Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series Switch Management Pack

Cisco Catalyst  switch monitoring and management directly from System Center Operations Manager is a reality with the Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series Switch Management Pack.  Monitor all critical components of any Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series switch including Interfaces, Memory, Processor, Fan and Power Supply.

Absolutely no CLI or WMI is used to retrieve performance values from the switch.  The Rules and Monitors are Native SCOM implementations and use SNMP to collect all performance and switch health data.  Once the device has been discovered in SCOM, the Management Pack takes over and performs the specific switch discovery.  After discovery, a native SNMP module is used within SCOM to collect values directly from the switch.  You will never configure a login and password to access the switch. You will never have to import MIB files into WMI.  All access performance data collection is through SCOM.

Polling interval and thresholds can also be overridden in SCOM to provide a more tailored environment.

Devices

The Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series Switch Management Pack targets specific device models.  Health Monitoring is device-specific and allows the Management Pack to focus on components and counters that are more than generic SNMP templates.

One primary reason for targeting specific manufacturer models, such as the Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series Switch, is to group common counters in the Management Pack and eliminate custom changes for each class of device.  Depending upon the device, some SNMP counters have been removed or replaced.  Some SNMP counters change how they are indexed by the device.  By creating a very specific Management Pack for the class of devices, Rules and Monitors can target counters that are relevant only to the device.

Below is a listing of current Cisco Catalyst Switches that the Management Pack covers:

Cisco Catalyst 2950-12
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24C
Cisco Catalyst 2950-T24
Cisco Catalyst 2950-12G
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24G
Cisco Catalyst 2950-48G
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24S
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24GDC
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24SX
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24LRESt
Cisco Catalyst 2950-8LRESt
Cisco Catalyst 2950-24LREG
Cisco Catalyst 2955-T12
Cisco Catalyst 2955-C12
Cisco Catalyst 2955-S12
Cisco Catalyst 2950-St24LRE997
Cisco Catalyst 2950-48T 
Cisco Catalyst 2950-48SX

Alerts

The Management Pack has several Alerts that will trigger when critical performance data thresholds have been reached.  Most Alerts are based upon Performance Rules such as Processor Utilization, Interface Throughput, and Free Memory Bytes.  The Alerts provide a very detailed description of the event including switch performance and state information.  Additional Knowledge is provided in the Monitors that generated the Alerts.

Discovery

Discovery of specific switches occur after the initial Network Device Discovery has taken place in SCOM.  After device discovery, the Management Pack kicks into gear to collect information such as:

Model Number
Serial Number
Cisco IOS Version
IOS Bootpath
Interface Operational Status
Interface Duplex and Speed
Interface MAC Address
and many more device properties

Monitors

The JaxMP Cisco Catalyst Management Pack provides key Monitors to help identify the health of the switch.  Interface utilization and errors and Processor performance are some of the monitors used to determine the health of the switch.  Additionally, interfaces are monitored for UP/DOWN status and a device reboot will generate an alert from the device Monitor.

Rules

JaxMP Management Packs collects more interface counters than any other Management Pack in the industry.  Our extensive collection of interface performance counters enables network managers to have valuable insight into interface performance and health.  The Management Pack collects performance data on:
Interfaces
Memory
Processor
Fan
Power Supply

Knowledge

Knowledge is probably the most crucial component of the Management Pack.  Sometimes added as an afterthought, knowledge is the key to making sense of the components of the Management Pack.  We spared nothing in creating knowledge for our Rules and Monitors.  For all Monitors we relied upon our network experience and also provided helpful 3rd party links to relevant information.

Additionally, we have provided links to additional content on the JaxMP Support Site for the Monitors and Rules.  We have added hyperlinks in all Knowledge sections to link to updated information on the web site.  By integrating the Knowledge in the Management Pack with our knowledge database on the web site, we can keep information up to date and constantly add new information when it becomes available.

Subscription

A subscription allows you to download existing Management Packs and it gives you complete access to all new Management Packs.  Product support is available to subscribers including a Support Forum and Help desk.  Guides, Installations Manuals, How-to's, and additional information is found in our Premium Subscribers area.  We provide links in the Management Pack Knowledge to additional information on our web site.  Subscribers have access to community suggestions as well as JaxMP generated knowledge.  Subscribers have greater influence in the next developed Management Pack and can make suggestions to the device and features to be included.

To get started on your subscription or to renew an existing subscription, sign up today.