Recommendation on platforms to run CiscoWorks

[ahajivandi]

Dear all,

We are in process of implementing CW LMS 3.x in our NMS environment with approx. 5000 devices. We would like to know which platform (OS) is the best for using CiscoWorks, based on;

- Scalability

- Availability

- Reliability

Above all performance;

Regards,

-Aryan

[Joe Clarke]

The politically correct answer is that both Windows and Solaris (given equivalent hardware) will perform equally as well. In my opinion as a TAC engineer, I prefer Solaris. I find it's much more compartmentalized, and easier to troubleshoot. Solaris server also don't require anti-virus software which generally means there is more memory and RAM available for LMS.

All that said, you need to pick a server platform that meets your company's needs and expertise. Don't go with Solaris if no one in your organization can manage it, optimize it, and keep it patched and secure. If your admins know Windows, and can effectively optimize, patch, and troubleshoot it, then you should go with Windows.

[ahajivandi]

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your answer.

I also have seen only Solaris machines at Enterprise sites. My idea based on CiscoWorks development, is that Solaris can perform better at the enterprise sites.

Thanks & Regards,

-Aryan

[akemp]

From my experience using Ciscoworks since the bad old days of Ciscoworks Blue if your planned implimentation exceeds 300 devices Solaris is preferable. If you inventory exceeds 3,000 devices you really need to deploy it as a SSO clustered application (a varible mix but if you have more devices with lots of interfaces such as 6509's I would decrease the threshold number). The amount of information and the frequency of it being retrieved will also decrease the threshold moving to a clustered solution.

[flopez]

This information is priceless! Thanks guys.

[ahajivandi]

To make the list more complete: CiscoWorks functions use, among other things;

- Syslog services

- Telnet / SSH

- FTP / TFTP

- SNMP ..

- ,which are Unix native (embeded) services/protocols. Solaris 10.x offers more.

Regards,

-Aryan