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Cisco Data Center Network Manager VS Zabbix

Compare Cisco Data Center Network Manager VS Zabbix and see what are their differences

Cisco Data Center Network Manager logo Cisco Data Center Network Manager

Cisco Data Center Network Manager offers network management system (NMS) support for traditional or multiple-tenant LAN and SAN fabrics.

Zabbix logo Zabbix

Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources
  • Cisco Data Center Network Manager Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Zabbix Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-02

Cisco Data Center Network Manager features and specs

  • Comprehensive Management
    Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) provides a single-pane-of-glass for managing, monitoring, and troubleshooting a diverse range of data center infrastructure components, simplifying the management process.
  • Scalability
    DCNM is designed to scale with large enterprises, providing management capabilities for extensive networks with thousands of devices.
  • Automation Capabilities
    Includes extensive automation features, such as automated provisioning, configuration compliance, and policy enforcement, which reduce manual effort and the potential for human error.
  • Security Management
    Offers robust security features including role-based access control, detailed audit logs, and compliance monitoring to help ensure the network infrastructure meets organizational security standards.
  • Integration With Cisco Ecosystem
    Seamlessly integrates with other Cisco solutions, providing a cohesive and unified approach to data center network management.
  • Support for multiple environments
    Supports traditional, virtualized, and cloud environments, offering flexibility to manage a variety of data center setups.

Possible disadvantages of Cisco Data Center Network Manager

  • Complexity
    The extensive feature set and comprehensive capabilities make DCNM complex to deploy and manage, requiring substantial expertise and potentially extensive training.
  • Cost
    Cisco solutions are generally priced at a premium, and DCNM is no exception. The cost may be prohibitive for small to medium-sized organizations.
  • Resource Intensive
    The platform can be resource-intensive, requiring robust hardware and infrastructure to run effectively, which can add to the overall cost.
  • Support Overhead
    Managing Cisco DCNM can require dedicated support personnel who are highly skilled, thus increasing the overhead in terms of operational support and maintenance.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Organizations using Cisco DCNM may find themselves locked into Cisco's ecosystem, making it more challenging and costly to integrate with third-party solutions or switch vendors.
  • Learning Curve
    The complexity and breadth of features mean there is a steep learning curve, which can slow down the adoption and efficient use of the platform.

Zabbix features and specs

  • Open-source
    Zabbix is free and open-source, allowing for extensive customization and modification to meet specific needs without licensing costs.
  • Scalability
    Zabbix can handle a large number of devices and data points, making it suitable for both small businesses and large enterprises.
  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    Zabbix offers a wide range of monitoring capabilities including servers, networks, cloud services, and applications.
  • Alerting and Notification
    It provides robust alerting mechanisms, allowing notifications via email, SMS, and other methods.
  • Flexible Configuration
    The system allows for detailed and flexible configuration, accommodating various specific monitoring requirements.
  • Extensive API
    Zabbix comes with a comprehensive API that allows for integration with third-party tools and custom automation scripts.
  • Strong Community Support
    As an open-source project, Zabbix has a strong community that can provide support and share best practices.

Possible disadvantages of Zabbix

  • Complex Setup and Configuration
    Initial setup and configuration can be complicated and time-consuming, often requiring a steep learning curve.
  • Resource Intensive
    Zabbix can be resource-intensive, particularly on the database side, which might require substantial hardware resources for large deployments.
  • User Interface
    The user interface is considered less modern and user-friendly compared to some commercial alternatives.
  • Documentation
    While comprehensive, the documentation can sometimes be difficult to navigate for new users.
  • Maintenance Effort
    Ongoing maintenance, such as updates and troubleshooting, can be labor-intensive.
  • Dependency on MySQL
    The heavy reliance on MySQL databases can be a disadvantage for users preferring other database technologies.
  • Initial Costs for Large Scale Deployments
    Although the software is free, the costs associated with setting up and maintaining the necessary infrastructure and hardware can be significant, especially for larger deployments.

Analysis of Zabbix

Overall verdict

  • Zabbix is generally considered a good choice for organizations looking for a comprehensive and scalable monitoring solution. Its open-source nature means it doesn’t involve direct licensing costs, though it may require investment in resources to set up and maintain.

Why this product is good

  • Zabbix is known for being a robust open-source monitoring solution that provides extensive features for monitoring networks, servers, applications, and cloud resources. It offers real-time monitoring, alerting, reporting, and visualization functionalities. The flexibility to configure custom metrics and alerts makes it suitable for diverse monitoring scenarios. Additionally, Zabbix's capability to integrate with other IT systems and support for a wide range of devices adds to its appeal.

Recommended for

    Zabbix is recommended for IT departments in medium to large enterprises that need detailed infrastructure monitoring and have the technical expertise to customize and maintain the system. It's also suitable for environments where open-source tools are preferred and where extensive customization of monitoring configurations is necessary.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager videos

Cisco Data Center Network Manager Overview

Zabbix videos

An overview of Zabbix 4.0 and how we are using it.

