Data Sheet

Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0

Accelerate business and network transformation with unified lifecycle management
and application visibility.

Overview
About Cisco Prime
Business and network transformation brings new challenges to
Cisco Prime for IT is an innovative traditional IT network management organizations. The proliferation of
strategy and portfolio of management mobile devices and pervasive voice and video collaboration, along
products that empower IT departments with cloud and data center virtualization, is driving the need for higher
to more effectively manage their
levels of service, application delivery assurance, and improved end-
networks and the services they deliver.
user experience and quality of service (QoS). Today’s IT
The Cisco Prime for IT strategy and
organizations must maintain business continuity and lower
product portfolio accelerates the
adoption of major market transitions, operational expenses while supporting these major transformations.
including mobility, collaboration, and
Cisco Prime™ Infrastructure addresses these challenges by providing
cloud. The proliferation of mobile
a single integrated solution for comprehensive lifecycle management
devices, convergence of voice and
video, and virtualization of network, and application visibility that helps enable network managers to
computation, and storage add new maintain, operate, and deliver applications and services that meet the
challenges to delivering business-critical demands for a better end-user experience.
applications, services, and end-user
experiences. Cisco Prime for IT delivers Cisco Prime Infrastructure accelerates the rollout of new services and
an integrated converged suite of provides secure access and tracking of mobile devices, making “bring
management functionality in support of your own device” (BYOD) a reality for corporate IT. Tightly coupling
Cisco architectural technologies - client awareness with application performance visibility and network
enterprise, collaboration, and cloud.
control, Cisco Prime Infrastructure helps ensure uncompromised end-
Built on a common platform, Cisco
Prime products automate lifecycle user quality of experience. Deep integration with the Cisco Identity
processes, provide unparalleled end-to- Services Engine (ISE) further extends this visibility across security
end visibility, and help maximize your and policy-related problems, presenting a complete view of client
investment in Cisco technologies. access issues with a clear path to solving them.

Converged Simplified Lifecycle Management

Cisco Prime Infrastructure simplifies and automates many of the day-to-day tasks associated with maintaining and
managing the end-to-end network infrastructure. The new converged solution delivers all of the existing wireless
capabilities for radio frequency (RF) management, user access visibility, reporting, and troubleshooting along with
network infrastructure lifecycle functions such as discovery, inventory, configuration and image management,
compliance reporting, integrated best practices, and reporting. A new operational workflow model based on
lifecycle processes aligns the product functionality with the way network operators do their jobs:

● Design - Assess, plan, and create configurations required to roll out new network services and
technologies. Create templates used for monitoring key network resources, devices, and attributes. Default
templates and best practice designs are provided for quick out-of-the-box implementation, automating the
work required to use Cisco validated designs and best practices.

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 ● Deploy - Schedule the rollout and implementation of network changes. This may include rolling out new
configuration or monitoring templates created in the design phase, software image updates, and support for
user-initiated ad hoc changes and compliance updates. This accelerates service rollout, minimizes chances
for errors, and is highly scalable. In addition, Cisco Prime Infrastructure provides a simple set of guided and
advance flows to bulk provision new devices including the converged access switches on the network and
to push initial configuration to get the device functional and operational within a few minutes thereby
drastically reducing the IT operational expenses.
● Operate - Predefined dashboards provide up-to-date status monitoring on the overall health of the network.
Simple one-click workflows and 360-degree views enhance troubleshooting and reduce the time to resolve
network issues. Unified alarm display provides actionable information and the ability to automatically open
service requests with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
● Report - Provides a wide variety of predefined reports for up-to-date information on the network including
detailed inventory, compliance, audit, capacity, end-of-sale, security vulnerabilities, and many more.

