blog.globalknowledge.com/technology/datacenter/isciscoiosxethefutureofcisco/ 3/7(NoRatingsYet)LikeNxOSandIOSXR,thereisseparationofcontrolplaneandthedataplaneforadditionalstability.IOSXEaccomplishesControlPlane/DataPlaneseparationthroughtheintroductionoftheForwardingandFeatureManager(FFM)anditsstandardinterfacetotheForwardingEngineDriver(FED).FFMprovidesasetofAPIstoControlPlaneprocesses.Inturn,theFFMprogramstheDataPlaneviatheFEDandmaintainsforwardingstateforthesystem.TheFEDistheinstantiationofthehardwaredriverfortheDataPlaneandisprovidedbytheplatform.Thereisalmostnochangeinthedifferentfeatureconfigurations,makingthemigrationanduserexperienceconsistentwithIOS.IfyouknowhowtooperateIOStoday,youalreadyknowhowtooperateIOSXE.TheonlyminordifferenceintheCLI,andsomeoutputs,isduetothecustomizationthatreflectstheprocessorientedapproachofIOSXE,andtheabilitytouseamulticoreCPU.IOSXEEvolutionForthemajorityofitslifespan,IOSXEhasonlybeenavailableontheCiscoAggregationServicesRouters(ASR)1000series.ThenwevebeenseeingaslightadditiontothehardwareplatformsthatrunIOSXEtheASR900,andthentheCatalyst4500.RecentlytheCloudServicesRouters(CSR)1000vwasreleasedasavirtualrouterthatcanbeusedbyanenterprisetoextendtheirWANtoaprovidercloud.ThelatestadditiontotheplatformssupportedbyIOSXEisthelatestversionoftheCiscoIntegratedServicesRouters(ISR),theISR4000series.TheISRshavetraditionallybeenIOSbasedrouters,butwiththeswitchtoIOSXE,itmakesitcleartomethatIOSXEisthefutureofCiscoroutersoutsideofthecoreandthedatacenter.So,theoperatingsystemlooksandfeelslikethatofIOS,somethingthatalotofengineersareverycomfortablewith,butisbuiltasamultitasking,modularoperatingsystemforperformanceandstabilityallwithnolearningcurve.RelatedTrainingCiscoServiceProvider 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