Is CiscoWorks an overkill for 25 devices ?

mcroft · ‎05-14-2009

Hi,

I have a small network of around 25 cisco devices. (L2/3 switches, routers, firewalls)

I am looking at a monitoring solution like CiscoWorks or HP-NNM.

But I have a very tight budget and am not sure if CiscoWorks LMS is a complete over kill here. (seeing as the cheapest license model is for 100 device support)

Would I be better to go with a OpenSource solution ?

Any Help appreciated.

thanks for reading

Matt

Collin Clark · ‎05-14-2009

Depending on your requirements Open Source might be a good option. Solarwinds makes a good product too (www.solarwinds.com).

Hope that helps.

yjdabear · ‎05-14-2009

It depends first and foremost on what kind of "monitoring" you're looking for. Both LMS and NNM only fill some of the FCAPS areas. Besides LMS, some would say CSM is the more appropriate Cisco "solution" geared toward PIX/ASA "monitoring"/management.

Secondly, it depends what specific models make up those 25 devices. As far as LMS is concerned, the lower end devices need not apply (CE500 for example).

As far as the decision of going for OSS or not, it's my impression that it's often mostly dependent on how much management is concerned about obtaining[commercial] "supportability".

Lastly, the 100-device lic is for Windows only, so if your organization's chosen or preferred platform is Solaris, you'd have to go up to the 300-device lic.

Marvin Rhoads · ‎05-14-2009

I'd concur with Colin Clark's post above.

As for open source solutions, take a look at Spiceworks. Solarwinds' Orion NPM is a good commercial product.

I'd add that OpenView NNM is even more overkill (and less functional for a homogeneous Cisco shop) than LMS.

Martin Ermel · ‎05-15-2009

There is also a free tool from Cisco available which is called Cisco Network Assistant. It has support for up to 40 devices, but not for every device type (no Cat6500 etc.) You can find details here:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps5931/index.html