Release Notes for Cisco Service Control Application Suite for Broadband (SCA BB) 2.5.10 March 15, 2006 Release Notes for Cisco Service Control Application Suite for Broadband (SCA BB) 2.5.10 Supports: SCA BB 2.5.10, SCA BB 2.5.9, SCA BB 2.5.8, SCA BB 2.5.7, SCA BB 2.5.6, SCA BB 2.5.5, SCA BB 2.5.2, SCA BB 2.5.1, SCA BB 2.5 OL-7082-08 These release notes for the Cisco SCA BB describe the enhancements provided in Cisco Release 2.5.10. These release notes are updated as needed.
Contents INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................... 4 RELEASE 2.5.10 ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 FUNCTIONAL ENHANCEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 4 Protocol Support .
Introduction Resolved Caveats.............................................................................................................................................. 28 Compatibility Information ................................................................................................................................ 29 Capacity Information .......................................................................................................................................
Introduction Cisco is proud to release version 2.5.10 of its Service Control Application for Broadband (SCA BB). Release 2.5.10 of SCA BB is a point release of SCA BB 2.5. It includes functional enhancements, as well as solutions for various caveats that were identified as part of Cisco’s on-going internal testing and during our interaction with our customers.
Release 2.5.10 Note When upgrading old PQB files, new protocols are not assigned to any service. Signature-based protocols that are not assigned to a service are classified as generic TCP. To fix this, manually assign the new protocols to a service using the SCA BB Console. This release also includes updates for the following protocols: • BitTorrent–New signatures • Skype–New signatures • Winny–Improved signature intended to resolve a few false-detection cases.
Compatibility Information SCA BB 2.5.10 should be used with the following components: • SCOS 2.5.10 • SCMS-SM 2.5.5, 2.5.6, 2.5.7, 2.5.8 • SCMS-CM 2.5.5, 2.5.8 Capacity Information SCA BB 2.5.10 supports the following flow and subscriber capacity numbers for the two main capacity options. Table 2 Flow and Subscriber Capacity in SCA BB 2.5.10 Device (Capacity Option) Number of Subscribers Number of Flows 80,000 1.7M [850K bi-directional] 2,000 2M [1M bi-directional] 40,000 1.
Release 2.5.9 Release 2.5.9 This section provides information on maintenance release 2.5.9, including compatibility information, capacity information, resolved issues and new features and protocols. Functional Enhancements Protocol Support The following table describes the new protocols that were added in 2.5.9. Note that some of these protocols are also available in the latest 2.5.8 protocol pack. Note Table 3 New Protocols in SCA BB 2.5.
RDR Field Type Description SERVER_PORT UINT16 A universal field; see the Cisco SCA-BB Reference Guide CLIENT_IP UINT32 A universal field; see the Cisco SCA-BB Reference Guide CLIENT_PORT UINT16 A universal field; see the Cisco SCA-BB Reference Guide INITIATING_SIDE UINT8 A universal field; see the Cisco SCA-BB Reference Guide REPORT_TIME UINT32 Ending Timestamp (GMT time) of the transaction reported in this RDR.
Release 2.5.9 Resolved Caveats The following caveats are resolved in this release: GC Convergence on Time Frame changes • Cisco Number CSCsb28481 In previous releases, when different global BW limitations were defined for the same service on different time frames, the convergence of the Global Controller to the new global BW limit when time-frames changed was slow, and usually started with a BW spike. This problem was evident in Global BW per Service reports.
The “BW (%)" cell of the Global Controller Settings Window displays four different BW limits, one for each time frame, as illustrated in the following figure. Once the service configuration is applied to the SCE platform, time-based GC values are always updated to hold the values according to the current time frame.
Release 2.5.9 Inaccuracy in Reports That Include Total Number of Subscribers • Cisco Number CSCsc87746 Demographic reports on different services showed different numbers of total active subscribers at the same time. Specifically, reports on services with low activity also showed an incorrectly low number of active subscribers. This issue is fixed in this release.
