DATA SHEET

Manage, Control and Plan

Intelligent domain control and automation to supercharge
your network operations

End-customers want more from service providers—more Features and benefits

bandwidth, more services, more quickly. However, service • Gain centralized software control
and analytics of network resources
providers are encumbered with legacy, manually intensive and deployed services, with
Network Management Systems (NMS) that are built on old a unified view across multiple
technology layers, to drive
technology and do not support APIs for automation. With Ciena’s operational efficiency
Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller and Advanced • Improve time-to-market of
customer services through MCP’s
Apps, providers gain a real-time view of the performance of their integrated lifecycle operations,
multi-layer infrastructure to accelerate and automate the full including online planning

lifecycle of network operations, gaining operational efficiency,  tilize Liquid Spectrum™,

• U
Adaptive IP™ Apps, and advanced
improving customer quality of experience, and supercharging applications to optimize multi-layer
the journey to the Adaptive Network™. network performance
• E
 xpedite troubleshooting of
network performance issues and
MCP, Ciena’s domain controller, unifies network management, online planning, impacted services with real-time
and service assurance in a single interface across multiple technology monitoring capabilities across
layers, through Software-Defined Networking (SDN) control for integrated complex networks, including
lifecycle operations. With MCP’s centralized, accurate view of the state of Foreign Line Systems (FLS) and/or
third-party IP routers
their multi-vendor optical, Ethernet, and IP infrastructure, service providers
• L
 everage open APIs to integrate
can fulfill and assure customer services across multi-layer infrastructure, and easily with Operational Support
optimize network utilization, most efficiently. Whether through the intuitive Systems (OSS) and automate end-
user interface, or programmatic APIs, operations teams can quickly execute to-end workflows, reducing OPEX
all the essential tasks that keep the network running smoothly, to provide high • Choose the MCP deployment option
to best suit business goals—on-
service quality. Furthermore, by leveraging MCP’s integrated, online capacity
premises, public cloud, or turnkey
planning, driven by real-time network telemetry, operators can ensure the Hosted MCP Service
network can satisfy customers’ bandwidth and quality demands in the future. • Accelerate MCP installation,
operationalization, and adoption
Integrated lifecycle operations all in one interface with the expertise of MCP Services
offerings
Innovations in infrastructure technology continue to deliver staggering
improvements in network capacity, bandwidth, reliability, and performance.
However, a different way of operating the network is needed to capitalize on
those network infrastructure investments and utilize them most optimally to

1
 buildouts, schedule commissioning of requisite
equipment, and schedule future service activations,
thus reducing the overall planning time horizon.
Enhanced
GUI APIs Emulation Cloud
Operations
Users can manage the full service lifecycle in

Adaptive IP™ Apps Advanced Apps PlannerPlus

C
ge

on
Liquid Spectrum
na

tro
MCP
Ma

l
L3

L2

L1

L0 Figure 2. MCP’s dashboard provides a comprehensive, real-time

view of the state of network and services

Pla n
Adaptive IP Apps
Figure 1. MCP Applications, founded on the MCP domain controller, Learn more
support fully integrated network operations

satisfy market demands for on-demand connectivity

and innovative services. Fault, Configuration, conjunction with network resources, through MCP’s
Accounting, Performance, and Security (FCAPS) rich, intuitive GUI visualization, or through MCP’s open
operations are simply not enough to deliver the APIs that allow for seamless, automated operations with
needed business agility. Nor is it efficient to maintain OSS. End-customers’ services can be provisioned in
separate operations teams for optical, Ethernet, and record time, across optical, Ethernet, and IP layers, all
IP infrastructure. The answer is intelligent software within MCP’s unified interface. A broad set of parameters
control, which drives automated lifecycle network and constraints are able to be specified for provisioning
operations for multi-layer optimization. of wavelength, Ethernet, or IP/MPLS services. MCP’s
embedded Path Computation Engine (PCE) delivers all
The essence of SDN control is an accurate, centralized viable routes that satisfy the specified values, so that
view of the network and its resources, as-deployed optimal operational decisions can be made. Provisioning
and as-planned. MCP interfaces with the network of protection routes for service reliability is also built in.
elements under management, to discover and
maintain a comprehensive network information model, Advanced analytics for multi-layer optimization
including Ciena infrastructure, Foreign Line Systems MCP Applications enable multi-layer optimization
(FLS) and third party IP routers. Telemetry is collected so that resources are used most effectively to
from the network dynamically, so MCP always has provide superior customer experience. It provides
the real-time view of the L0–L3 network and service a consistent view across all technology layers: L0
topology, without operators needing to manually photonic, L1 OTN, L2 Ethernet and G.8032, and L3 VPN
reconcile multiple tools and correlate with static using MPLS or Segment Routing. This means that, with
spreadsheets. MCP continuously collects, collates, MCP, providers can deploy more consumer services,
and clearly presents key performance indicators and more quickly, and keep them up and running more
alarms, greatly facilitating network monitoring and reliably over a multi-layer network.
troubleshooting. Real-time capacity, utilization, and
performance metrics are leveraged by MCP Advanced Integrated monitoring, test, and analytics capabilities
Apps to provide insights into network behavior, and to expedite troubleshooting and service assurance, so
drive optimized decisions for service assurance and operators can take proactive measures to maintain a
capacity planning. Integrated planning capabilities high level of service quality. For example, the Liquid
eliminate time delays and guesswork from network Spectrum PinPoint app uses Optical Time Domain
expansions. Operators can efficiently plan network Reflectometer (OTDR) traces to localize physical fiber

