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The university purchased DX Spectrum, called ICE. DX Spectrum NAC is working for us only on Cisco 9200 switches. It is not working on any other switch like C1000 or HG or any 2960X. Even other Cisco switches are not working. Only the 9k series functions properly.

We are using only DX Spectrum NAC, ICE and the wireless controllers of Cisco.

We are buying now three models of access points: CW1, CW91726 and 8. We have not purchased the NDA, DNA dashboard currently, but maybe later we will, because it is only one controller and we did not find any benefit from installing it.

DX Spectrum includes a module called Spectrum and Nimsoft. The product for monitoring and getting alerts from servers and some systems is called Nimsoft software from CA.

We are setting some thresholds to get alerts when a link is down or getting to a high bit rate, things like that.

It has many capabilities. Since we do not have many licenses, I can monitor the main aggregate switch of a building and all its ports. I am getting to see many switches if their status is going down. I have an aggregate switch with 40 ports, and when I monitor not only the switch but all its ports, I can monitor another 40 switches without needing another license.

We only monitor storage, servers, and switches.

Of course. We installed it and set some alerts, but in the daily mission, we are not dealing with it very much.

What I said is that we do not know everything about how to build the dashboard, but for what the management requires, it is very simple.

The product is installed in some version, and we have another person managing it. We need to upgrade to the current version and maybe solve any bugs if there are.

The time investment required is significant, not because of difficulty but because of the need for free time to invest in it.

We need to get the knowledge. We know there are many options, but we took an external vendor to install and make the customization. If we want to make others changes without paying for customization, we need to learn it deeply by ourselves.

The tutorials are very complicated. They could work on that area. The tutorial part could be more simplified. I know there are many explanations, and you can get help or documents in one click on the current page in the product, but it is not very clear.

If you want to do something new that you did not see from the vendor in the installation, it is not very simple. The documents are good for people that know how to operate the product well, but for new users, it is not simple.

You can set a threshold to say if it goes over 90% CPU or 90% disk usage in operating systems. We can also set a threshold to bandwidth. If the bandwidth goes over 50%, we wish to get alerts.

We found the process of DX Spectrum down from time to time, and we need to interfere manually to restart. I give it an eight.

When I said vendor, I meant partner. It is a company here in Israel called Malam.

Neutral

We stopped buying Juniper. We are buying only Cisco now.

We have stopped purchasing Juniper for more than one year. For more than one year, we are purchasing only Cisco. Only Cisco 9200.

We did not learn all the capabilities. We are using what is needed for us.

It is another person that took responsibility for that. We are working with an external vendor, so it is not complicated.

The product is installed in some version.

I did not check other products. I know there are cheaper options in the market, but they are not as good as CA. When we say CA is a Mercedes, you buy a very expensive car and know it is good, with all options and capabilities that you can dream of, but you need to configure it, find it, and learn it.

We purchased CA. CA is a big product we installed a few years ago for monitoring. We also have some free products like Zabbix.

Since we have a lot of products for monitoring like Zabbix and others, the main requirement from CA was especially for managers. They want to come in the morning and see if all is green. CA is very complicated but has a lot of features. For that, we need someone to invest time, learn, and customize and configure. The product itself is full of many features.

We need to upgrade to the current version and maybe solve any bugs if there are. We did not find any bugs.

It was not simple, but since the vendor is an expert, it seems simple to him. I do not think it is simple.

If we cut the price issue, I would rate it nine. Overall, I rate this solution an eight.

I have been involved in implementing DX Spectrum for financial institutions, such as banks, and government services with large networks. My role involves monitoring their infrastructure worldwide to address critical issues proactively and fix things before users start complaining. We focus on selling to financial institutions, especially banks in Nigeria.

DX Spectrum offers effective network fault detection. Depending on user requirements, it can monitor infrastructure to track activities on servers or monitor network connectivity. It provides a good topology view of the environment, eliminating latency around applications in different locations. Additionally, its performance management capability enhances network operations by allowing users to manage the network effectively. The interface has the needed configuration for visualization, and it's effective in providing a complete diagram of network links and connections across various stations globally. This helps in identifying if a client's link is down or up.

I would like to see improvements in making the interface more user-friendly. Many people find it not simple to use. One of the common customer complaints is about the alarm notifications. Currently, they appear as pop-up messages, but I would prefer having alarm messages shown as a scrolling bar at the taskbar for easier visibility.

I have been working with DX Spectrum for over seven years now.

I believe DX Spectrum is used in large-scale network environments.

I would rate their support as eight out of ten, which implies it's fairly strong, although there is room for improvement.

Positive

The price of DX Spectrum is not competitive when compared to other solutions, such as SolarWinds. The high price has caused us to lose many deals.

I have compared DX Spectrum with other solutions, like SolarWinds.

Generally, I would recommend DX Spectrum because, despite its pricing issue, it is a valuable solution. From my experience, I rate DX Spectrum nine out of ten. I advocate for a more user-friendly interface so that anyone looking at it will know what to do. Also, DX Spectrum's integration of AI for network management tasks is something I'm interested in but haven't explored yet.