Capacity Information SCA BB 2.5.9 supports the following flow and subscriber capacity numbers, for the two main capacity options. Table 5 Flow and Subscriber Capacity in SCA BB 2.5.9 Device (Capacity Option) Number of Subscribers Number of Flows 80,000 1.7M [850K bi-directional] 2,000 2M [1M bi-directional] 40,000 1.
Release 2.5.8 Table 6 New Protocols in SCA BB 2.5.8 Protocol Name Protocol ID BaiBao 43 PPLive 44 Yahoo Messenger VoIP 45 Mobile MMS 46 DNS 47 UC 48 PPStream 49 Thunder 50 Poco 51 QQ 52 SSDP 53 NTP 54 Description Changes to the Default Service Configuration BaiBao is a P2P protocol. Assigned to the default P2P service PPLive is protocol for free online TV Assigned to the default P2P service Yahoo Messenger VoIP is a flavor of SIP, similar to Vonage.
Note When upgrading old PQB files, new signature-based protocols are not assigned to any service. Signature-based protocols that are not assigned to a service are classified as generic TCP. To fix this, manually assign these protocols to a service. Resolved Caveats The following caveats are resolved in this release: Voice Report Inconsistency • Cisco Number CSCsb67206 Previously, for the VoIP service, the number of calls reported was too high for the reported bandwidth.
Release 2.5.8 Quota Reset When Subscriber Becomes Introduced (Pull Mode) • Cisco Number CSCsb78012 When a subscriber was introduced after being managed as anonymous by the application, his quota was reset. This has two undesirable results under the above circumstances: • An externally provisioned subscriber would loose all his quota immediately after login • Any subscriber would lose his state as preserved in the SM This issue is resolved in 2.5.8.
Protocol Fixes This release includes enhanced signatures for the following protocols: • Skype • Morpheus (Neonet) • BitTorrent over UDP • MGCP • Share over UDP • SIP In addition, the following classification issues have been resolved • DHCP misclassified as Manolito.
Release 2.5.8 Compatibility Information SCA BB 2.5.8 should be used with the following components: • SCOS 2.5.8 • SCMS-SM 2.5.5, 2.5.6, 2.5.7, 2.5.8 • SCMS-CM 2.5.5, 2.5.8 Upgrade Note When upgrading from 2.5.7 with the latest protocol pack to 2.5.8, the following should be noted: • When using 2.5.8 to open a PQB file that was created with the latest 2.5.7 protocol pack, some protocol IDs are changed automatically.
Device (Capacity Option) SCE1000_2U (SubscriberLessSCE1000_2U) Number of Subscribers Number of Flows 1,000 2M [1M bi-directional] 40,000 700K [350K bi-directional] 1,000 1M [500K bi-directional] SCE1000_1.5U (EngageDefaultSCE1000) DEFAULT SCE1000_1.5U (SubscriberLessSCE1000) New Functionality in Release 2.5.7 This section provides information on maintenance release 2.5.7, including compatibility information, capacity information, resolved issues and new features and protocols.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.7 Protocol Support DINGOTEL A new protocol, whose protocol ID is 42. In the default service configuration, DingoTel protocol is assigned to a new DingoTel service under the VoIP service. BITTORRENT Added detection of Azureus BitTorrent client in the BitTorrent signature. SHARE Improved signature for the Share P2P protocol is available in the latest signature-update for Asia-Pacific region (susap.dss).