2
 OSS
Open APIs:
REST, TAPI,
Websocket
REST
APIs MCP Domain Controller
and Applications
Network
Operations
Open APIs:
SNMP, TL1,
RESTCONF,
NETCONF

Figure 3. MCP’s intuitive service topology visualization

degradation and faults and accelerate service turn- Ciena IP and Third party routers
up and repair, reducing the risk of outages. Additional Packet-Optical and Foreign Line Systems
Infrastructure
Liquid Spectrum apps allow operations personnel to
easily optimize utilization of Ciena’s market-leading
coherent optical WaveLogic infrastructure. For IP Figure 4. MCP’s open APIs
layer network performance optimization, Adaptive IP
Apps collect extensive telemetry from multi-vendor Ciena’s Emulation Cloud
IP networks and generate IP and MPLS network Sign Up Now
analytics, providing a real-time view of the current
state of the network and services, allowing rapid
identification and resolution of performance issues. solution integration.Customers and partners can also
leverage Ciena’s community’s expertise, advancing
Cloud-native architecture for scale and flexibility
their own DevOps skills development.
The phenomenal rise of video, mobility, cloud, and
IoT services demands massive scale and elasticity Operators seeking orchestrate and assure services
from the network, but many management systems across to their extensive networks, across multiple
are not up to the challenge. Unlike legacy NMS built on technical domains, composed of multi-vendor
monolithic software architectures, MCP is built on a physical and virtual network elements, can integrate
cloud-native, micro-services architecture that can scale MCP with Blue Planet Intelligent Automation for
dynamically as the network grows. The MCP platform higher-order software control and automation.
aligns with service providers’ strategies to transform Services to simplify and accelerate your MCP journey
legacy Network Operations Centers (NOC) to IT-based
operations. MCP software can be installed on a NOC’s The benefits and efficiencies of Ciena’s MCP and
premises on COTS servers, or deployed in the public Advanced Apps are significant. As soon as they
cloud, or operated as a turnkey Ciena-hosted solution. are deployed, users start to realize its potential.
And Ciena can help with that.
Openness for ease of integration and automation
Enter Ciena’s MCP Services. It’s a suite of services―
MCP offers open interfaces, including REST, including Learn, Deploy, Migrate, Customize, Adopt,
Websocket, TAPI, allowing for ease of integration with and Operate―designed to add momentum to your
adjacent OSS and orchestration systems. DevOps MCP journey, including Liquid Spectrum or Adaptive IP
teams can leverage MCP’s integrated Swagger and Apps. This allows you to support and extend in-house
Postman capabilities to exercise APIs and develop expertise, with the time-critical services you need, at
software to specific business requirements. the speed you expect. And each offering is individually
MCP software is readily accessible to customers, structured to be flexible and remain focused on what
third-party developers, and partners via Ciena’s matters most: driving maximum value quickly, efficiently,
Emulation Cloud™, which supports a simulated Ciena and effectively.
network environment. This means operators can
easily test MCP’s REST APIs to third-party tools or Ciena’s MCP Services
Learn more
OSS from anywhere and anytime, accelerating

3
 s
ice The Adaptive Network
rv TE Software Control
Se RA
LE and Automation The Adaptive Network is Ciena’s vision of a new target
E cies
C
C po l i
s ed ACT end-state for network providers. Utilizing automation
ba
A
guided by analytics and intent-based policies, the
t-
en Adaptive Network rapidly scales, self-configures,
I nt

Au t
Analytics and and self-optimizes by constantly assessing network
The Adaptive

o m a t i on
Intelligence pressures and demands. The Adaptive Network is
Network
SENSE built upon four foundational elements: Programmable
Infrastructure, Analytics & Intelligence, Software
Te
Control & Automation, and Services. Ciena’s MCP
l Programmable
em
etr Infrastructure
provides Software Control & Automation of the Ciena
y
domain, with integrated Advanced Apps providing
CONNECT
Analytics & Intelligence.

Technical specifications
Supported Operating • Deployment in the cloud Supported Ciena Network
Environments (leased VMs and VPN) for Elements
Server small networks of up to • Converged Packet
• Red Hat Enterprise (RHEL) 50 Network Element Units Optical: 6500 family,
7.x, Oracle Linux 7.x, (NEUs) 6500 Reconfigurable Line
CentOS 7.x • S
 pecific hardware or VM System, Coherent ELS,
• Clustering for high requirements will vary Waveserver®
availability and based upon network • Routing and Switching:
geographically redundant size, complexity, and 3000 Family, 5000 Family,
configurations available supported network 6500 Packet Transport
element types System, 8180 Coherent
• Deployment on bare metal
and virtualized/cloud Client Networking Platform,
infrastructure (such as • HTML 5 web client using 8700 Packetwave®
OpenStack, VMWare) Chrome or Firefox Web Platform
browsers

Ciena may make changes at any time to the products or specifications contained herein
without notice. Ciena and the Ciena Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks
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trademarks is available at www.ciena.com. Third-party trademarks are the property of Click here
their respective owners and do not imply a partnership between Ciena and any other
company. Copyright © 2023 Ciena® Corporation. All rights reserved. DS347 10.2023