Cisco® Branch Routers Series Network Analysis Module (NAM) is a powerful network-aware performance monitoring solution that delivers unparalleled insight into network traffic to help you ensure the consistent and efficient delivery of applications and services to your end users.
Product Overview
Cisco Branch Routers Series Network Analysis Module (Figure 1) is designed to give you more visibility into your branch than ever before. It shows you how the network is being used and how your users experience the services the network offers to help you improve the performance of your empowered branch. Because Cisco NAM provides visibility for comprehensive performance analysis and simplified troubleshooting, it is ideally suited for today's dynamic, evolving enterprises.
The innovative design of Cisco NAM combines a rich set of embedded data collection and analysis capabilities with a remotely accessible, web-based management console, all of which reside on a single network module that is installed into Cisco 3900 Series, Cisco 2900 Series, Cisco 2800 Series or Cisco
® 3800 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), or Cisco
® 3700 Series Multiservice Access Routers (MSRs). Cisco NAM includes a Traffic Analyzer GUI, which provides quick access to the configuration menus and presents easy-to-read performance reports on web, voice, and video traffic.
Figure 1. Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM, NME-NAM
Integrated WAN and LAN Monitoring in the Empowered Branch
Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM is deployed in the Cisco 2800, 2900, 3700, 3800 and 3900 Series Routers. It uses Cisco IOS
® Software features, such as Cisco NetFlow, from both local and remote routers and switches to provide insight into network traffic in the empowered branch. In addition, Cisco NAM can analyze traffic from LAN ports on the router or from a nearby switch to further extend network visibility. Figure 2 highlights the deployment of Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM and Cisco Catalyst
® 6500 Series NAM to improve network and application performance from the branch to the data center.
Figure 2. Deploying the Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM to Build Intelligence into Branch Office Networks
Key Applications
Monitoring WAN Usage at the Application Layer
One of the foundations of Cisco NAM is its ability to look inside the live packet to gather information on applications, hosts, and conversations. Application monitoring identifies every application that has consumed bandwidth, reports how much bandwidth has been consumed, and detects which hosts are using which applications. Host and conversation-pair monitoring provides bandwidth consumption per host and shows you which hosts are talking to each other along with the amount of traffic each host is generating. Monitoring application, hosts, and conversations can help you proactively spot bottlenecks before your network suffers blows to performance and availability. It can also help you improve WAN traffic performance, since these metrics reveal usage patterns for users as well as for router and switch, interface, server, and application resources.
Besides delivering a real-time snapshot of bandwidth usage and consumption, Cisco NAM also delivers a continuous historical view of how the bandwidth was used so you can quickly decide when and where to make changes in network resources. Data can also be collected over a select period of time and then analyzed after the event to discover when an anomaly has occurred so it can be quickly resolved (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Monitoring the Top Interfaces on the Router
Improving How Users Experience Application Performance
Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM provides essential information on application performance as experienced by the clients in branch offices. With Cisco NAM's new transaction-aware application response time feature, Cisco NAM can isolate application performance problems to the network, the application, or the server. Having these measurements that reflect the users' experience of network performance helps to quickly identify the source of performance degradation and resolve problems before users even notice.
Cisco NAM collects response-time statistics for TCP-based client/server requests to provide important latency data. This data can also be trended over time. Thus, changes in network and application usage can be correlated with fluctuations in response times to predict how changes in user populations or in WAN bandwidth management will affect application performance (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Application Response Time Monitoring
Identifying the Opportunity for WAN Optimization
Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is a powerful application acceleration and WAN optimization solution that facilitates branch office server consolidation, performance improvements for centralized applications and services, and LAN-like service levels for remote users by mitigating application and transport latency, improving throughput, and minimizing WAN bandwidth consumption for all TCP-based applications.
Cisco NAM provides visibility into WAN application traffic, detecting applications, the amount of bandwidth they consume, and the users that consume costly WAN resources. Complementing this capability is NAM's ability to track application response times to reveal how each application is performing and whether slow application response time is the cause of a performance problem. This information can help in identifying the opportunity for WAN optimization and the applications that can benefit the most. Application response time measurements can also be taken after optimizations are applied to compare actual application performance with the performance that was expected.
