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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs NetMon comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2025

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...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetMon
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
58th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetMon is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Upul Abhayasena - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust management tool with an easy setup and room for more features
DCNM is used by one of the airline customers in Qatar to manage many data centers and rack switches running on normal Nexus or NX-OS mode. They required a controller platform to manage these Nexus switches, and thus, they utilized DCNM as a Fabric controller. Given that ACI deployment is very low…
AshishDubey - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable and scalable tool useful for network behavior analysis, DPA, and network forensic services
I have not worked much on LogRhythm NetMon to be able to comment on what needs improvement in the product since there is another team in our company that is working on the solution presently. LogRhythm NetMon's pricing model is an area of concern that should be made a little bit cheaper in comparison to the other players in the market currently. With players like IBM QRadar that propose QNI or Darktrace in the market, LogRhythm NetMon needs to consider a reduction in its pricing model.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"VCNM provides a unique capability of managing the admin VDCs of Nexus boxes."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."
"It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly."
"The product has excellent stability."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the consolidated dashboard, providing insights into parameters and overall usage of network features. It allows us to easily summarize insights through the dashboards. The solution offers automation capabilities, particularly in the context of connecting LAN sites with websites."
"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."
"I like running the scripts. With the help of a Python script, we deployed within the configuration and built up the code."
"Stability is not an issue."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The protocols with which you see the traffic for a particular website that a client has in their environment, for example, are valuable. We can monitor whether the traffic is up to the mark or whether they need to add more bandwidth. Also, we can see if we're able to get real-time environment data as well. The customization dashboard is really good. LogRhythm NetMon has its own in-built dashboards which are helpful in guiding customization."
"It has a very strong artificial intelligence engine."
"NetMon's best feature is traffic analysis."
"Visibility is a valuable feature, the ability to see even if the traffic is not going into the firewall"
"The initial setup is straightforward because we can deploy an open server."
"The analytics feature is the most valuable feature."
"LogRhythm NetMon's most impressive feature is that it's a bundled package, so you're not just relying on monthly data; you get a six-month view for more comprehensive indicators of compromise. This dual approach is precious. We implement LogRhythm NetMon in our cybersecurity strategy mainly for compliance and correlation of network, user, and decision activities, particularly for network firewalls and access control."
 

Cons

"It's very costly."
"Data Center Network Manager is a little complex because it includes a lot of hardware to be installed."
"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."
"It is not very easy to monitor or to browse."
"More integration features would be beneficial."
"Automation for the RMA process can be added."
"It's a relatively expensive product for some clients."
"Some of the automated tasks we can perform on QRadar cannot be performed on LogRhythm because the solution has limitations."
"There is an issue with tunneling in relation to how the connectivity is established between the end devices and where NetMon is installed. On the console, I often observe that there's a difference of a few seconds or maybe a minute, and this lag time should not be there."
"LogRhythm NetMon's pricing model is an area of concern that should be made a little bit cheaper in comparison to the other players in the market currently."
"The main concern is that LogRhythm has not improved NetMon but instead introduced a separate product, which many customers, including us, would prefer to be integrated into a single platform for easier management."
"I would like to see better integration with multiple products. Integration is not something that is readily available for most of the products."
"Could use a topology diagram which would help get an exact visual."
"The training for this product is not very good and needs to be improved."
"The platform's integration features often need to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 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."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"The solution is very expensive."
"NetMon's licensing costs about $85k per year, with some extra costs for support."
"The product is expensive for smaller companies."
"The price of this solution is too high, so it should be made more practical and more valuable for the customer."
"Pricing is okay. There were some competitors that were extremely expensive and there were some which were really inexpensive but LogRhythm stayed in the middle of them."
"LogRhythm's licensing part is something that depends on the license you want since they offer it on a perpetual and subscription basis."
"I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
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...
What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
In a mixed architecture where Nexus switches are used as border devices and are connected to a Palo Alto firewall (e.g., version 9.1 or 10.1), you might encounter issues with BGP peering. For insta...
What do you like most about LogRhythm NetMon?
It has a very strong artificial intelligence engine.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LogRhythm NetMon?
I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships.
What needs improvement with LogRhythm NetMon?
The main concern is that LogRhythm has not improved NetMon but instead introduced a separate product, which many customers, including us, would prefer to be integrated into a single platform for ea...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
LogRhythm Network Monitor
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Sera-Brynn
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. NetMon and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,576 professionals have used our research since 2012.