Multi-vendor network configuration management tool

Modern IT enterprises use network devices from various hardware vendors for different purposes. This makes the monitoring the network quite complex and also complicates configuration management process. Due to this, network administrators often find themselves tangled between a number of devices that respond to different commands. This leads to a lot of confusion in monitoring and managing these network devices. The network administrators end up spending a lot of time in managing device configurations which affects productivity on a large scale. This is why an integrated multi-vendor network configuration management solution is crucial to simplify network device management. Network Configuration Manager is one such solution which acts as a centralized platform to manage network devices from diverse vendors.

Multi-vendor network device support

Network Configuration Manager provides an out-of-the-box solution for complete configuration management for most of the major hardware vendors such as Cisco, HP, Nortel, Force10, D-Link, Juniper, NetScreen, NETGEAR, Dell, 3Com, Fortinet, Etc. However, Network Configuration Manager also provides customizable device templates which allows businesses to manage network devices from any vendor. These device templates carry the corresponding configuration commands for each vendor, eliminating the need for an administrator to remember those commands individually. By default, Network Configuration Manager supports 245 built-in device templates for over 4000 device models.

Now, let us see some of the major vendors supported by Network configuration manager:

Major vendors supported by multi-vendor network configuration manager:

• Cisco: Network Configuration Manager helps administrators to take total control of the entire life cycle of Cisco devices like Cisco routers, switches etc. Network Configuration Manager provides 28 default device templates specifically for Cisco devices which consists of all the corresponding commands.
• Juniper: Network Configuration Manager provides 9 device templates specifically for Juniper devices like controllers, routers etc. Device templates can also be added newly based on the functional requirements.
• HP: HP is another major vendor supported by Network Configuration Manager. It majorly manages different types of HP switches like access point switches, series switches etc. Network Configuration manager provides 6 default device templates specifically for HP to carry out functions like configuration backup, change detection, configuration management, etc.

Thus, configurations of devices such as switches, routers, firewalls and others from the above vendors could be retrieved from the devices, viewed, edited and uploaded to the device from a single, central web GUI.

Key features of Network Configuration Manager deployed to manage Multi-vendor devices:

• Automated backup operations: Network Configuration Manager (NCM) provides a simple and an affordable solution to have the updated configuration files for all types of vendors.
• Change Management: Network Configuration tool tracks changes in real-time and provides a complete history of all the changes carried out in the network devices. One can also view comparisons between different configurations using diff-view.
• Automated Configlets: Network Configuration Manager saves administrators from doing repetitive manual configuration changes. This is done by executing Configlets or command scripts which allows users to implement bulk changes in several configurations of multiple vendors.
• Compliance Management: Network configuration manager helps devices stay compliant to Cisco, SOX, HIPAA and other internal policies and keeps your network free from vulnerabilities. Compliance can be achieved in devices of multiple vendors by applying compliance policies which pertain to the respective vendors.
• Extensive Reports: Network Configuration manager provides detailed reports on different statuses of various operations. One can also filter reports based on the vendor and view them.

Using Network Configuration Manager, all the configuration operations for multiple vendors can be performed from a single console. Check out if support for the devices in your network is available in Network Configuration, if not send us a request for a new template!