Table Of Contents

Introduction to Cisco Prime Infrastructure

Prime Infrastructure Organization

Introduction to Cisco Prime Infrastructure

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Cisco Prime Infrastructure is a network management tool that supports lifecycle management of your entire network infrastructure from one graphical interface. Prime Infrastructure provides network administrators with a single solution for provisioning, monitoring, optimizing, and troubleshooting both wired and wireless devices. Robust graphical interfaces make device deployments and operations simple and cost-effective.

Prime Infrastructure provides two different graphical user interfaces (from which you can switch back and forth by clicking the downward arrow next to your login name; see Global Toolbars):

•Lifecycle view—Organized as Home, Design, Deploy, Operate, Report, and Administration, and Workflow menus. This User Guide describes features available in the lifecycle view.

•Classic view—Corresponds closely to the GUI in Cisco Prime Network Control System 1.1 or Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS). The Cisco Prime Infrastructure Classic View Configuration Guide for Wireless Devices, Release 2.0 describes features available in the classic view.

Prime Infrastructure Organization

The Prime Infrastructure web interface is organized into a lifecycle workflow that includes the high-level task areas described in Table 1-1. This document follows the same general organization.

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Table 1-1 Prime Infrastructure Task Areas  

Task Area	Description	Used By
Home	View dashboards, which give you a quick view of devices, performance information, and various incidents. See Dashboards and Dashlets for more information.	Network Operators, and Network Engineers
Design	Design feature or device patterns, or templates. You create reusable design patterns, such as configuration templates, in the Design area. You may use predefined templates or create your own. Patterns and templates are used in the deployment phase of the lifecycle. You can also design Plug and Play profiles and mobility services.	Network Engineers, Designers, and Architects
Deploy	Deploy previously defined designs, or templates, into your network. You specify how to deploy features using templates created in the design phase. The deploy phase allows you to push configurations defined in your templates to one or many devices.	NOC Operators and Service Operators
Operate	Monitor your network on a daily basis and perform other day-to-day or ad hoc operations related to network device inventory and configuration management. The Operate tab includes dashboards, the Device Work Center, the Mobility Work Center, and the tools you need for day-to-day monitoring, troubleshooting, maintenance, and operations.	Network Engineers, NOC Operators, and Service Operators
Report	Create reports, view saved report templates, and run scheduled reports.	Network Engineers, NOC Operators, and Service Operators
Administration	Specify system configuration settings and data collection settings, and manage access control. You can view and approve jobs, specify health rules, and manage licenses. You can also perform software updates and configure high availability.	Network Engineers
Workflows	Use the workflows to: •Use the Plug and Play feature to configure new devices and allow any newly connected Cisco IOS device to quickly be discovered, inventoried, and configured. •Set up switches or Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers after they have been added to Prime Infrastructure.	Network Engineers