Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA

Description

Product Overview

The Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA (Virtual Services Module – Centralized Control Application) is a sophisticated software-defined networking (SDN) controller designed for the OmniSwitch series, revolutionizing network management in enterprise environments. As a core component of Alcatel-Lucent’s Unified Network Fabric strategy, this virtualized module centralizes control plane functions across distributed switches, enabling granular policy enforcement and automation. The VSM-CCA abstracts hardware complexity through a unified API-driven architecture, allowing seamless orchestration of VLANs, QoS, security policies, and traffic engineering. Its role-based provisioning model significantly reduces operational overhead while ensuring compliance across large-scale Layer 2/Layer 3 infrastructures. Particularly valuable in multi-site deployments, the Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA delivers single-pane-of-glass visibility and dynamic resource optimization, translating to 40% faster service deployment cycles. By virtualizing network control, this platform future-proofs infrastructure investments while maintaining carrier-grade reliability expected from Alcatel-Lucent’s legacy.

Technical Specifications

Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA

Main Features and Advantages

Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA transforms legacy networks through three transformative capabilities: Centralized automation eliminates device-by-device configuration – policies deploy network-wide via intuitive templates, reducing provisioning errors by 90%. Its micro-segmentation architecture enables zero-trust security; application-specific tunnels isolate traffic without hardware reconfiguration, critical for PCI-DSS or HIPAA compliance.

The platform’s real-time analytics engine correlates telemetry from all managed switches, predicting congestion points and automatically re-routing traffic via programmable APIs. Unlike hardware controllers, the VSM-CCA scales elastically in virtual environments, supporting hybrid cloud deployments. Integration with OmniVista 2500 provides historical trend analysis while OpenFlow 1.3 support ensures multi-vendor compatibility.

Operational efficiency shines through automated firmware management: the VSM-CCA orchestrates hitless upgrades across entire switch stacks during maintenance windows. For financial institutions or healthcare campuses requiring deterministic performance, its QoS engine guarantees bandwidth allocation per application through dynamic policy push – a key differentiator in VoIP and video collaboration environments.

Application Field

The Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA excels in complex enterprise networks requiring unified control across distributed infrastructure. In campus environments spanning multiple buildings, it automates VLAN provisioning and enforces consistent access policies from core to edge switches, eliminating configuration drift. For healthcare systems, the VSM-CCA dynamically segments medical IoT devices from patient records networks while ensuring HIPAA-compliant auditing through centralized logs.

Manufacturing plants leverage its deterministic QoS to prioritize industrial control traffic, isolating robotic assembly lines from enterprise data flows. Educational institutions benefit from role-based automation: student/public networks auto-configure with bandwidth restrictions while research labs receive unrestricted low-latency paths. The VSM-CCA proves indispensable in retail chains for rapid PCI-DSS compliance – credit card traffic automatically encrypts across all locations via policy templates. Financial trading floors utilize its microsecond-level reconfiguration to optimize low-latency paths during market volatility.

Related Products

VSM-L: Local control module for standalone switch management, used when centralized control isn’t required

VSM-P: Policy Manager add-on for advanced application-aware routing

OmniSwitch 6900: Core switch series with native VSM-CCA integration

OmniVista 2500: Network Management System for holistic monitoring

OS6900-VM: Virtual switch instance managed by VSM-CCA

VSM-S: Security module for integrated threat response

OmniSwitch 6450: Cost-effective access layer switches managed by VSM-CCA

Installation and Maintenance

Pre-installation preparation: Validate hypervisor compatibility (ESXi 6.7+ or KVM) and resource allocation before deploying the VSM-CCA OVA template. Ensure all managed OmniSwitches run compatible firmware (OS-LS 8.6.R1 or later) and have IP reachability to controller VLAN. Backup existing switch configurations via OmniVista before onboarding.

Maintenance recommendations: Schedule clustered VSM-CCA updates during maintenance windows using integrated rollback protection. Monitor controller CPU/memory via SNMP traps; scale resources if utilization exceeds 70% sustained. Regularly audit policy consistency across device groups and synchronize configuration snapshots to external servers. Replace SSL certificates annually for security compliance.

Product Guarantee

Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) provides a comprehensive lifetime warranty for the VSM-CCA software platform, including major version updates and critical security patches for the licensed duration. Technical support covers 24/7 troubleshooting via Nokia’s global service centers with guaranteed 2-hour response for severity-1 cases. The company guarantees 99.999% controller availability in properly clustered configurations, backed by architecture validation services. License transfers are permitted during hardware refresh cycles, protecting customer investment in the Alcatel-Lucent VSM-CCA ecosystem.