Improve Application Delivery and End-User Experience

By converging lifecycle management and assurance, Cisco Prime Infrastructure delivers a 360-degree experience
that empowers network managers to more effectively manage their network as well as the services their network
delivers. Bringing device management capabilities into operational monitoring workflows provide a holistic,
multidimensional view of the user, client, application, and network. This 360-degree experience helps network
managers improve their responsiveness to business needs, identify and remediate problems quicker, and lower
incident and problem rates.

Cisco Prime Infrastructure both configures and uses as a source of rich performance data embedded Cisco
instrumentation and industry-standard technologies, such as Application Visibility and Control (AVC), NetFlow,
Flexible NetFlow, Network Based Application Recognition (NBAR2), Medianet, Performance Agent, and Simple
Network Management Protocol (SNMP), to deliver network-wide, application-aware visibility. It provides operations
monitoring and quality of experience workflows that reduce instrumentation configuration and data collection
complexity to quickly and easily gain insight into network and application performance. It also integrates with Cisco
Prime Network Analysis Module (NAM) to permit the collection and correlation of granular flow- and packet-based
data from one NAM or many, helping to enable deeper analysis and troubleshooting to rapidly solve challenging
application and network problems.

Help Ensure Regulatory and Risk Compliance

Cisco Prime Infrastructure provides continuous compliance and auditing capabilities to help IT organizations
monitor and assess their network and device configuration for out-of-policy configuration, and security and risk
vulnerabilities. This includes Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) auditing of the wireless
network, and network inventory auditing and reporting against Cisco advisories such as end-of-life and end-of-
support for devices, OS versions and modules as well as Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT)
notifications.

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 Reduce Operational Expenses
Cisco Prime Infrastructure’s scalable single-pane-of-glass solution significantly reduces operational costs by
reducing the number of required management solutions.Cisco Prime Infrastructure scales to manage up to 13,000
devices of various types, including routers, switches, wireless controllers, autonomous access points, and the new
Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series converged access switches and the Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controller. Ongoing
support of new Cisco devices and software releases ensures device support parity within each device family, thus
eliminating gaps in your management operations, especially when it comes to service availability and
troubleshooting.

Cisco Prime Infrastructure offers both physical appliance and virtual appliance options for deployment flexibility
without sacrificing scalability, ease of installation and setup, or serviceability and sustainability.

Features and Benefit Summary

Table 1 provides a summary of the features and benefits of Cisco Prime Infrastructure.

Table 1. Summary of Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0 Features and Benefits

Feature Benefits

Global Platform
Operational efficiency ● Flexible virtual machine or appliance-based deployment models, easy to set up for quick time to value in small to
global enterprise-class networks
● Manage up to 13000 routers, switches, ASAs and access points, including the new Cisco Catalyst® 3850 Series
Converged Access switch and new Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controllers
● Streamlined workflows facilitate design, deployment, and operational lifecycle tasks that align with user roles
● Contextual dashboards and 360-degree User and Device views display only the most relevant information for fast
and efficient troubleshooting and remediation
● For details of device support, please refer to Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0 quick start guide

Integrated Cisco best ● Integration with Cisco knowledge base helps to ensure optimal service and support, product updates, best
practices practices, and reports to improve network availability, including simplifying TAC interactions, notification and
downloading software updates, network inventory end-of-life milestone (EoX) auditing, and assessing Cisco
Product Security Incident Report Team (PSIRT) exposure
● Ongoing support of new Cisco devices and software releases ensures device support parity within each device
family, and is provided through the Incremental Device Updates (IDUs)

Improved operations ● Built-in high availability maximizes uptime for services delivery and improves operational efficiency
● Cisco Prime Infrastructure Mobile application for Apple iOS devices helps enable fingertip access to view,
troubleshoot, and resolve network issues anywhere and anytime
Administration ● Role-based access control provides flexibility to segment the network into one or more virtual domains controlled
by a single Cisco Prime Infrastructure platform. Virtual domains help deploy both large, multisite networks and
managed services
● Flexible authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) allow for local, RADIUS, TACACS+, or single sign-on
options
Lifecycle