More videos:

  • Review - Zabbix Monitoring Solution - Overview
  • Review - ZABBIX Network Discovery For Dynamic Deployments

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cisco Data Center Network Manager and Zabbix)
Monitoring Tools
9 9%
91% 91
Log Management
10 10%
90% 90
DCIM Software
100 100%
0% 0
Performance Monitoring
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Cisco Data Center Network Manager and Zabbix

Cisco Data Center Network Manager Reviews

We have no reviews of Cisco Data Center Network Manager yet.
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Zabbix Reviews

  1. Stan
    · Founder at SaaSHub ·
    Indispensable

    Zabbix has been part of my toolbox for quite some time. I can easily say it's an indispensable tool for me now.

    Managing a dozen servers without Zabbix would be unimaginable. I'm monitoring all of this: CPU, Memory, Hard-drives, website response times, downtime. The UI might be a bit "old school", but everything works flawlessly.

    With regards to hard-drive monitoring, I love the machine learning option that allows you to "predict" the number of days before running out of space. That's quite helpful, as I've got some of my servers down due to running out of space multiple times in the past (before I was using Zabbix).

    👍 Pros:    Open-source|It can monitor everything
    👎 Cons:    The ui is a bit unintuitive in some cases

Self Hosting Like Its 2025
If you’re looking for straightforward monitoring and the thought of setting up a full Zabbix or Grafana stack seems daunting, this software is a real lifesaver. With just one deployment, you can monitor your services and receive notifications through a wide variety of channels including…
Source: kiranet.org
11 Best Nagios Alternatives (Free & Open Source) in 2024
Unlimited scaling: Zabbix is a flexible software that lets you monitor anything you want. It is highly scalable as it helps you manage both multi-tenant enterprise environments and your home.
Source: www.guru99.com
The Best Nagios Alternatives for Server, Application and Network Monitoring
Zabbix is a very strong competitor to Nagios and its development is very encouraging. Zabbix is completely free to use, which makes it a competitor to Nagios Core. Zabbix beats Nagios in the free monitoring market because it has a good frontend, which Nagios Core lacks and it also provides NetFlow monitoring, which isn’t present in Nagios Core – that is a separate paid...
The 10 Best Nagios Alternatives in 2024 (Paid and Open-source)
Zabbix, a widely adopted open-source monitoring tool, offers a range of practical features. It allows you to monitor various aspects of your system, including transactions, application performance, and real browser monitoring. With ready-to-use templates for different servers and operating systems, Zabbix simplifies the monitoring process.
Source: betterstack.com
Top 11 Grafana Alternatives & Competitors [2024]
Zabbix offers a unified view of the entire IT infrastructure through its user-friendly web-based interface. It delivers potent visualization capabilities through customizable dashboards, complemented by robust alerting mechanisms and comprehensive support for alert escalations.
Source: signoz.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Zabbix seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Cisco Data Center Network Manager yet. Tracking of Cisco Data Center Network Manager recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Zabbix mentions (5)

  • Learning Resources
    Official Zabbix trainings, documentation on zabbix.com ? Source: over 2 years ago
  • zabbix installation
    Hallo, do you know a howto to install zabbix on an ubuntu 20.04 ? I tried the manuals from zabbix.com for MySQL Apache but it didn't work. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How I am getting experience as a linux admistrator (Follow Up)
    He suggested that I indeed should set up a home-lab. To be specific he said that I should create a minimal install of Centos 8 and install zabbix server on it (https://zabbix.com) and monitor a whole bunch of other VMs, services and stuff.. He said that I should set up a variety of VMs and also maybe host a website on one of them. And then if I was able to do that, I could help to share a load of zabbix related... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Ubuntu Impish 21.10 / Zabbix 6.0 LTS
    This is a fresh 21.10 install, using the install repo as detailed on the zabbix.com download page. Source: over 3 years ago
  • One dev conference speaker's family member died, need your help to fill the speaking slot on Nov 27/28
    Well, if you can't find anyone, I am more than happy to fill the slot with something regarding Zabbix - just let me know ;). Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cisco Data Center Network Manager and Zabbix, you can also consider the following products

Cisco ACI - Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) simplifies, optimizes, and accelerates the application deployment lifecycle in next-generation data centers and clouds.

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

ManageEngine OpManager - Monitors routers, switches, firewalls, load-balancers, wireless LAN controllers, servers, VMs, printers, storage devices, and everything that has an IP and is connected to the network.

Dynatrace - Cloud-based quality testing, performance monitoring and analytics for mobile apps and websites. Get started with Keynote today!

Device42 - Automatically maintain an up-to-date inventory of your physical, virtual, and cloud servers and containers, network components, software/services/applications, and their inter-relationships and inter-dependencies.

Nagios - Complete monitoring and alerting for servers, switches, applications, and services