Antrea vs Cisco Catalyst Center
Antrea
antrea.ioCisco Catalyst Center
cisco.comSide by side
| Figure | Antrea | Cisco Catalyst Center |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Microsegmentation Software | 9.0 (#1) | 7.7 (#9) |
| Spec score · Software-Defined Networking Software | 9.0 (#1) | 7.8 (#4) |
| Deployment | A standard installation is performed by applying one YAML manifest, with Helm and cloud-specific guides also documented. | Cisco describes hardware and virtual appliance deployments, including current guides for VMware ESXi and Ubuntu KVM. |
| Integrations | The documentation lists integrations and guides for Prometheus, Octant, Multus, and Fluentd. | Cisco documents integrations with ISE, ThousandEyes, Webex, Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, Infoblox, and BlueCat, plus generic APIs for other ITSM and IPAM systems. |
| Purpose | Antrea implements the Container Network Interface and Kubernetes NetworkPolicy to provide pod networking and security for Kubernetes workloads. | Cisco Catalyst Center is a centralized network controller and management dashboard for enterprise network operations. |
| Support | The project directs users to its Kubernetes Slack channel, mailing lists, community meetings, and office hours. | Cisco says Catalyst and Cisco DNA software subscriptions include embedded software support and downloads; opening a support case requires a Cisco Service Contract. |
Plans
Cisco Catalyst Center
- Cisco DNA AdvantagePriced on request
- Cisco DNA EssentialsPriced on request
In their own words
Antrea
Antrea provides networking and security for Kubernetes workloads by implementing the Container Network Interface and Kubernetes NetworkPolicy. It uses Open vSwitch as its data plane, including for Kubernetes Service load balancing. Depending on infrastructure and use case, clusters can use VXLAN or Geneve overlays or run without an overlay. Antrea extends Kubernetes policy controls with tiers, rule priorities, cluster-level policies, and Node policies. It can federate clusters with a unified data plane, multi-cluster Services, and security posture. Diagnostics include command-line and UI tools for packet tracing, policy analysis, and flow inspection; metrics can be exported to Prometheus. Pod traffic encryption with IPsec or WireGuard is supported between Linux nodes, but not on Windows nodes. Deployment guides cover Amazon EKS, Azure AKS, and Google GKE, with GKE marked Alpha. The project requires a Kubernetes cluster and the Open vSwitch kernel module on every node, and its overview says it has been tested with Kubernetes 1.23 or later. Antrea is an open-source CNCF sandbox project under Apache License 2.0.
Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.