Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller vs Open Virtual Network
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller
cisco.comOpen Virtual Network
ovn.orgSide by side
| Figure | Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller | Open Virtual Network |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Software-Defined Networking Software | 7.4 (#9) | 7.3 (#13) |
| Purpose | Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller provides complete lifecycle management and automation for Cisco MDS and Cisco Nexus deployments across SAN, LAN, and IP fabric for media networking. | OVN is a system that supports logical network abstraction in virtual machine and container environments. |
| Support | Cisco Solution Support with Software Support Service is included in Cisco Data Center Networking subscriptions and legacy NDFC Smart Licenses, providing Cisco TAC support, knowledge-base access, and software downloads. | The installation guide directs users to GitHub issues or [email protected] to report problems. |
Plans
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller
- Cisco DCN Advantage subscriptionPrice not published
- Cisco DCN Essentials subscriptionPrice not published
- Cisco DCN Premier subscriptionPrice not published
In their own words
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Open Virtual Network
Open Virtual Network (OVN) provides logical networking for virtual machine and container environments, intended for cloud management software. It converts virtual network configurations into OpenFlow and organizes them around logical routers and switches. Listed capabilities include distributed virtual routers and logical switches, access control lists, DHCP, and a DNS server. Tunnels or other encapsulations isolate logical networks from physical and virtual networks, allowing overlapping address spaces. Virtual machines can move between physical machines without network disruption, and gateways connect tunnel-based logical networks to physical networks. Examples of cloud-management integrations include OpenStack Neutron’s ml2/ovn plugin and ovn-kubernetes. OVN runs in userspace, needs no kernel modules, and is written in platform-independent C; its generic build guide covers Linux, FreeBSD, and NetBSD hosts. It is free under the Apache 2 license, with on-premises deployment, a centralized control plane, and a Linux and self-hosted platform listing. OpenSSL libssl is optional but recommended for secure connections to OVN database servers.