Converged ● Single pane-of-glass solution for complete end-to-end infrastructure management, reducing the need for multiple
management tools and lowering operating expenses and training costs
Complete lifecycle ● Extensive discovery protocol support helps improve accuracy and completeness, including ping, Cisco Discovery
management Protocol, Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Border Gateway Protocol
(BGP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), and route table lookups
● Flexible grouping and site profiles help to manage large networks by associating network elements to user
definable groups or to a hierarchical campus, building, and floor model
● Device Work Center simplifies access to the tools and features necessary to easily manage the network inventory,
including discovery, configuration, manual and bulk import, and software image management
● Customizable predefined Cisco best practices and validated design configuration templates help enable quick and
easy device and service deployment
● Composite templates allow greater flexibility and packaging of individual templates into larger, reusable, purpose-
built configurations for more consistent and quicker network designs
● Model-based simplified workflow to assess the network for Cisco TrustSec® 802.1x readiness and facilitate the
deployment of network technologies and solutions, such as one-click AVC Configuration from device work center,
Cisco TrustSec® 802.1x and Zone-Based Firewall (ZBF), all based on Cisco best practices

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 Feature Benefits
● Flexible plug and play functionality to simplify the rollout of new devices and sites, accelerating service availability
● Centralized health and event monitoring of branch, campus, and WLAN access networks helps maintain robust
performance and an optimal access connectivity experience
● Integration with Cisco ISE and Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) View provides a simple way to collect
and analyze additional data relevant to endpoints
● Integration with Cisco Mobility Services Engine (MSE) for location-based tracking services for discovered end
points
● Integrated workflows and tools help IT administrators quickly assess service disruptions, receive notices about
performance degradation, research resolutions, and take action to remedy non optimal situations
● Feature configuration templates provided to facilitate Application Visibility and Control (AVC), Zone-Based Firewall,
Easy VPN (EzVPN), dynamic multipoint VPN (DMVPN), Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GETVPN), access
control lists (ACLs), and ScanSafe deployment and management
● Device-level support is provided for ACLs, Enhanced Interior Gateway Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information
Protocol (RIP), OSPF, static routes, Ethernet interfaces, and Network Address Translation (NAT) configuration
Assurance
Simplified ● Streamlined templates ease the configuration of embedded performance instrumentation (for example, AVC,
instrumentation NetFlow, NBAR2) to reduce data collection complexity and accelerate time to value
configuration

Powerful network-wide ● A multi-dimensional approach to network and application monitoring across the network - by bringing together
monitoring traps, statistics, logs, NetFlow, and more - presents application performance in the full context of network
infrastructure activity, health, and changes:
◦ Network availability and device performance monitoring help improve operational excellence
◦ NetFlow monitoring provides valuable insights on who is using the network, what applications are being used,
and how much bandwidth the applications are using
◦ AVC monitoring helps to rapidly identify potential issues that can affect committed service levels and the user
experience
◦ Medianet monitoring accelerates troubleshooting of video and voice applications in the network
◦ QoS monitoring using CBQoS MIB provides key information about defined QoS policies applied to interfaces and
class-based traffic patterns
Automated baselining ● Trends on key network and application performance indicators automatically build a baseline to facilitate planning
and operations tasks
Rapid service level ● Closely integrated device provisioning and configuration functions permit network changes to be quickly made to
restoration maintain a superior user experience

