Cisco Validated Design (CVD) Guides are comprehensive, design and implementation guides. The validated systems and solutions have undergone thorough architectural design development and lab testing, and provide guidance for the introduction of new technologies, emerging architectures, or the enhancement of the customer's network.

To qualify as a Cisco Validated Design Guide, the design must meet the following criteria:

• Products that are incorporated in the design are generally available.
• Deployment, operation, and management of components within the system are repeatable processes.
  • Validates a specific design or architectural practice on a limited scale and duration
  • Is generally focused on key technology or products integrated as a system
  • Ensures the viability of theoretical designs or concepts
• Detailed system design and implementation guidance are available to provide:
  • Customer with examples that define the problems solved by the design
  • A list of products that were validated as part of the design testing
  • List of software that was used for each component of the design
  • Configurations used to support the design tests
  • Design limitations that were discovered during the testing

Where the customer network requirements extend beyond the scope of a Cisco Validated Design, Cisco Advanced Services can provide additional services in support of your specific requirements. Refer to Cisco Lifecycle Services

System Assurance Guides deliver the results and findings of intensive, ongoing system assurance test programs targeted at major network architectures or technologies.

System Assurance Guides provide:

• Assurance baselines* that are generally aimed at a particular network architecture or technology
• Recommendations that have been reviewed and updated for general deployment
• Evidence that solution requirements have been successfully tested in a scaled customer representative environment
• Proof that there are no observable defects within the scope of the recommendations
• Software release recommendations, and associated platform and network roles
• Key configuration guidance and examples

* A baseline defines key functional and architectural aspects of a design that have been thoroughly tested end-to-end or within a given product family. The baseline includes common customer design and configuration examples and should serve as a foundational starting point for new deployments or technological upgrades.

Where the customer network requirements extend beyond the scope of a Cisco Validated Design, Cisco Advanced Services can provide additional services in support of your specific requirements. Refer to Cisco Lifecycle Services

Application deployment guides detail how specific third-party applications interoperate within a Cisco network environment. Featured applications have undergone interoperability testing with the existing recommendations of Cisco Validated Design Guides.

To qualify as an Application Deployment Guide, the design must meet the following criteria:

• Products that are incorporated in the design and are generally available
• Provide guidance for the deployment, operation, and management of components within the system
• The Application Deployment Guide has been validated through system-level testing. This level of testing:
  • Validates the interoperability of the application within a specific Cisco network deployment scenario
  • Is generally focused on key technology or products integrated as a system
  • Ensures the viability of theoretical designs or concepts
• A detailed application deployment guide is available that provides:
  • Customer with examples that define the problems solved by the design
  • A list of products that were validated as part of the application design testing
  • A list of software features that was used for each component of the design
  • Configurations used to support the design tests
  • Design limitations that were uncovered during the testing

Where the customer network requirements extend beyond the scope of a Cisco Validated Design, Cisco Advanced Services can provide additional services in support of your specific requirements. Refer to Cisco Lifecycle Services