SAN JOSE, Calif. - September 22, 1997 - Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced the delivery ofnew software that enables customers to better gauge network transmission costs, bandwidthutilization and network user requirements.
Information garnered from Cisco Enterprise Accounting (CEA) for NetFlow(TM) 2.0 enables networkmanagers to make informed decisions about network design, bandwidth allocation andquality-of-service (QOS) requirements. By determining bandwidth usage, network managers canapply chargebacks by department in an enterprise or by customer in a service territory.
"Often, the costs associated with owning and operating a network are much larger thaninfrastructure costs and also much harder to track," said Stephen DeWitt, general manager andvice president of network management for Cisco Systems. "With CEA for NetFlow, customers canidentify specific network usage and requirements, not only by department, but also byapplication, by device or by individual user. This end-to-end accounting of network resourcescan be key in helping organizations decrease these operational costs."
Managing High-Speed Access Charges
Cisco also announced that the latest edition of CEA for ISDN, Version 2.0, now integrated onNT, is now available. The new version provides an improved way to manage, control and monitorenterprise ISDN usage and requirements through Internet-enhanced reporting mechanisms. Managers now have the option of generating HTML, text and SQL-based reports, allowing theresulting data to be exported into a number of desktop applications, including Microsoft Office95, through support for ODBC. This creates easy, effective reporting and analysis forenterprise customers.
Both applications are part of Cisco's comprehensive Assured Network Services (ANS) initiativefor network management and deliver on key components of that strategy: infrastructure andservice-level management.
CEA for NetFlow V.2.0 is complementary to the family of NetFlow software products deliveredthis summer. NetFlow Software, an embedded Cisco IOS Software feature, runs on Cisco 7500and 7200 series routers, as well as the Catalyst 5000 Route Switch Module (RSM),establishing flows of related data as they travel across the network. A key utility component,FlowCollector, collects flow data from devices running NetFlow Software. CEA for NetFlowreceives detailed data flow records from the FlowCollector utility and performs user-defined,automated data roll up and reporting.
Specialized CEA for NetFlow Reports
CEA for NetFlow V.2.0 features the following reports tailored to give managers a comprehensive,end-to-end view of the network:
Network Usage Reports - These reports capture router usage by unit, port, total packet and bytecounts by port, port usage by user (via IP address) and port usage by application. Theinformation collected by these reports can be used to help plan and configure networks to meetrequirements, engineer traffic for optimum performance and identify special class-of-serviceneeds by application.
Application Reports - These reports capture aggregate application usage in packets and bytes,application usage by time of day and application usage by user. The information garnered bythese reports helps managers gauge networked application requirements, special QOS needs,policy infractions and time-of-day network bandwidth requirements. In addition, managers canidentify specific class-of-service (COS) needs to service mission-critical networkedapplications.
User Reports - These reports capture total traffic to and from users, total traffic to and fromusers by application, and top network users by traffic volume. The information gathered bythese reports can help managers identify special user bandwidth needs, enable individualchargebacks and monitor network policies.
Departmental Rollup Reports - These reports capture application usage by department, port usageby department and time-of-day for traffic/applications ports by department. The informationfrom these reports enables managers to implement departmental chargebacks for transmissionexpenses. In addition, managers can identify and plan for special departmental networkbandwidth requirements, by application or time-of-day.
The new CEA products offer several other new features and enhancements that improveease-of-use, automated accounting and reporting. Polling and user applications have beenintegrated on Windows NT, providing an easy-to-use, fully functional network accounting tool. The new CEA scheduler function allows managers to develop and set automatic reports, queriesand alarms, facilitating easier identification and approval of departmental network usage.
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet. athttp://www.cisco.com.
Cisco IOS is a trademark, and Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo areregistered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All othertrademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
