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Cisco UCS Manager vs Nagios XI comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco UCS Manager
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
24th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nagios XI
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (13th), Server Monitoring (8th), Cloud Monitoring Software (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS Manager is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios XI is 4.0%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Joshua Kurian - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 8, 2024
Used to manage servers, monitor or manage firmware upgrades, and push policies
The solution's SDK and API can be integrated with ServiceNow for ticketing for any purpose. The solution's unified management interface is a central point of management that allows us to manage switches, blades, and storage connectors. One person is enough to maintain the solution. The speed of the network interface has been 100 G since day one. The network is scalable, and GPU nodes can be added seamlessly. Cisco is claiming to support water cooling in the near future. The solution can be easily integrated with other tools and platforms. Compared to Dell, Cisco UCS Manager provides straightforward configuration, reusable policies, and flexibility. Dell lacks a proper GUI for configuring everything. Cisco has only one GUI, which allows us to configure everything, including the network server and server profile. Before releasing each model, Cisco should conduct proper testing or engineering validation to ensure that the customer doesn't face any issues initially. Overall, I rate Cisco UCS Manager a nine out of ten.
FakhruddinLokhandwala - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 17, 2022
A simple monitoring tool that is scalable and stable
Nagios XI doesn't provide scripting. For example, if we have built up multiple IPX tunnels from a base location to a data center location and want to monitor or trigger an alert if the tunnel goes down, Nagios XI does not automatically send alerts notifying us that the tunnel is down. This is a feature we want, and in the past, Nagios completed scripting for us, but it didn't work out well. In addition, Nagios XI doesn't have a feature where we can push the configuration from the server to all our devices. For example, if there are 500 devices in our network and we need to write down a simple command like a show clock or want to write the configuration, we cannot execute this command on all of our devices. We have already raised this issue with Nagios, and they told us they would speak with the BU team to see if this can be applied in the next release. If they do, it will come with an additional license. Another feature we want is the IP SLA Tracking in Cisco. For example, if our ISP connection is traversing through an L2 point, which is a layer two point, we don't have IP-to-IP communication to track those interfaces. So if we need to implement something end-to-end and the interface goes down, we should get alerts for that. And if the interface goes down, there should be specific behaviour so that our traffic can switch over from the LAN or the WAN. That is not in the current Nagios deployment, but they have advised they are working on it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When one server fails, we can attach the service profile to a new server, which saves a lot of time."
"I can deploy something in my 50-odd servers all in one go, in parallel, whereas if I was to do that individually, it could be a nightmare."
"I can quickly manage the provisioned servers."
"The flexibility and the ease in which the features can be expanded are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"From a usability and functionality perspective, Cisco UCS Manager is very good."
"The interface is ergonomic and native. We can use UCS Manager to do all the configurations for the servers, including storage, networking, and all the other components we need inside the fabric. It's simple and flexible."
"The hardware is very powerful and it is a stable solution."
"What I like most about Cisco UCS Manager is the ease of administration. It also allows the central management of maintenance, installation, and configuration activities."
"The solution has a lot of plugins and scripts integrated with it."
"The dashboard allows you to see what's going on in the overall system."
"It's a monitoring agent. It's designed to do one thing. Its most valuable feature is its monitoring."
"It's great for monitoring IT services infrastructure."
"Nagios XI is stable."
"An excellent solution that is easy and intuitive to implement."
"Though I downplayed the administrative NCC GUI, this is by far the strongest aspect of the Nagios XI product."
"This is a very good solution and it is simple to use, for any company."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the software part of Cisco UCS Manager. It should be more user-friendly, especially when creating policies."
"I would like to see Cisco UCS optionally work as a hyper-converged system because right now, it only operates as a converged system."
"Its user interface can be improved. It can be more user-friendly."
"The interface and the way it is constructed is very complex. They should work to simplify it. It's quite difficult for somebody who doesn't know the product very well. Users should be able to get proficient with it faster. There's definitely room for improvement there."
"I found it a bit of a challenge to get training on UCSM. I've been trying to get that for some time now. I feel like I have to figure it out a lot of things myself. For years I've to log calls with support whenever I've got challenges that I cannot resolve. If I had some training or more manuals, I'd be better able to handle more things on my own."
"The automation within the solution needs to be simplified."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements made to their security."
"Upgrading the firmware is a difficult procedure."
"It is really difficult to integrate Nagios XI with another system to generate logs and alert our management of failures in security infrastructure."
"The pricing has recently risen. I know they've changed what is covered under the license, however, it doesn't change the way we use it and adds nothing to our experience, and yet we now have to pay more."
"They need more documentation for the plugins."
"The installation and monitoring need improvement."
"The reporting structure could be more streamlined."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"The technical support is variable - sometimes I get answers, but most of my tickets go unanswered."
"The product uses the backend as Perl and could be modified to a more lightweight solution like what's being offered by other vendors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With product discounts which can be negotiated, the product is a great value."
"Cisco UCS Manager’s annual licensing fee is expensive."
"You buy the hardware and then you get Cisco UCS Manager for free."
"Cisco UCS is more expensive than Dell and HP, but it is more reliable. I see less issues and it's quite stable."
"We need to take a license for each port, which amounts to a big sum."
"The pricing for Cisco UCS Manager is okay for its market, so it's a four out of five for me."
"Nagios Core does not have any payment, but Nagios XI requires payment for the license."
"This solution is very expensive, at approximately $5,000 USD when I purchased it, which is why I haven't upgraded my version in several years."
"We are using the free version of this solution."
"The pricing is high with separate licensing for the product and support."
"Nagios XI is an expensive solution."
"For the cost of the commercial product and support, and taking into account the open source characteristics of it, I believe it is difficult to a better value."
"The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $3,000 USD per year."
"You can grow into the higher-priced scale as they learn how to utilize the features for Nagios XI."
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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
32%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
58%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS Manager?
When one server fails, we can attach the service profile to a new server, which saves a lot of time.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS Manager?
Cisco is the most expensive compared to other vendors like Dell and HP when it comes to data center solutions.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS Manager?
There are options that could make configuration and administration easier. Improving functionalities similar to InterSite within UCS Manager would be beneficial.
What do you like most about Nagios XI?
It is an open-source platform with valuable features for performance and stability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios XI?
Nagios XI is an expensive solution. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with Nagios XI?
From an alerting point of view, some graphics and metrics don't work properly with Nagios XI as they do with Checkmk. The solution's scalability, pricing, stability, and support could be improved. ...
 

Comparisons

 

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Sample Customers

Management Science Associates, Peak 10, Virtual Consulting Professionals
Nagios has over one million users globally, including AOL, DHL, McAfee, MCI, MTV, Yahoo!, Universal, Toshiba, Sony, Siemens, and JPMorgan Chase.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS Manager vs. Nagios XI and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.