Wireless
Complete lifecycle ● Converged solution delivers all of the existing wireless capabilities for radio frequency (RF) management, user
management access visibility, reporting, and troubleshooting along with network infrastructure lifecycle functions such as
discovery, inventory, configuration and image management, compliance reporting, integrated best practices, and
reporting
Support for Wireless ● Support for new hardware and software features introduced in WLC Release 7.4. This includes WLC 5760
LAN Controller (WLC) controller, 3850 switch, virtual WLC platforms, AP 2600, AP 1550 with EPON interface, High Availability (HA) with
Release 7.4 sub-second failover, Proxy Mobile IPv6, and other features
Next-generation maps ● New maps engine supports high-resolution images with much improved pan and zoom controls. Search within
maps is also supported. The new maps combined with search offer a faster and smoother navigation experience
with quicker access to information
Automatic hierarchy ● Automatically create maps and assign access points to maps using regular expressions. This feature automates
creation the tedious work of creating campus, building, and floor hierarchies and assigning access points to the floor
Automatic switch port ● Ability to automatically identify the Cisco switch and port information for a rogue access point connected to the
tracing Cisco switch, which allows quickly identifying and mitigating the threat posed by a rogue access point and
attached end clients
Third-party support ● Ability to discover and monitor third-party (non-Cisco) switches that support RFC 1213 and wireless
controllers/access points from Aruba Networks

Product Specifications
Cisco Prime Infrastructure is designed to suit a wide range of operational needs and deployment scenarios,
ranging from modest-sized, single-location network environments with a centralized IT organization to extremely
large, multisite networks with geographically and functionally distributed IT operations. Table 2 provides product
specifications for the various deployment options supported by Cisco Prime Infrastructure.

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 Table 2. Product Specifications for Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0

Item Specification
VMware VMWare ESXi Version 4.1 or later for Express
VMWare ESXi 5 or ESXi 5.1 for Standard and Pro
Virtual appliance Virtual Virtual CPU Memory HDD Size Throughput Concurrent API Clients
resource requirements Appliance (DRAM) (Disk I/O) Users (Max)
Size

Express 4 12 GB 300 GB 200 MBps 5 2

Standard 16 16 GB 900 GB 200 MBps 25 5

Pro 16 24 GB 1200 GB 200 MBps 25 5

*
Custom 8 16 GB 600 GB 200 MBps 10 2
Express
Minimum client Client hardware: A Mac or Windows laptop or desktop compatible with one of the supported browsers and running 1
requirements GB RAM, 2 GHz or better processor
Browser: Internet Explorer 9.0 and above with Google Chrome plug-in (plugin not needed by Lobby Ambassador
users), Mozilla Firefox ESR 10 and ESR 17 (ESR 17 is recommended), Mozilla Firefox 22 or later, Google Chrome
27.0 or later
Resolution: Screen display resolution is recommended to be set to 1280 x 800 or higher

Management and SNMPv1, v2c, v3, and Cisco TACACS+, PNG, JPEG, and AutoCAD (DXF and DWG) import file types supported
security
Supported device ● Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISRs)
types ● Cisco Aggregation Services Routers (ASRs)
● Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS)
● Cisco Gigabit Switch Routers (GSRs)
● Cisco Universal Broadband Routers (uBRs)
● Cisco Catalyst Switches
● Cisco Network Analysis Modules
● Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)
● Cisco Nexus® Switches
● Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches
● Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASAs)
● Cisco Mobility Service Engine (MSE)
● Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
● Cisco Lightweight Access Points
● Cisco Autonomous Access Points
● Cisco Small Business 300 and 500 series Switches

*
Custom Express is not available as a separate OVA download. You will need to download the Express OVA and customize it for
Custom Express. Please contact your Cisco Sales Representative for details/procedure on customization.

Table 3 presents the scalability limits for Cisco Prime Infrastructure based on the virtual appliance size: Express,
Standard, or Pro. The Cisco Prime Appliance corresponds to a Standard virtual appliance. The scalability limits and
applicability also depend on the feature sets enabled: Lifecycle only, Assurance only, or Lifecycle and Assurance.
Use of the Assurance feature set requires either a Standard or Pro virtual appliance.

Note: Existing customers using Small or Medium OVA that intend to manage the same number of devices with
PI 2.0 without turning on new features in their network, can migrate to the Express OVA. No increase in resource
pool for the OVA is required in this case.

