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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Juniper Mist Premium Analytics
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (58th)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (22nd)
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Network Monitoring Software
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)
 

Featured Reviews

ALEXANDRE VIANNA - PeerSpot reviewer
May 3, 2024
Has a single dashboard, but is expensive
We use this solution to manage our mission environment The single dashboard is a valuable feature.  The technical support needs improvement. The initial setup is straightforward. The solution is expensive. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten.  Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of…
Upul Abhayasena - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 20, 2024
Robust management tool with an easy setup and room for more features
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…
Diego Del Pozo Saiz - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 25, 2022
Easy to deploy and well-integrated; has useful default graphs and responsive technical support
What needs improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is performance because sometimes, my team struggles too much for the solution to perform correctly for a specific deployment in my organization. Having a more detailed view in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is another area for improvement, but that's more part of the protocol than the actual solution. I'd like to see better performance in the next release of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. I'd like it to be faster to drill down and move into different views. My organization typically works with the interface view. It would be good for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer to have additional widgets that would allow you to drill up or down from the widget.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Data Center Network Manager are consistency and the core server. The teams have had a good experience."
"The product has excellent stability."
"You can integrate all the networks into the software."
"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."
"I like running the scripts. With the help of a Python script, we deployed within the configuration and built up the code."
"It has a very nice dashboard so you can see what's currently happening in the network and the performance of the back story."
"Fabric suite automation is a great feature."
"Data Center Network Manager is absolutely stable."
"The bandwidth monitoring functionality is one of the most important features for our customers. When the customer notices that their bandwidth usage is too high for some reason, they will use the traffic analysis within SolarWinds NTA to identify which protocols (e.g. HTTPS) or applications are using up the bandwidth."
"NTA's most valuable feature is traffic analysis and visibility."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to look for any increases in bandwidth over time so that we can plan before it becomes critical."
"The monitoring is perfect, showing you the details for the utilization of resources and network bandwidth."
"The dashboard alerts me when a critical device goes off the network."
"The integration with other SolarWinds products is good."
"It helps us know when a branch is down because it has a graphic presentation of all the locations a node represents."
"The most valuable features are the bandwidth analyzer, the monitoring, the network analyzer, it has overall good performance, and an easy deployment."
 

Cons

"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"One of the biggest challenges is that we aren't always able to push the configuration onto the target device. Whenever this happens, we have to do a factory reset, put on the script, and then reconfigure it again. In the next release, I would like to have a troubleshooting feature."
"The automation feature could be improved."
"The tool's pricing strategy could be improved to compete more effectively in the market, especially against competitors like Huawei, Aruba, and Juniper."
"The solution needs to improve reports."
"The visibility of applications is not great."
"It is not very easy to monitor or to browse."
"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."
"The delivery Cisco Data Center Network Manager could improve if it was easier. Additionally, some feature improvement is needed."
"The licensing should be more realistic so that we can adjust the number of nodes according to my needs, rather than in fixed increments."
"I'm expecting to see a little bit more artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. They need a bit more sophistication in that."
"This solution does not do a very good job when I am trying to look deeper into my internal network, in particular with respect to individual ports."
"One area that we struggle with is the price. Because the price of this solution is so high, we are largely unable to introduce it into the local market, and only the banking sector has the means to afford it."
"The analysis can utilize algorithms like K-means clustering or associative neural networks for predictions rather than relying on generative AI, which is more suited for text."
"The solution should improve its automation feature. It's quite limited compared to other products."
"SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could improve its flexibility and integration with AI to provide analytics beyond just showing up/down statuses and traffic volumes."
"It does not flow. It cannot do our metric performance monitoring. So it is very limited. They can do it but in a very limited fashion. It is only good for SNMP-based alerts."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."
"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."
"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."
"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."
"The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."
"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
"The solution is very expensive."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"We pay yearly, and we are happy with its price."
"The pricing is really good."
"I don't have information on the licensing cost for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because it's bundled with another SolarWinds solution. My organization has seven different models and pays for the license yearly. My organization also had to deploy additional pollers, but the cost wasn't very expensive, though I can't give the exact numbers."
"Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is very high. I have a customer that needs the solution but doesn't have the budget for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because the problem is that you can't use the solution only. You have to buy requirements such as the SolarWinds NPM first, and some companies don't have the budget for all the required components and modules. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can cost up to $10,000, and some customers don't have that budget. Another product has all the modules that SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer has, with a very low price, that can be a replacement, which is ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. PRTG is another solution that can replace SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer."
"Licensing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is paid yearly, and there are no additional costs that you need to pay apart from the standard licensing fees because you don't need to purchase another solution to make SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer work. Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is more expensive than other solutions."
"SolarWinds' pricing structure is the primary reason why some customers opt for another solution such as ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. In NTA, you are charged per port, meaning that if you have a 24-port switch you will be charged for 24 individual nodes. ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer, on the other hand, charges per switch, such that if you add a switch, the entire switch will count as one single node."
"The price of this solution is exceptional."
"The pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
25%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
Educational Organization
70%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Government
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Juniper Mist Premium Analytics?
We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points.
What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's...
What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
In a mixed architecture where Nexus switches are used as border devices and are connected to a Palo Alto firewall (e....
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
The product is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing as one out of ten, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer could improve its flexibility and integration with AI to provide analytics beyond...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Data Center Network Manager
Netflow Traffic Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: September 2020.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.