#>interface LineCard 0 (config) #>tunable PL_SKYPE_USE_BEHAVIORAL_DB value FALSE (config if) #>tunable PL_SKYPE_USE_BEHAVIORAL_DB value FALSE (config if) #>tunable PL_SKYPE_USE_BEHAVIORAL_DB value FALSE (config if) #>exit (config) #>exit #>copy running-config-application startup-config-application Preventing Loss of RDRs on the Collection Manager – Recommended Configuration Change To prevent loss of RDRs, make the following configuration changes on the CM: Step 1. Edit the file ~pcube/pump/config/pump.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.7 SCMS-CM 2.5.5 Capacity Information SCA BB 2.5.7 supports the following flow and subscriber capacity numbers, for the two main capacity options. Table 8 Flow and Subscriber Capacity in SCA BB 2.5.7 Device (Capacity Option) Number of Subscribers Number of Flows 80,000 1.7M [850K bi-directional] 2,000 2M [1M bi-directional] 40,000 1.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.6 This section provides information on maintenance release 2.5.6, including compatibility information, capacity information, resolved issues and new features and protocols. New Features New Protocols and Applications NEW BITTORRENT CLIENT: EXEEM The BitTorrent protocol signature was enhanced to detect the Exeem P2P client. Exeem traffic is now classified as BitTorrent and is mapped to the appropriate service.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.6 Compatibility Information SCA BB 2.5.6 should be used with the following components: • SCOS 2.5.6 (previously P-Cube SEos) • SCMS-SM 2.5.2, 2.5.5, 2.5.6 (previously P-Cube smartSUB Manager) • SCMS-CM 2.5.5 (previously P-Cube Data Collector). Capacity Information SCA BB 2.5.6 supports the following flow and subscriber capacity numbers, for the two main capacity options. Table 9 Flow and Subscriber Capacity in SCA BB 2.5.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.5 This section provides information on maintenance release 2.5.5, including compatibility information, capacity information, resolved issues and new features and protocols. New Features and Protocols Reporting Enhancements Release 2.5.5 introduces several enhancements in the area of analysis and reporting.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.5 DEMOGRAPHIC REPORTS A new group of reports was added, to provide information on demographic data and service popularity. These reports include: Active Subscribers per Service, Service Popularity among Subscribers, Relative Consumption of Top Subscribers, and more. MALICIOUS TRAFFIC REPORTS A new group of reports was added, to provide information on malicious network traffic, such as Denial-of-Service attacks and Internet Worms distribution.
QoS Request/Delete RDRs for Real-time Signaling QoS Request/Delete RDRs are generated at the beginning/end of a flow, according to the flow's service and subscriber-package configuration. These RDRs are used to signal external systems of setup and teardown on service flows, to enable real-time actions across the network. These new RDRs are intended to be used by external frameworks (such as PCMM compliant systems) to allocate QoS for flows that are classified by the SCE.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.5 Capacity Information SCA BB 2.5.5 supports the following flow and subscriber capacity numbers, for the two main capacity options. Table 10 Flow and Subscriber Capacity in SCA BB 2.5.5 Device (Capacity Option) Number of Subscribers Number of Flows 80,000 1.7M [850K bi-directional] 2,000 2M [1M bi-directional] 40,000 1.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.2 This section provides information on maintenance release 2.5.2, including compatibility information, capacity information, resolved issues and new features and protocols. New Features and Protocols New P2P Protocol Support added for Ares/Warez P2P protocol. The signature for this protocol is available in this release as a signature update script, which needs to be loaded into the service configuration (PQB file).
New Functionality in Release 2.5.2 • [14071] While a service configuration is applied, system mode changes to “transparent” for a short period of time, causing a considerable amount of traffic not be reported in usage RDRs, and not be controlled by policy rules, during that period. • [13520] Unreasonable volume peaks in usage RDRs, causing incorrect bandwidth reports in the Reporter. Compatibility Information SCA BB 2.5.2 should be used with the following components: • SCOS 2.5.
New Functionality in Release 2.5.1 This section provides information on maintenance release 2.5.1, including compatibility information, capacity information, resolved issues and new features and protocols.
New Functionality in Release 2.5 Table 12 Flow and Subscriber Capacity in SCA BB 2.5.1 Device (Capacity Option) Number of Subscribers Number of Flows 80,000 1.
