Cisco Catalyst Center vs ElastiFlow
Cisco Catalyst Center
cisco.com
ElastiFlow
elastiflow.comSide by side
| Figure | Cisco Catalyst Center | ElastiFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 3 |
| Spec score · Network Traffic Analysis Software | 7.7 (#13) | 8.7 (#2) |
| Deployment | Cisco describes hardware and virtual appliance deployments, including current guides for VMware ESXi and Ubuntu KVM. | NetObserv installation documentation provides Docker, Linux, Ansible, and Helm deployment options. |
| Founded | 1984 | 2017 |
| Integrations | Cisco documents integrations with ISE, ThousandEyes, Webex, Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, Infoblox, and BlueCat, plus generic APIs for other ITSM and IPAM systems. | Documented data platforms include Elasticsearch, Elastic Cloud, Elastic Cloud Enterprise, OpenSearch, AWS OpenSearch Service, Apache Kafka, Confluent, Redpanda, Splunk and Cribl Stream. |
| Purpose | Cisco Catalyst Center is a centralized network controller and management dashboard for enterprise network operations. | ElastiFlow provides network observability and security analytics by collecting and analyzing network flow and telemetry data. |
| Support | Cisco says Catalyst and Cisco DNA software subscriptions include embedded software support and downloads; opening a support case requires a Cisco Service Contract. | Basic support is available through the Community Slack and ElastiFlow Forum, while Premium includes 8x5 support and Enterprise includes a dedicated representative available 24x7. |
Plans
Cisco Catalyst Center
- Cisco DNA AdvantagePriced on request
- Cisco DNA EssentialsPriced on request
In their own words
Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
ElastiFlow
ElastiFlow collects and analyzes network flow and telemetry data for network observability and security analytics. Its performance and availability solution is intended to help network operations and engineering teams find and resolve issues across complex, distributed environments. It handles NetFlow, IPFIX, and sFlow, with application visibility, conversation analysis, and bandwidth monitoring. NetObserv offers visibility, open-data-platform integration, pre-built dashboards, and machine-learning jobs. ElastiFlow extracts more than 6,200 standard and vendor-specific fields from flow records and enriches them with GeoIP, autonomous-system, and IP-reputation information. Supported platforms include Elasticsearch, Elastic Cloud, Elastic Cloud Enterprise, OpenSearch, AWS OpenSearch Service, Apache Kafka, Confluent Platform, Redpanda, Splunk, and Cribl Stream. Deployment options include Docker, Linux, Ansible, and Helm. The virtual appliance supports VMware ESX, Proxmox, and KVM, and is intended for up to 16,000 flows per second from one location. Basic costs nothing and supports up to 4,000 records per second and 25 SNMP devices. A 30-day trial is available.