Ever wonder what you would get if you could spend a million bucks on a network management system? The answer is CPLANE's IgnitionControl, delivering made-to-order services and big bandwidth at the click of a mouse.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Associate Editor [September 20, 2001]

Sunnyvale, California-based CPLANE, Inc. Monday released its carrier-class suite of managed network products. Its flagship software, dubbed IgnitionControl, features three premium applications:

• Ignite TLS: Short for Transparent LAN Service, this feature is designed to deliver layer 2 VLAN connectivity and MPLS support.
• Ignite VPN: Delivers secure layer 3 connectivity and to support both IPsec and MPLS.
• Ignite IP Bandwidth: Supports premium—that is, reliable and monitored—layer 3 Internet access with bandwidth control.

Autopilot
IgnitionControl is designed to automatically deploy services based on specific definitions provided by customers and network operators. The software determines the requirements of a service and deploys APIs to the specific devices that will enable a particular service. The software can deploy services and performance monitoring tools in seconds.

Noted Deb Mielke, Vice President of Treillage Network Strategies, "because CPLANE is taking a holistic view of service network control, it is able to help service providers ensure not only fast delivery of services, but also optimal performance of both service and network resources."

Simon Crosby, co-founder, chairman and chief technology office, calls the software "a deep resource topology aware and demand aware platform." By this he means that the software tracks the performance of a network—both as a whole and at each element—so that when it needs to allocate resources for a new customer, the software is aware of which parts of the network are under utilized, and which parts have no spare capacity.

Zen-like deployment
The deployment of a new service begins at the top level, which is pure theory. IgnitionControl allows ISPs to create service templates that can be presented to customers to help customers define their needs. Templates are exposed to customers through a secure Web-based portal and policy-based access ensures that different customers can have access to different levels of services (i.e., Gold, Silver, Bronze).

Once a template is completed, the software translates the data into a Service Level Specification (SLS). The SLS defines what services will be delivered, like bandwidth, but not how it will be done. The SLS does not define the technology that will be used to deliver the service.

The SLS consists of open APIs in formats including XML, LDAP, and CORBA. These APIs are received by IgnitionControl's Service Architect module, which translates the Service Level Specification into a Network Level Specification (NLS). During this process, IgnitionControl takes into account the needs of specific network elements by adjusting commands to fit the needs of the element according to its manufacturer.

Aggregate synergy
CPLANE relies on partners to accomplish two different tasks during the deployment process. Some partners have specific technologies that are incorporated into CPLANE's IgnitionControl software. Other partners are vendors that help CPLANE develop software agents compatible with vendors' equipment and software.

Technology partners include:

• Aprisma provides its SPECTRUM suite of applications. SPECTRUM Application Manager monitors resources, handles error messages, and manages performance metrics for a variety of applications, including Oracle, Microsoft SQL database, Apache, and Microsoft Exchange servers. SPECTRUM Service Provider solutions identifies network faults and monitors network performance and availability. SPECTRUM Security Manager provides a view of security devices, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, syslogs, and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). In short, SPECTRUM helps IgnitionControl deal with errors and network problems, and handle security.
• RiverSoft Technologies Ltd. has developed Network Management Operating System (NMOS), which can automatically discover the configuration and connectivity of a network and continually monitor it for change. NMOS is incorporated into Ignite TLS, Ignite VPN, and Ignite IP-Bandwidth, and IgnitionControl uses RiverSoft's OpenRiver, a fault detection application, which reports sources of network problems.
• XACCT Technologies' Network-to-Business (N2B) platform enables IgnitionControl to send usage-based billing events to leading IP billing applications—allowing service providers to bill end users for the services they actually use—and to optimize the provisioning of bandwidth based on the actual network characteristics, as indicated by the N2B platform. In short, N2B can prove that a service was delivered.

Additional software and equipment vendors CPLANE works with to ensure compatibility include Cisco, Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, Oracle, Portal Software, Riverstone Networks, and Sun Microsystems.

"You could argue that businesses like ours are based on our partnerships," says Crosby. "We want to work with all the best-of-breed companies and learn how each element works. Support of vendors is driven by our customers' requirements. It takes two to six weeks for us to build in support for a new network element, and we can help customers add elements that we do not support ourselves."

Crosby notes that Riverstone Networks is relatively small, but that CPLANE supports Riverstone equipment because many of his customers use it. He also notes that "most carriers today support Sun Solaris in their Network Operations Centers (NOCs)." He added that integration with billing systems can be quite complex if the client has a highly customized billing solution.

Ignition in action

The end result is that a variety of services can be delivered in seconds through a Web interface.

"Depending on network topology," says Crosby, "a service could require touching only one device." He says that most services affect fewer than ten network elements. As long as there's excess bandwidth in the core, most of the tweaking occurs at the access point. For example, a service requiring MPLS across the core might affect only a Riverstone access device and a Juniper device in the MPLS core. And adding bandwidth might affect only a single access device.

The company completed $25 million in third round venture capital financing in January of this year, and also received an investment from Sun Microsystems in May.

Pricing and availability
The base price of IgnitionControl is $1 million, with additional fees on a per-network-element basis. There are further additional charges for Ignite TLS, Ignite VPN, and Ignite IP-Bandwidth. The company also charges an annual maintenance fee, and small installation and training fees.

The products are available now. The solution is currently in customer trials, and the first customer announcement is expected later this year.

—End