

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller and PRTG Network Monitor compete in the network management category. PRTG Network Monitor seems to hold an advantage due to its ease of use and flexibility in deployment, as highlighted by user preferences.
Features: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller offers management of admin VDCs, providing graphical views of connectivity, and integration with programming languages for automation. PRTG Network Monitor excels with a user-friendly dashboard, comprehensive real-time monitoring, and a wide range of sensors and probes for detailed insights into network performance.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller could improve by simplifying configuration, enhancing integration with third-party tools, and offering more user-friendly interfaces. Cost has been noted as a drawback. PRTG Network Monitor could benefit from a more intuitive dashboard interface, better integration capabilities, and a simplified licensing model.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is typically deployed on-premises or in a private cloud and is recognized for robust technical support, although operational support requires improvement. PRTG Network Monitor allows flexible deployment across hybrid, on-premises, and cloud environments, featuring a straightforward setup but experiencing mixed technical support responsiveness.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller is considered high-end in terms of cost, but its advanced capabilities justify the investment for many users. PRTG Network Monitor is praised for cost-effectiveness, especially in smaller to mid-sized deployments, with straightforward licensing and a good return on investment. The pricing model, while scalable, may increase with feature expansion.
It provides accurate data for utilization, allowing us to monitor and optimize our investments in WAN connection capacity.
After introducing PRTG Network Monitor, we have saved time, and it's easy for everybody to monitor everything.
The implementation reduced our employee resources from 20-25 to 5-6 employees.
Cisco's support I would rate as a 10 compared to all other vendors.
They resolve our queries 24/7.
The setup process is well-documented, making it easy to deploy.
Tutorials are available so I can manage any issue with PRTG Network Monitor easily.
On a scale of one to ten, scalability is rated as 9.5.
PRTG Network Monitor has the ability to scale and add new devices.
You can install them in each network, even if they are not connected, and it works.
We haven't needed vendor support for the last three years, which demonstrates the product's stability.
PRTG Network Monitor is stable in my experience, and I have not encountered issues with crashes or downtime.
PRTG Network Monitor is very stable and requires low maintenance.
I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments.
The initial auto-discovery added too many unnecessary sensors, so auto-discovery should only take the necessary sensors into consideration.
They need to improve application performance monitoring, error tracing mechanisms, and log management.
PRTG Network Monitor should provide syslog monitoring since it is not available at this time.
The licensing part is a recurring license for every year, which is very affordable, making PRTG Network Monitor budget-friendly.
Pricing is by the number of devices, not by sensor.
The prices are very high for PRTG Network Monitor.
People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers.
PRTG Network Monitor already provided me with 100 free sensors, which is enough for my network monitoring.
PRTG Network Monitor has a good dashboard that shows each and every piece of information, so we can easily find out what is happening with the systems.
These reports help me in my day-to-day work, and I rely on them because they provide proof during escalation, with exact downtime logs and related information.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| PRTG Network Monitor | 3.3% |
| Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) | 0.7% |
| Other | 96.0% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 10 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 16 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 59 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 19 |
| Large Enterprise | 47 |
The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) offers a comprehensive solution for managing Cisco NX-OS switches in hybrid-cloud environments, providing automation, visibility, and consistent operations. Designed to simplify and enhance data center management, NDFC integrates with Cisco Nexus Dashboard to streamline network connectivity, reduce deployment times, and ensure seamless transitions with minimal disruptions. Its modular architecture, new user interface, and support for non-Nexus OS platforms make it a robust tool for LAN, SAN, and IP Fabric for Media management. Additionally, NDFC enhances fabric reliability, automates workflows, and supports cloud connectivity with AWS and Microsoft Azure, making it ideal for businesses adapting to increasingly complex digital environments.
PRTG Network Monitor runs on a Windows machine within your network, collecting various statistics from the machines, software, and devices which you designate. PRTG comes with an easy-to-use web interface with point-and-click configuration. You can easily share data from it with non-technical colleagues and customers, including via live graphs and custom reports. This will let you plan for network expansion, see what applications are using most of your connection, and make sure that no one is hogging the entire network just to torrent videos.
To monitor a large IT environment, it's important to be able to scale PRTG up. Paessler PRTG Enterprise Monitor includes all the proven capabilities of PRTG Network Monitor, which are enhanced by exclusive ITOps Board for a service-oriented, central overview of multiple PRTG servers.
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