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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Juniper Mist Premium Analytics
Sponsored
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
59th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Juniper Mist Premium Analytics is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 5.6%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Shiva_Prasad - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 25, 2024
A cloud solution for warehousing with a troubleshooting feature
The initial setup is straightforward. It's based on user requirements. We also conduct heat mapping using a couple of tools. The only requirement is to understand the technical or configuration aspects from the user's end and then configure it. Mist takes no more than 15 to 20 minutes for a particular deployment. You need to understand the end user's environment and have a concrete plan on whether it's a greenfield installation or an existing one, considering the density and height. Based on that, we need to develop a passive heat map. Then, you need to discuss with the user to understand exactly what needs to be configured and what they require in their environment. Based on that, you can proceed with the installation. Additionally, you can perform post-installation heat mapping to ensure it matches the earlier heat map. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
AG
Jun 14, 2024
Helps improve my workflow by organizing and managing information efficiently
I use Cisco Data Center Network Manager to store information for different clients or customers in the data center It helps improve my workflow by organizing and managing this information efficiently. The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me…
it_user227532 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 18, 2017
We can see what is consuming bandwidth and relate it back to a specific user or device.
* How easy it is to get good metrics out of it. * How extensible it is. * There are many different ways to customize it to fit your environment. Compared to many products, SolarWinds is very simple to use. When you add a node in NPM, it is easy to get it to start monitoring everything it supports and you very quickly see the results of this in the graphs and such. When you want to get some special things out of a box, let's say the number of connections on a ASA firewall, you can very easily add a UnDP, add it as a graph to your screen, and see the results right away. This is a real-world example, because the company I worked with was having Internet problems with our main firewalls due to maxing out the number of connections going through the box. Having it graphically presented makes it easy, though. That was one way of customizing it, via UnDPs. Another, that I did a bunch of at my previous job, and ended up making generic versions of and posting on THWACK, is the ability to add new resources. Any given page within NPM can be customized by clicking "Customize" and you can add quite a few prepackaged resources to a page or change their order around to better fit you. You might even want to delete some. But, if you get to be a SW geek like myself, you start realizing that SW doesn't always display every bit of info that it has by browsing through the SQL tables and seeing what’s there. Nowadays, you can do this either directly with SQL, or via SWQL, which is a bastardized SQL that has pre-built relationships between the tables set up in a way that is very easy to leverage without complex joins and such in SQL. From that, you can do some very simple to very complex things. An example of a simple thing I did, was I built a "CDP Neighbor" resource, which, if you click on the Node Details page, it tells you what devices are directly connected to it via the CDP protocol. Plus, SolarWinds made it simple for me to link to those nodes and you can basically traverse from node to node within SolarWinds looking at stuff.

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."
"It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly."
"I like that is easy to work on and straightforward."
"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."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Data Center Network Manager are consistency and the core server. The teams have had a good experience."
"Automation of the ILS."
"The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."
"We use the product to manage access points."
"The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me improve network management tasks and optimize processes."
"Monitoring capabilities are at a high level and it is easy to see utilization, access ports, and CPU memory in real time or through a lens for long-term visualization."
"There are a lot of options for customization of the dashboard, alerts, and reports."
"SolarWinds NPM provides an overview of network monitoring, extending its capabilities to cover other aspects, such as virtual machines and servers. The platform has features like NetPath, which is particularly beneficial for end-users, offering insights into issues like latency, packet loss, and connectivity problems with routers, switches, or servers."
"The SolarWinds NPM framework, upon which most of their flagship products are built, empowers a wide variety of admins and users to quickly find value in their installed products."
"This solution offers a very good view of our network and allows us to effectively monitor performance."
"It is scalable."
"I like the tracking feature to track devices and see where they are connected. This is very practical."
"SolarWinds' network and server application monitoring features are strong."
 

Cons

"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"It is not very easy to monitor or to browse."
"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."
"The visibility of applications is not great."
"It's very costly."
"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."
"It would be nice to have the ability to more easily collect information from other software when doing some types of analysis."
"The reporting is not very intuitive and has room for improvement."
"Data Center Network Manager is a little complex because it includes a lot of hardware to be installed."
"The dashboard of the solution is an area with certain shortcomings that need improvement."
"We'd like to see a bit more automation in the future."
"If they’re going for a “cover everything” approach, then they need to do so and enable a bit more of the "cover everything approach" within every one of the tools."
"There needs to be more integration of widgets, especially for reporting purposes."
"It would be nice to have a test to check if you can access a particular device via API without installing it and waiting for a poll cycle. You should have the capacity to initiate a test to see if it was reachable and get the results almost immediately."
"It would be nice if SolarWinds added some technical protocols like Modbus. The market needs a simple solution for monitoring a technical device."
"This solution would benefit from expanding on the capabilities within the API."
"The product is scalable, but at a cost. Extra modules have to be purchased for each extra server. The initial set up isn't complex, but will require someone who is experienced with the network monitoring system"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."
"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"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."
"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."
"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."
"The solution is very expensive."
"The pricing needs to be improved. It is too high. One full engine costs around $10 000, which is why we don't have high availability right now."
"The standard licensing fees are what we're paying. It's about $20,000 a year for all our licensing."
"The cost of the personal perpetual license for SolarWinds NPM is approximately $2,000."
"It is too expensive."
"I’d suggest that people be aware that licensing has tiers."
"It is expensive."
"The pricing is very expensive for SolarWinds. That's a huge disadvantage for it."
"I find that the pricing is acceptable."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
54%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Government
4%
 

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?
We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the fe...
What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
It's very costly. Most of our customers are actually looking for other cost-effective solutions. Even if it has very ...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools ar...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalabil...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Data Center Network Manager
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: September 2024.
802,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.