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 Table 3. Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0 Scalability

Supported Scale for Express/Standard/Pro Configurations

Parameter Express Custom Standard Pro

Express
Devices Max Unified AP 300 2500 5000 20,000

Max Autonomous AP 300 500 3000 3,000

Max Wired 300 1000 6000 13,000

NAMs 5 5 500 1,000

Clients Wired Clients 6,000 50,000 50,000 50,000

Wireless Clients 4,000 30,000 75,000 200,000

Changing Clients 1000 5,000 25,000 40,000

Monitoring Events Sustained Rate (events/sec) 100 100 300 1000

Netflow Rate (flows/sec) 3000 3000 16,000 80,000

Max Interfaces 12,000 50,000 250,000 350,000

Max NAM Data Polling Enabled 5 5 20 40

System Max Number Sites/Campus 200 500 2,500 2,500

Max Groups: 50 100 150 150

(User Defined + Out of the Box + Device Groups + Port Groups)

Max Virtual Domains 100 500 1,000 1,000

Concurrent GUI Clients 5 10 25 25

Concurrent API Clients 2 2 5 5

*
A device constitutes a supported device type. NAM management requires that the Assurance feature be set. For best practices
recommendation of when to use the different appliance sizes, please refer to the Cisco Prime Infrastructure Best Practices
whitepaper.
**
Events are either syslogs or SNMP traps received from managed network devices.

An Integrated Solution
Cisco Prime Infrastructure is a single installable software package with tiered licensing options to expand and grow
functionality and coverage as needed. Simply install the base software license and one or more of the following
feature set options:

● Lifecycle management - Simplifies the day-to-day operational tasks associated with managing the network
infrastructure for all Cisco devices including; routers, switches, access points, and more.
● Assurance management - Delivers application-level visibility through the normalization, aggregation, and
correlation of rich performance instrumentation data to help ensure application delivery and an optimal end-
user experience.
● Plug-and-Play Gateway - This optional feature complements the plug-and-play functionality available
through lifecycle management. It enables the remote plug-and-play functionality for large-scale
environments and DMZ implementations.

Ordering and Licensing Information

Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0 is available for new customers, and upgrade options are available for existing Cisco
Prime Infrastructure versions up through version 1.3.x. Upgrades options are also available for Cisco Network
Control System, Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS), and LMS customers. For details refer to the Cisco Prime
Infrastructure 2.0 Ordering and Licensing Guide. Information is also provided in the guide regarding obtaining an
evaluation copy of Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0.

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 Note: Cisco Prime Infrastructure version 1.4 and later cannot be upgraded to version 2.0; upgrade will be
available for a future 2.x release.

Technical Service Options

Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0 is available with the new Cisco Prime Product Assured Software Subscription, which
allows prepayment for major release upgrades for 1, 2, 3, or 5-year subscription contracts. Cisco Prime Product
Assured Software Subscription works in conjunction with the Cisco Essential Operate Service (ESW) maintenance
plan, whereby ESW provides Cisco TAC support and access to minor updates and patches from the cisco.com
software download site. For more information, please refer to the Cisco Prime Infrastructure 2.0 Ordering and
Licensing Guide.

The Cisco Prime Appliance option comes with a Cisco 90-day hardware warranty. Adding a contract for a technical
service offering, such as Cisco SMARTnet® Service, to your device coverage provides access to the Cisco
Technical Assistance Center and can provide a variety of hardware replacement options to meet critical business
needs, updates for licensed operating system software, and registered access to the extensive Cisco.com
knowledge base and support tools.

For more information about Cisco warranties, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/warranty.

For information about Cisco Technical Services, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/ts.

For More Information

For more information about Cisco Prime Infrastructure, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/primeinfrastructure, or send
an email to [email protected].

For more information about the Cisco Unified Access solution, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedaccess.

For more information about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), visit http://www.cisco.com/go/ise.

For more information about the Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM), visit http://www.cisco.com/go/nam.

Printed in USA C78-729088-01 10/13

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