Important Note In October 2004, P-Cube Inc. was purchased by Cisco Systems. P-Cube’s products and technology are now part of Cisco’s wide range of products and solutions for broadband service providers, and will complement the existing Cisco products with Service Control technology, allowing operators to increase visibility and control over network traffic and broadband subscribers’ activity.
Open Caveats Skype Reporting Limitations • Cisco number: CSCsb05427, CSCsb05425, CSCsb05422 SKYPE CALL DURATION INACCURACIES Release 2.5.6 delivers a fix to the incorrect Skype duration reporting, which was introduced on the 2.5.5 release.
BW Reports May Contain Spikes after DoS Attacks • Cisco number: 10822 When the SCE detects a DoS attack, the bandwidth reports might show a “spike” in the Generic TCP traffic (that is, a significant increase in traffic) at the time when the attack subsided. Workaround: When reviewing the reports, be aware of this phenomenon.
Open Caveats Export/Import Packages to CSV Files Unavailable in SCA BB Console • Cisco Number: n/a The SCA BB Console no longer supports importing and exporting of packages to CSV files (Importing and exporting lists, protocols and services is still supported.). Due to the complex structure of SCA BB Packages in this release (Rule hierarchy, BW Controllers, Quota Buckets, etc.), a CSV table cannot be used.
Editing Service Transaction Mapping Can Clear List Selection • Cisco number: 10609 When editing a Service’s transaction mapping in the SCA BB Console, selecting a protocol clears the lists selection. The usual order of configuration is to select the protocol, then to select an initiating side and finally selecting lists. If the order is not followed and a protocol is selected after the lists, the lists are cleared.
Open Caveats API Issues Unneeded Connections Should Be Closed • Cisco number: 10580 When using the SCA BB API, it is important to properly close SCE connections that are no longer needed and minimize number of concurrently open connections. SCA BB API can be used to automate Service Configuration tasks, such as opening a connection to an SCE platform and applying a Service Configuration files.
DC/Reporter Does Not Enforce Maximum Number of Open Connections • Cisco number: 10791 The Reporter does not enforce the maximum number of active connections (that is, open report windows) the user can create. Therefore, on rare occasions, when opening many concurrent reports in the Reporter, if the number of possible connections is almost reached, if the DC DB adapter happens to be restarting at this time, it may get connection refusals from the DB because there are not enough available connections.
Open Caveats Reporter Tool Saved Report Templates May Be Unusable After Policy Change • Cisco number: 10735 Generating a report from a saved query after applying a new policy to the SCE with new services, could fail with a database error. Workaround: Modify the saved queries to ensure that the service names used are those currently available.
The Help Button in the "Reports Wizard" does not Function • Cisco number: 5282 The Report Creation Wizard contains a Help button. Pressing this button does not open a help window. Workaround: There are no known workarounds. The Find Function in the Reporter Table View is not Functional • Cisco number: 8111 The documented “Find” operation on a table view does not work. Workaround: There are no known workarounds.
Open Caveats Printing a Preview of a Table (not a Chart) Causes the Table to Disappear from the Report • Cisco number: 8106 Creating a preview of a table from a chosen report, and then minimizing the print preview, causes the table to disappear from the report window it was created in. Step 1. Maximize the Preview window or reactivate print preview. Step 2. Click the Close button. The preview window closes and the table reappears.
The Reporter Displays the Word "Engage" Occasionally in the SCE IP Line • Cisco number: 10137 In rare circumstances, when starting the Reporter, the SCE IP dialog box displays the word “Engage”. Workaround: Prior to login ensure that the SCE IP box contains an actual list of IP’s. Click the ‘…’ button to view the list..
Open Caveats Limitations on List Items and Protocol Ports in Service Configuration • Cisco Number: n/a The documentation does not accurately define the list items maximum size: Max number of list items: 10,000 items. Max number of protocol ports: 5000 ports. The system will display an error if the service configuration exceeds the limits. Incorrect Licensing Documentation • Cisco Number: n/a The SCA BB User Manual incorrectly documents a license for “capacity-control” and one for “tiered-control”.
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