Table of Contents

Product Overview
Key Features and Benefits
Specifications
Ordering Information

Cisco Netsys Baseliner 4.0 for the Windows NT Operating System

Product Overview

Cisco Netsys Baseliner helps avoid costly network configuration problems.

• The network configuration problem:

  Fixing network problems is expensive and time-consuming. The combination of costly downtime and time-consuming fault isolation and repair can bring a business to its knees. Geographically dispersed networks amplify the problem because the length and expense of downtime often increase and fixing the problem can require travel. The rapid proliferation of client/server applications at remote locations further exacerbates the problem by adding the complexity of new protocols, changing services, and untracked configuration changes at remote sites.

  Most of the reported network problems are configuration related. More than 40% of technical support calls involve device misconfigurations. Since router configurations are interdependent, network complexity increases exponentially with the number of routers. As the number of routers grows, configuration problems become harder to detect and avoid. The result is either operational or latent configuration problems. While operational problems are immediately apparent, latent configuration problems can be a time bomb waiting to go off.

• Have your network checked by Cisco Netsys Baseliner 4.0.

  Baseliner enables you to test configurations and changes offline before committing them to the live network. Cisco Netsys Baseliner 4.0 for Windows NT creates a model of your network based on the actual Cisco router configuration files. It checks for more than 100 common yet difficult-to-isolate configuration problems. You can then make configuration changes to the offline model and reanalyze, in an iterative process, until the configurations are ready to be committed to the live network. This capability significantly reduces rollbacks and downtime, resulting in substantial savings in time and cost.

  Additionally, it allows you to graphically view your network as configured, not as planned or discovered. Baseliner gives you the big picture instantly, allowing you to visually navigate your network and gain a complete understanding of how it works. Most network management tools provide only a topology view based upon information manually entered or via an SNMP discovery process. Where these views are acceptable for some applications, they lack depth and miss critical elements such as routing protocols. By using the actual router configuration files, Baseliner can display all physical and logical relationships between routers on the network. The topologies are drawn automatically, so you don`t have to spend hours manually linking interfaces and grouping objects. You can also generate views such as campus, virtual ring group, and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) areas in an instant.

  You can also actively monitor configuration changes. When problems occur, recent configuration changes are often to blame. Baseliner provides an historical record of changed configurations, allowing the user to quickly identify recently modified devices. It also provides the user with a way of tracking changes made to the network by other parties. Baseliner generates numerous reports that provide a quick health overview of your network, immediately isolating error sources and speeding problem resolution. To help you pinpoint the source of any immediate problems, Netsys details the exact IOS commands that have changed in each configuration file. This feature is particularly valuable when used with the Integrity Checks Report.

• Baseliner enables you to display your network configuration.

  With Baseliner, you get a full view of your network configuration with many powerful analysis and reporting features, including the ability to:

  • Graphically view router configurations and multiple protocols on a single customizable map

  • Graphically view both data and routing protocols

  • Use the search tool to quickly locate and zoom in on any supported device

  • View all configuration information associated with a device

  • Obtain reports with detailed configuration problems, change histories, router configuration information, and more

  • Drill down for more detailed information

  • Filter out the information you don`t need to see

  • Validate and Debug your Network Configuration

  Baseliner gives you the ability to:

  • Isolate more than 100 common yet hard-to-isolate configuration problems within and between routers

  • Solve problems by detailing the exact device and interface where they occur, and explaining the nature of the misconfiguration

  • Safely test suggested changes off-line

  • Quickly see the differences new changes will make

  • Apply only tested changes to your network

• Baseliner is Fast and Easy to Use.

  • Baseliner can be installed, the network analyzed, and all reports displayed in about 15 minutes!

  • Complete online training shows you how to use the tool to get you up and running quickly.

  • Standalone or Web-based display: all reports and topologies can be viewed locally at the management console or remotely via a standard Web browser.

Key Features and Benefits

• Integrity Checks Report:

  Rapidly identifies more than 100 types of severe and warning-level problems within and between router configurations

• Protocol-Sensitive Topologies:

  Graphically displays physical and logical connections between routers and protocols, enabling network administrators to see the big picture instantly and accurately

• Uses Actual Router Configuration Files:

  Ensures accurate representation of all protocols configured on routers, including route redistributions and filters; and can automatically collect configuration files directly from all routers

• Visual Queries:

  Provides instant identification of device or network types with addresses, protocol coverage, and conflicts

• "Offline" Analysis:

  Shows the impact of topology changes — without risking experimentation on the live network

• Web Interface:

  Makes the full power of the reports and protocol-specific topology views available to operations staff and managers

• Multimedia Training:

  Enables quick mastery of the tool through complete online training.

Specifications

Ordering Information

Posted: Wed Sep 27 05:13:40 PDT 2000
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