C1-DCL-N93-K9 | Cisco One DCNM For LAN Advanced Edition - Nexus 9300 Switches

Overview

Information About Cisco DCNM Software Licenses

Cisco Data Center Network Manager is Cisco's Domain manager for NX-OS capable platforms that helps troubleshoot paths, manage network resources and simplify provisioning of NX-OS based features across multiple SAN and LAN protocols. Cisco DCNM is enterprise level tool that is deployed at some of the Cisco's largest accounts around the globe monitoring and configuring mission critical data centers that include financial institutions, cloud service providers, governments and some of the top Fortune 500 companies.

The license costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager are determined by the switch platform type and by the number of units within each platform. The advanced feature licenses are available for the following switch platforms: Cisco Nexus 7000, Nexus 5000, Nexus 3000, MDS 9100, MDS 9200, and MDS 9500 Series switches. Each platform has an individual price that is based on whether it is a LAN versus SAN switch and modular versus a fixed chassis. The advanced features for Cisco Nexus 1000V and Cisco Nexus 4000 Series switches are part of the image at no cost. In addition, Cisco DCNM has a many features that are enabled for free as part of the image. These features that are free are referred to as essential features. The features are split between SAN and LAN platforms (hardware support and Cisco NX-OS features) and application-specific features such as VMware path analytics [vCenter integration], performance trending, event forwarding, and so on. For the list of licenses,Cisco DCNM Server-Based Licenses.

owever, the biggest value of Cisco DCNM is its license structure. If you have purchased the Cisco DCNM advanced feature license for any Cisco Nexus or MDS switches, that license stays valid for the lifetime of the platform at Cisco. For example, if you replace an older switch with a new generation switch of the same platform (that is, MDS 9506 with MDS 9513) the license can be reassigned. Cisco DCNM advanced licenses are also available as part of Cisco Nexus 7000 and Nexus 5000 software promotional bundles.

Cisco DCNM also supports older Fabric Manager (FM) licenses (SAN only) that have been installed on the switch. These licenses provide high availability (HA) with up to ten management servers that manage a single fabric in parallel. However, Fabric Manager licenses are only valid for the lifetime of the switch inside the data center and expire when the switch is decommissioned from the data center. You can still order FM licenses as spares if you prefer the HA capability.

Services contract SKUs (CON-SAU) are required for Cisco TAC support for upgrades from one version of Cisco DCNM to another. The upgrade path also includes the Fabric Manager to DCNM upgrade (from FMS 5.0 to DCNM 5.2).

If you would like to evaluate Cisco DCNM in your own environment, Cisco makes the advanced licenses available for 60 days which can be extended by another 60 days if required (EVAL/DEMO site). This demo license is limited to 20 units per platform. To see how Cisco DCNM can enable network and storage teams to use the essential and advanced features, see this video at https://www.cisco.com/go/dcnm.