Simplifying Problem Detection and Resolution
Using Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM, thresholds and alarms can be set on various network parameters, such as increased utilization, severe application response delays, and voice quality degradation, and alerts can be generated on potential problems. When a potential problem is identified, the packet can be automatically captured and decoded to help resolve the problem before it affects users. Captures can be performed using a web browser from any desktop, and decodes can be viewed through the Traffic Analyzer GUI while the data is still being captured. Cisco NAM's capture and decode capability provides depth and insight into data analysis using trigger-based captures, filters, decodes, and a capture analysis toolset to quickly pinpoint and resolve problem areas (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Capturing and Decoding Packets with Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM
Analyzing Voice, Video, and Quality of Service
Cisco NAM can analyze how users experience voice and video services. It can monitor voice traffic flows in near real time to collect critical performance information, including call setup details and voice quality metrics, and can generate alerts when voice quality degrades. It can also monitor video packet quality to help assure a high rate of packet delivery so users get the quality they expect and demand.
Cisco NAM supports both the planning and management of quality of service (QoS) deployments for voice and other critical IP-based services. It supports the Differentiated Services Monitoring (DSMON) MIB, which monitors traffic by differentiated services code point (DSCP) allocations defined by QoS policies. Using Cisco NAM's DiffServ monitoring capabilities, applications, hosts, and conversations participating in each grouping of DiffServ classes can be identified. This information can be used to validate and tune planning assumptions and QoS allocations. It can also be used to detect incorrectly marked or unauthorized traffic (Figure 6).
Figure 6. QoS Monitoring Using DSMON
Putting It All Together: Performance Assurance Enterprisewide
Data from Cisco Branch Routers Series NAMs and from Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series NAMs deployed across the network can be collected by the Linux-based Cisco Performance Visibility Manager (PVM) software application to provide performance assurance enterprisewide. Cisco PVM collects data from Cisco NAMs to provide an intuitive and integrated end-to-end view of network traffic, protocol types, and application and host bandwidth usage. It provides a centralized view of application performance, correlates application response times, localizes the cause of application performance problems, and accounts for the impact of other traffic on application performance (Figure 7). Both Cisco NAM and Cisco PVM are core components of the Cisco Network and Application Performance Analysis (NAPA) solution, a comprehensive set of tools and services designed to optimize performance and streamline troubleshooting of your applications and network.
Figure 7. Using Cisco PVM to View Application Response Time Data Collected from Cisco NAMs
Business Benefits
Many users don't think twice about how they get their data, whether it is text, voice, or video-so long as they can get it and get it quickly. However, networks that offer limited or no visibility into network and application usage and the user's experience of the network can lead to downtime and loss of access to important data, making users painfully aware that their data depends on a network. And every problem, no matter how small, will now be blamed on the network, amplifying the need for performance monitoring.
With Cisco NAM, your key to decision making is the visibility within the network. A well-planned and executed performance monitoring strategy using Cisco NAMs provides users with consistent and secure network services, increasing productivity. The analytics that Cisco NAM provides can also be used to improve return on network investment and quantify change-leading to an overall increase in network reliability, security, and effectiveness, as well as cost savings.
Supported Router Platforms
The Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM, models NME-NAM-80S and NME-NAM-120S, can be deployed in any network module slot in the Cisco router platforms indicated in Table 1. An NM Adapter Card is required to successfully integrate the NME-NAM into supported ISR G2 platforms. The NME-NAM supports the router platforms with NAM software version 3.6.1b or later. Only one Cisco NAM can be installed in each Cisco branch router.
Table 1. NME-NAM Supported Router Platforms
Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM Software License Options
Cisco NAM offers two license options for monitoring voice traffic. One license allows the monitoring of 50 voice (RTP) streams; the other, the monitoring of 100 voice streams. Both license options are supported on Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM, NME-NAM-120S.
Product Specifications
Table 2 provides the specifications for Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM, NME-NAM-120S.
Table 2. Product Specifications
Ordering Information
Customers can order the spare NME-NAM-120S= and the new voice licenses today. The system NME-NAM-120S will be orderable starting on November 10, 2008. To place an order, visit the
Cisco Ordering Homepage. Table 3 provides ordering information for Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM.
Table 3. Ordering Information for Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM
Service and Support
Cisco offers a range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative services programs are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco Services help to protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare the network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco Services, see
Cisco Technical Support Services. Service and support for Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM is covered under the service contract for the router platform.
For More Information
For more information about Cisco Branch Router Series NAM, visit
http://www.cisco.com/go/nam or contact either your local account representative or the Cisco NAM product marketing group at
nam-info@cisco.com.