Cirrus vs Cisco Works

So how does the feature set of Cirrus compare to Cisco Works Lan Management Solution? To me it seems that Cirrus duplicates a lot of the same features that Cisco Works has been doing for years.

GB

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DonYonce

gbrance,
We have customers upgrading from Cisco Works to Cirrus Configuration Management.
We have received a TREMENDOUS amount of interest in Cirrus from customers who already own CiscoWorks.

Cirrus was designed to be easier to use and provide more functionality.
Cirrus also includes detailed Inventory information about each device.
Cirrus also supports more than just Cisco. Dell, HP, Extreme, Foundry, Motorola, Arris, Nortel, etc.

SolarWinds is commited to Configuration Management. The current Cirrus application is the first release. Future releases will include a web interface, tiered multi-user support, integration with Orion and more integration with Engineer's Edition, device specific analysis, network wide Inventory reports, network policy compliance, automatic notification and download of changes as well as enhancements and features requested by customers.

Network_Guru

CiscoWorks is a PIG.
Any Netadmin I've talked to has told me the same thing.

First of all it only works with specific versions of Java on your browser.
It is very user unfriendly - non-intuitive to use.
Our CW server/services frequently lock up.
Outrageously priced for basic Cisco only functionality
Some newer devices - Cat 4500s are not supported in CW2000.
High priced yearly maintenace contract.
Updates are few and far between.

'nuff said....

-=Cheers=-
NG

jonchill

Will Cirrus be developed to allow us to upgrade the firmware on a Cisco device and also schedule bulk upgrades overnight?

Thanlks

Jon

IT Infrastructure Manager
Pilgrim Hospital
UK

DonYonce

Jon,
I believe there is a section in the Cirrus manual that shows how to do this with the current Cirrus release.
It's in my copy of the manual

If it's not in your copy, it will be.

snowjay

I'm anxiously awaiting my temporary key so I can try it out against CW2k. I hardly use CW because it is so crappy. There is alot of info there but it cumbersome to cull through. The most useful thing about it that we probably used on a daily basis is the User Info taskbar addition that will return what switch/port a device is plugged into by only having to supply the name or ip of the device.

BryanBecker

I've been a CW user for years. We currently use LMS2.5 which is the latest version of CW. They have made good strides in theis product but I do still find it pretty hard to use sometimes. We continue to have weird backup configuration problems. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I'd really like to see Cirrus use the backup only when a config chnages approach. I know Don you said its a little quirky but its in the works.

Has anyone dumped CW for Cirrus yet? Reason I ask is I'm tempted to of course but really need to know that Cirrus provides the same if not better functionality as CW. Like can Cirrus back up configs from a Cisco 3030 VPN? How about other vendor support? If its not available today can it be request for a future release?

What's the ETA on Cirrus having a Web front end and integration into Orion?

Thanks.

BB

MichaelLandry

While there are numerous overlaps in the two packages, each offers some things the other doesn't. While Cirrus seems to have a better interface, I've only been using the trial for a few HOURS and I've found multiple bugs, starting with the installation. CW is clunky, but has some nice stuff like the Topology Services. The map built automagically by TS is very handy, and particularly helpful at determining config problems, such as a link with mismatched duplex. And CW has a simple way to update code, including safety mechanisms such as verifying the code will run on the device you're trying to put it on.

Just my two cents, I'll post more as I become familiar.