How to Buy: Cisco Nexus Dashboard and Cisco Cloud Network Day-2 Operations Solutions Suite Ordering Guide

The Cisco Nexus^® Dashboard is a single console for full-lifecycle hybrid-cloud network automation and operations where the applications Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights, Cisco Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator (ND Orchestrator), and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Data Broker will operate. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) runs as a service on the Cisco Nexus Dashboard. Third-party ecosystem applications can also run on the Cisco Nexus Dashboard.

This document covers the ordering of Cisco^® Cloud Network and day-2 operations (Day2Ops) solutions. Components include:

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform (previously known as Cisco Applications Services Engine): Physical compute, Virtual Nexus Dashboard, Cloud Nexus Dashboard.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights: automates troubleshooting, monitoring, auditing, planning, and more, resulting in rapid troubleshooting, proactive detection of anomalies, and early remediation. It is hosted on the Cisco Nexus Dashboard where Cisco ACI^® and NDFC (formerly DCNM) sites are onboarded. Data from these sites is ingested and correlated by Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights.

Ordering is made easy through two simple steps

Step 1: Choose either a Cisco DCN Premier license or a Cisco DCN Day 2 Operations license.

Cisco DCN Premier license (for greenfield): provides Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights (formerly Network Insights Resources, Network Insights Advisor, and Cisco Network Assurance Engine). Customers with an existing Cisco DCN Essentials or Advantage subscription can transition to Premier and receive the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights capabilities.

Cisco DCN Day-2 Operations or D2Ops solution suite (for brownfield): This is recommended for customers who already have a Cisco DCN Advantage or Essentials license. The add-on license provides Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights. Day-2 operations can be used across Cisco Nexus 9000, Cisco Nexus 3000, and Cisco Nexus 7000 platforms.

Step 2: Choose Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform: physical, virtual, or cloud.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform (previously known as the Cisco Application Services Engine): The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform (ND-CLUSTER-L4) is a purpose-built appliance that is designed to run Cisco applications seamlessly. The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform offers high availability, lifecycle management, and network automation for the applications running on it. It is a cluster of three nodes and provides the necessary hardware performance and scale for applications. More information on Cisco Nexus Dashboard.

Virtual Nexus Dashboard: Cisco Nexus Dashboard is available as a virtual appliance (ND-VIRTUAL=.)

Cloud Nexus Dashboard: available through AWS Marketplace and Microsoft Azure Marketplace. Please note that Cloud Nexus Dashboard is currently compatible with Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator. Nexus Dashboard Insights is currently not supported.

Cisco Cloud Network licensing. Please note which applications and services are included with each tier or as add-ons.

Figure 1.

Cisco Cloud Network licensing. Please note which applications and services are included with each tier or as add-ons.

Step 1: License per device

Option 1: Cisco DCN Premier license

Cisco DCN Premier license is available under “Subscription Licenses” when you order a Cisco Nexus 9000 switch.

Cisco DCN Premier subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms as part of ordering hardware

Figure 2.

Cisco DCN Premier subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms as part of ordering hardware

Cisco DCN Premier license is also available without hardware under C1-N9K-ADD-T top level PID.

Related image, diagram or screenshot

Figure 3.

Cisco DCN Premier subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms ordered a-la-carte

Option 2: Cisco day-2 operations add-on license

The day-2 operations subscription is available under the C1-N9K-ADD-T top-level PID. Please use D2OPS-FXD- for fixed switches and D2OPS-MOD- for modular switches.

Day-2 operations subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms ordered a-la-carte

Figure 4.

Day-2 operations subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms ordered a-la-carte

Step 2: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform

Option 1: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform (ND-CLUSTER-L4) physical compute

Previously known as Cisco Application Services Engine, the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform is a purpose-built physical appliance that comes with three compute nodes and is designed to run Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights seamlessly. Both Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights and Cisco Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator will be preinstalled on the physical Nexus Dashboard before shipment. As customers’ needs increase, they have the flexibility to add additional nodes using ND-NODE-L4=. Please check the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights scale information to determine the nodes required.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform

Figure 5.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform

Option 2: Cisco Virtual Nexus Dashboard (ND-VIRTUAL=)

Cisco Nexus Dashboard is available as a virtual appliance (ND-VIRTUAL=). This PID provides the entire cluster; there is no need to purchase multiple licenses for a single cluster. Reference the release notes for scale information.

Virtual Nexus Dashboard