Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) Reviews

I have used the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller in two different scenarios. The first scenario involved using it with a spine-leaf architecture, incorporating BGP and IS-IS for overlay routing. This setup allowed us to utilize various Layer 3 and 4 protocols to manage end-to-end connections.

In the second scenario, I used it in a data center with another Cisco Nexus device configured as a virtual chassis. This setup was not based on a spine-leaf architecture but a dual-core configuration.

The Nexus switches integrate with Cisco's SD-WAN solutions and can be interfaced with various automation tools. They support integration with programming languages like Python and configuration management tools like Ansible and Terraform, allowing for automation and streamlined management.

We use Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (formerly DCNM) to manage all the Nexus switches at the airport. We have around 40 of them. We use the solution to check the health and performances of the boxes, the environments (CPU/memory), the VPC and port channel links, the fabric module, power, the supervisor engine, line card modules, and the transceivers. It manages and monitors all the VDCs using SNMP and Syslog. Patch updates and upgrades of the NXOS are implemented using DCNM. We raise RMA directly from it anytime we have to replace a faulty module or switch. I think it is still the best data center management solution out there.

Easy patch updates and upgrades, data center live monitoring, log management, configuration management, raising TAC cases and many more are areas where DCNM has improved my company.

DCNM is used by one of the airline customers in Qatar to manage many data centers and rack switches running on normal Nexus or NX-OS mode. They required a controller platform to manage these Nexus switches, and thus, they utilized DCNM as a Fabric controller. Given that ACI deployment is very low and most setups are just using it in a management-only mode, the majority of the DCNM deployments are used as fabric controllers.

We recommended the Nexus dashboard not based on any particular feature but overall as a management tool. The Cisco sales team convinced the customer due to the number of data centers running in the customer environment and the customer's willingness to try the DCNM.

The daily use case involves implementing changes in policies and rules across switches using Cisco Data Center Network Manager. We need to ensure that when we change in one place, it updates all others simultaneously. This process uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.

There is an imbalance in the uplink and downlink ports of the product purchased earlier.

The tool's most valuable feature is the consolidated dashboard, providing insights into parameters and overall usage of network features. It allows us to easily summarize insights through the dashboards. The solution offers automation capabilities, particularly in the context of connecting LAN sites with websites.

The tool's pricing strategy could be improved to compete more effectively in the market, especially against competitors like Huawei, Aruba, and Juniper. 

The frequent changes in the product line and naming by the vendor create confusion for us and the customers. This can be challenging, especially when customers are accustomed to certain product names, and the changes can lead to confusion in understanding data sheets and configurations.

We use the tool for better performance in our data center network, including BPA, BPC, and cloud-centric networks. It's integrated with the ACI network, NSX network, content delivery network, and multi-cloud systems.

The security elements and integration with other products are better, so we're using this. I think the bandwidth throughput is smoother and better than other products.

The automation capability is more than enough. It depends on how we consider and integrate the automation engine. We need to ensure the automation engine and then how to perform it. It depends on the policy making, API integration, and other integrations.

We use it to simplify the maintenance of servers and the network infrastructure for data centers. This means a single pane of glass from where we can easily manage the data center. 

We can configure things, check the host setup, and apply this to the policies. In addition, we also upgraded the OS version to fulfill the compliance requirements. We can also manage the progress and develop updates or check the health status and upgrade of home-based solutions.

We now get more insight into the network's health data. This includes the compliance part and other points to a single pane from there. We can also upgrade and get the visibility for the running version. Without the compatibility of the infrastructure, we would not have been able to do this. It will manage what we don't see on the device and sync from a single cloud.

I don't have to rely on the on-site engineer who can do the configuration. I can have our team just plug the devices and perform remotely. I can also do the templates. 

We use the solution to manage switches.

The product makes the management of our environment simpler. It simplifies the management of our services that are deployed on the switches and routers. It is easy to manage.