Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs OptiView XG [EOL] comparison

Cisco and NETSCOUT are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of NETSCOUT users who would recommend it.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

Read 26 Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) reviews

1,495 Views
1,435 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

OptiView XG [EOL]

Read 38 OptiView XG [EOL] reviews

89% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

OptiView XG [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) and OptiView XG [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, Auvik, Datadog and others in Network Monitoring Software.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Monitoring Software Report (Updated: February 2026).

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Network Monitoring Software

February 2026

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Helped 881,757 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (25th)

OptiView XG [EOL]

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Jagdev Dhaliwal

Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Flow monitoring has improved planning for east-west traffic and real-time capacity decisions

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) helps to understand the flows and data plane capacities, which are the primary use cases. Usually, people struggle with east-west traffic flow when they need to decide on firewalls or products. People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers. I was focusing more on this so that people can accordingly plan, such as after F5, the number of servers, the number of sessions needed, and whether we need to plan the interface for groups from the line capacity perspective. This kind of information was valuable to us. The real-time telemetry feature was beneficial. When experiencing performance issues, I could determine if there were any issues related to flows or areas where bottlenecks were occurring.

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Mark_Walker

President at Bitwise Micro

A valuable, impressive, and portable product that saves time and has great scalability and stability

It just saves time. We have run into situations where contractors come in, and they plug in a WiFi device that is handing out DHCP addresses, which affects the rest of the network. To be able to quickly identify from where the problem is originating, you need a network tool that can identify the device that is doing this. It just brings into clear focus the exact issue when there is a problem or outage. When there is a crisis and you've several people wanting to know an estimate of when things are going to be back up and running again, you need to have answers. I have been at places that didn't have a tool like that. I know one place that had an outage for almost a week, and it was craziness. It turned out to be just a bad cable. That's all it was. They were having trouble with their email server, which was an on-premise email server, but emails were taking six hours to appear. The whole problem was because of a bad network cable. When I plugged in the Fluke analyzer, it analyzed and told me immediately that there were transmission errors on this one port from one switch. It told me this within 10 minutes. It is an incredible product.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The product has excellent stability."

"I like that is easy to work on and straightforward."

"I don't have to rely on the on-site engineer who can do the configuration. I can have our team just plug the devices and perform remotely. I can also do the templates."

"After installation, you almost forget that it is working."

"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."

"It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly."

"The most valuable features of Cisco Data Center Network Manager are consistency and the core server. The teams have had a good experience."

"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros

"It is a very valuable tool. It goes out and does a discovery, which is a great process of it. You could have something like a rogue DHCP server, and it will identify it, and then you can see to which switch port it is connected. It is quite an impressive tool. I really liked it because you didn't have to install an agent on anything. It would just go out and do its discovery. For me, that's great."

"Gives us the ability to see our network."

Cons

"The delivery Cisco Data Center Network Manager could improve if it was easier. Additionally, some feature improvement is needed."

"The automation feature could be improved."

"Sometimes the product gives us problems that require support."

"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."

"We need better performance and reliability."

"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."

"The initial setup is challenging."

"One of the biggest challenges is that we aren't always able to push the configuration onto the target device. Whenever this happens, we have to do a factory reset, put on the script, and then reconfigure it again. In the next release, I would like to have a troubleshooting feature."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons

"Its price can be improved. Their support can also be improved a little bit. In terms of features, it did everything I wanted it to do. With more features, I would have to start installing network agents or something else, and I don't want to have to install anything. This was the value for me about this device."

"I would like a built-in tap feature which doesn't interfere with the network, and it allows you to see what is happening there."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."

"We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."

"The solution is very expensive."

"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."

"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."

"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."

"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."

"The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."

"Its price was a bit excessive. The device that I had died. It is under warranty, and they want $20,000 for another one. I just don't want to spend that kind of money, so I'm trying to find an alternate solution. They have annual maintenance on it, which probably was 10% a year, so it all starts to add up."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

13%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

13%

Non Profit

11%

Educational Organization

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	26

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments. I am uncertain because we have never attempted that in our environment, so they could perform better in t...

See all answers

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Comparisons

Cisco DNA Center vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Compared 38% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Compared 14% of the time

SolarWinds Network Automation Manager vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Compared 13% of the time

Zabbix vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Compared 8% of the time

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vRealize Network Insight vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 43% of the time

NetAlly EtherScope nXG vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 35% of the time

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 22% of the time

More OptiView XG [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

February 2026

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) report

Download Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report

Buyer's Guide

OptiView XG [EOL]

January 2026

Download OptiView XG [EOL] product report

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager

No data available

Overview

The Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) offers a comprehensive solution for managing Cisco NX-OS switches in hybrid-cloud environments, providing automation, visibility, and consistent operations. Designed to simplify and enhance data center management, NDFC integrates with Cisco Nexus Dashboard to streamline network connectivity, reduce deployment times, and ensure seamless transitions with minimal disruptions. Its modular architecture, new user interface, and support for non-Nexus OS platforms make it a robust tool for LAN, SAN, and IP Fabric for Media management. Additionally, NDFC enhances fabric reliability, automates workflows, and supports cloud connectivity with AWS and Microsoft Azure, making it ideal for businesses adapting to increasingly complex digital environments.

Cisco

OptiView XG is the first network analysis tablet designed specifically for the network engineer. It combines critical functions necessary to automate root-cause analysis of both wired and wireless network performance issues – whether network or application related to reduce time for problem identification. OptiView XG supports repeatable, effective troubleshooting – whether pre- or post-deployment.

NETSCOUT

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia

XG is used in all industries. Example customers include: Republic National Distributing Company, Titelive, CitiGroup, Los Angeles Unified School District, Saudi German Hospital, DeKalb County Schools, Valdosta State University, The Everett Clinic, Bio-Reference, Miami-Dade Library, Mitel, Borsa Istanbul, Cimarex, Air National Guard Lowndes County, High Point City, Carrollton City Schools, Kern County, Pruitt Communications and Bosch Group.

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

February 2026

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