Network Inventory

Discover Cisco Network Assistant (CNA)

Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is a PC-based graphical network management application which is free tool included when a new Cisco Switch is purchased. Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is capable of managing the standalone Cisco Switches and clusters of Cisco Switches in your intranet. Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is best suited for Small to Mid Sized LANS. . Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) supports wide range of Cisco Catalyst Switches from Cisco 2900 through Cisco Catalyst 4506. The Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) manages many of the critical functions of a Cisco Switches & is optimized for wired and Wireless LANs (WLANs). The Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) provides a centralized network view and allows network administrators to employ its features across Cisco switches, routers, and access points.  With Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) a Network Administrators can easily apply common services, generate inventory reports, synchronize passwords and employ features across Cisco Switches, routers and access points.   Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) is available at no cost and can be downloaded from the Cisco Network Assistant Software Download.

What’s new in Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) Version 5.4?

Increased device limits: Supports up to 40 switches and routers

Enhanced discovery: Discover devices with subnet or IP range 

Diagnostics: Conduct on-demand or scheduled tests to verify hardware functionality 

Command-line interface (CLI) preview: View CLIs before they are sent to the device

In my next article I will focus on how to use the Cisco Network Assistant (CNA).

Network Inventory and Configuration Management

We all know much about Kiwi Syslog Software.  For many years I am using Kiwi Cat tools for configuration management and automate many of daily tasks. Kiwi Cat tool really helped me to perform many tasks like configuration backup, telnet, SSH and much more. The free version just supports 5 devices; hence I started looking at open source community and came across this wonderful application called Zip Tie.

 What is Zip Tie? ZipTie is a framework for Network Inventory and Configuration Management. ZipTie allows you to easily discover all devices in your network to create a comprehensive inventory and to manage the configuration of those devices. Every installation includes a suite of tools to help manage your network. In addition, ZipTie is constantly under development and leverages a large community of network experts who share their tools, device adapters, and experience. It allows you to create or import your own custom tools or download them from the ZipTie community. The software is free to download, use, and distribute. ZipTie.org is the community site and tools exchange for Open Network Inventory and Configuration Management. (Courtesy Zip tie) For a more detailed explanation of ZipTie, please read this technical white paper by Roger Castillo, AlterPoint’s CTO entitled ZipTie Network Inventory Management Framework - enabling the next era of network management tools.

Screen shot courtesy Zip Tie web site