Cisco Data Center Networking (DCN) Licensing Ordering Guide
Available Languages
Bias-Free Language
The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
How to order Cisco Nexus Dashboard
Cisco Nexus® Dashboard is a single console for full-lifecycle data center network automation, operations, and analytics across LAN, SAN, IP Fabric for Media (IPFM), Data Broker and AI/ML fabrics.
This document covers the ordering of Cisco Nexus Dashboard appliances and related licensing.
Components include:
● Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform: Physical compute, virtual Nexus Dashboard, and public cloud-hosted Nexus Dashboard. Nexus Dashboard platform does not require licensing, instead the usage of Nexus Dashboard features is entitled through the licensing assigned to onboarded switches.
Ordering is made easy through two simple steps
Step 1: Choose the appropriate switch license. For the full breakdown of what features are included in each tier, please reference the Cisco DCN Software Subscriptions page.
Option 1: Cisco DCN Premier license
Option 2: Cisco DCN Advantage license
Option 3: Cisco DCN Essentials license
Step 2: Choose Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform: physical, virtual, or cloud.
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform: The Cisco Nexus Dashboard appliances (ND-NODE-L4, ND-NODEG5S and ND-NODEG5L) are purpose-built to provide a suite of services. The Cisco Nexus Dashboard solution offers high availability, lifecycle management, and network automation. Cisco Nexus Dashboard can be deployed as 1, 3 or 6 node clusters, with additional nodes to operate as standby appliances for higher resiliency and faster recovery. Larger clusters may be required to provide the necessary hardware performance and scale.
Virtual Nexus Dashboard: Cisco Nexus Dashboard is available as a v irtual appliance (ND-VIRTUAL=).
Nexus Dashboard hosted in public cloud: Available on AWS and Microsoft Azure platforms. Please refer to the Nexus Dashboard services and deployment guide for more information.
Option 1: Cisco DCN Premier license
Cisco DCN Premier license is available under "Subscription Licenses" when you order a Cisco N9000 switch.
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.
Cisco DCN Premier subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms ordered à la carte
Option 2: Cisco DCN Advantage license
A Cisco DCN Advantage license is available under "Subscription Licenses" when you order a Cisco N9000 Series Switch.
Cisco DCN Advantage subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms as part of ordering hardware
A Cisco DCN Advantage license is also available without hardware under a C1-N9K-ADD-T top-level PID.
Cisco DCN Advantage subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms ordered à la carte
Option 3: Cisco DCN Essentials license
A Cisco DCN Essentials license is available under "Subscription Licenses" when you order a Cisco N9000 Series Switch.
Cisco DCN Essentials subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms as part of ordering hardware
A Cisco DCN Essentials license is also available without hardware under a C1-N9K-ADD-T top-level PID.
Cisco DCN Essentials subscription license three-year, five-year, and seven-year terms ordered à la carte
Licensing tier: Which one is right for you?
Step 2: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform is a purpose-built physical appliance that is designed to run Cisco Nexus Dashboard. Cisco Nexus Dashboard will be preinstalled on the physical Nexus Dashboard before shipment. The latest 3rd generation physical appliances come in two form factors; G5S (small) and G5L (large) which have different scaling capacities. These appliances can be ordered as a cluster of three appliances, or individually. Please see the Nexus Dashboard Capacity Planning tool for scaling information
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform
Option 2: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Platform
(ND-CLUSTER-L4, ND-NODE-L4) physical compute.
The Cisco Nexus Dashboard platform is a purpose-built physical appliance that is designed to run Cisco Nexus Dashboard. Cisco Nexus Dashboard will be preinstalled on the physical Nexus Dashboard before shipment. These 2nd generation physical appliances can be ordered as a cluster of three appliances, or individually. Please see the Nexus Dashboard Capacity Planning tool for scaling information
Option 3: Cisco Virtual Nexus Dashboard (ND-VIRTUAL=)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard is available as a v irtual appliance (ND-VIRTUAL=). One PID is required per cluster regardless of the number of virtual nodes. Please see the Nexus Dashboard Capacity Planning tool for scaling information
A support contract specific to Virtual Nexus Dashboard is not required. It is covered by the switch support.
Virtual Nexus Dashboard
Option 4: Cisco Nexus Dashboard hosted on public cloud
(ND-CLOUD-AWS=, ND-CLOUD-AZURE=)
Please note that Cisco Nexus Dashboard hosted in the cloud is designed to be used with Nexus Dashboard capabilities but will have some scale limitations and connectivity requirements. Please check out the latest Nexus Dashboard deployment guides for more information.
Licenses can be purchased through Cisco Commerce and applied in AWS and Microsoft Azure.
Cloud Nexus Dashboard
Features included in the Cisco Nexus Dashboard licensing tiers
● Cisco DCN software subscriptions.
● Cisco NX-OS licensing options guide.
● Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) ordering guide.
● Cisco Nexus Dashboard capacity planning and sizing calculator.
● Cisco Enterprise Agreement (EA) 3.0 networking guide.