CBD Lite Overview

This chapter contains the following sections:

About Cisco Business Dashboard Lite

Cisco Business Dashboard Lite provides tools that help you monitor and manage the devices in your Cisco Business network. It automatically discovers your network and allows you to configure and monitor all supported devices such as switches and wireless access points. It also notifies you about the availability of firmware updates, and about any devices that are no longer under warranty or covered by a support contract.

Cisco Business Dashboard Lite is a simplified version of Cisco Business Dashboard. It retains the core features of the original product while reducing complexity and resource usage. This makes it suitable for users who need basic functionality without the additional overhead of the full product.

Feature Comparison Table

Feature

Cisco Business Dashboard Lite

Cisco Business Dashboard

Deployment options

Native Microsoft Windows installation

Virtualized environments (e.g., VMWare, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, AWS, Microsoft Azure) or to be installed directly on Ubuntu Linux.

Deployment location requirements

Same network as managed devices

Any convenient location, even when it’s hosted in the cloud and the managed devices are behind Network Address Translation (NAT)

Device onboarding requirements

No configuration changes necessary for management

Requires changes to device configurations, enabling the Cisco Business Dashboard (CBD) agent, and establishing an active connection to CBD for management.

OS requirements

Microsoft Windows

Ubuntu Linux

Minimum system requirements

Any CPU/RAM specifications required by Windows, 3 GB Disk

2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 60 GB Disk

Supported devices

Refer to the Cisco Business Dashboard Lite – Device Support List for details

Refer to the Cisco Business Dashboard – Device Support List for details.

Maximum supported devices

25

15,000

Network discovery and inventory report

Yes

Yes

Device configuration and operation

Yes

Yes

Customizable monitoring dashboard

Yes

Yes

Device lifecycle report

Yes

Yes

Automatic firmware update notifications & One-click apply

Yes

Yes

Be alerted automatically to important events such as network devices going offline

Popup

Popup, email, open helpdesk ticket, send to collaboration space

Manage networks across multiple sites

No

Yes

Remote access to sites and devices without VPNs

No

Yes

Cisco Network Plug and Play (PnP)

No

Yes

Role based access

Yes

Yes

Muti-tenant support/organizations

No

Yes

Device groups

No

Yes

API support for third-party integration

No

Yes

Integrates with popular Professional Service Automation (PSA) tools

No

Yes

New Release Information and Updates

This section provides information on key new features and changes in Cisco Business Dashboard Lite.

Table 1. New Features and Changed Behavior in Cisco Business Dashboard Lite, Release 2.10.1

Feature

Description
Localization Enhancements

Previously untranslated pages have been corrected.
Network Configuration Reapplication

A device-level reapplication feature has also been introduced to reapply selected network configuration profiles to individual devices.

Table 2. New Features and Changed Behavior in Cisco Business Dashboard Lite, Release 2.10.0

Feature

Description
Switch Power Savings Widget

A new widget "Switch Power Savings" has been added to the dashboard, providing detailed power saving statistics for Green Ethernet and PoE. This update also includes a revised layout for the dashboard page.

Wireless Client Report

The dashboard now includes a Wireless Client Report, which provides detailed information about the wireless clients on the network.

Schedule Profile

A Schedule Profile allows users to define and manage jobs that are scheduled to occur at a future date. This feature supports both one-time tasks and recurring tasks, providing flexibility in scheduling operations.

Table 3. New Features and Changed Behavior in Cisco Business Dashboard Lite, Release 2.9.1

Feature

Description
Localization

The web user interface now supports the following languages:

  • English

  • Simplified Chinese

  • French

  • German

  • Japanese

  • Spanish

  • Portuguese

Automatic Launch

Added an option to automatically launch CBD Lite upon Windows login.
Table 4. New Features and Changed Behavior in Cisco Business Dashboard Lite , Release 2.9.0

Feature

Description
Topology Map

Network topology now can be discovered and visually displayed.
Network Actions

Network actions allow you to perform tasks on all supported devices within the network. For example, you can back up all network device configurations with a single click.

Support for Cisco Business Access Points

Fully support has been added for the Cisco Business Access Points.

Historical View of Device CPU Usage

A new widget displaying historic device CPU usage data has been added in the detailed device information panel within the Dashboard tab.

UX/UI Improvement

Device icons across the platform have been refreshed for a more modern look. The Inventory view has been improved to include a download icon next to the device firmware version number, indicating when a new firmware update is available.

Add Time Window to Monitoring Profile

Applies exclusively to CPU usage monitoring. Alerts or warnings will be generated only if CPU usage data consistently exceeds the threshold within a specified time window.

Product Improvement

A new feature allows Cisco Business Dashboard to send information about hardware and software usage in the network in further developing the Cisco product portfolio. The "Product Improvement" option in privacy settings can be used to turn this feature on or off.

Audience

This guide is primarily intended for network administrators who are responsible for Cisco Business Dashboard Lite software installation and management.