Cisco® Network Analysis Module (NAM) is a powerful network-aware monitoring solution that delivers unparalleled insight into network and application performance. It shows you how the network is being used and how users experience the services the network offers to help you ensure the consistent and efficient delivery of applications and services. Because Cisco NAM provides visibility for comprehensive performance analysis and simplified troubleshooting, it is ideally suited for today's dynamic, evolving enterprises.
The innovative design of Cisco NAM combines a rich set of embedded data collection and analysis capabilities with a remotely accessible, web-based management console, all of which reside on a single blade that is installed into Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switches, Cisco 7600 Series Routers, Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) Generation 2 or first-generation Cisco ISRs. Cisco NAM includes the embedded web-based Traffic Analyzer console, which offers quick access to configuration menus and presents easy-to-read performance reports on web, voice, and video traffic.
Table 1 lists the key features of the Cisco NAM.
Table 1. Cisco NAM Features
Feature
Description
Traffic analysis integrated in the switch or router
Cisco NAM can be deployed in existing Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, Cisco 7600 Series Routers, and Cisco Integrated Services Routers, providing greater investment protection, lower total cost of ownership, and reduced footprint to save premium rack space.
LAN and WAN monitoring in one solution
Provides visibility into traffic from local and remote switches and routers for comprehensive traffic monitoring.
Anytime, anywhere access to traffic analysis
Includes an embedded Traffic Analyzer web interface that can be accessed from any desktop, eliminating the need to send personnel to remote sites or haul large amounts of data over WAN links to the central site.
Comprehensive flow-based monitoring
Automatically identifies hundreds of protocols and provides real-time and historical performance reports on hosts, conversations, and applications using critical network resources.
Web-based captures for deep, insightful data analysis
Captures the packets to help resolve acute problems before they affect users. Captures can be performed using a web browser from any desktop, and the decodes can be viewed through the Traffic Analyzer GUI while the data is still being captured. Extensive capture features, including trigger-based captures, decodes, filters, and a capture analysis toolset, help to quickly pinpoint and resolve problem areas.
Transaction-aware application response time monitoring
Monitors TCP-based application packets as they travel from the client through the network to the data center and out again to provide network round trip time, client response time, server response time, and transaction time metrics to improve application performance.
Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and video packet quality analysis
Monitors voice and video packet quality to help assure a high rate of packet delivery so users get the quality they expect and demand.
Pre- and postdeployment metrics to quantify business changes
Provides valuable "before and after" traffic analytics to help plan for and verify changes in network resources, such as introducing new applications, optimizing WAN traffic, segmenting the network, and deploying VoIP and video.
Cisco Performance Visibility Manager (PVM), a core component of the Cisco Network and Application Performance Analysis (NAPA) solution, is a centralized NAM reporting solution that collects data from Cisco NAMs to provide insight into both network and application performance.
Highlighted New Features in Cisco NAM 3.6
Cisco NAM 3.6 offers the features described in Table 2. The most recent NAM 3.6 release, NAM 3.6.1b, also includes features delivered in NAM 3.6.1a and NAM 3.6.1.
Table 2. Features in Cisco NAM 3.6
Feature
Release
Benefit
Upgraded NAMs with new part numbers
NAM 3.6.1b
Refreshes two key hardware components, offering increased memory to improve software performance and a larger capacity hard disk drive to store even more captures and reports.
Field-installable memory upgrade kit
NAM 3.6.1b
Available for WS-SVC-NAM-1 and WS-SVC-NAM-2; enhances software performance while providing investment protection
Virtual switch system (VSS) support
NAM 3.6.1a
Analyzes traffic from both virtual switch members to increase operational manageability and improve application performance in VSS environments.
Campus segmentation support
NAM 3.6.1a
Identifies the applications being delivered to users and the server ports delivering the applications to help establish security policies supporting network resource segmentation.
Second-generation Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM
NAM 3.6.1
Offers high-performance WAN traffic monitoring, large onboard storage, and a Gigabit Ethernet external interface to provide application performance analytics in the empowered branch.
Transaction-aware application response time monitoring
NAM 3.6.1
Delivers intelligent information on client, server, and application latency to help enterprises assure the effective and reliable delivery of the applications that make up the business.
Live reporting
NAM 3.6.1
Provides highly granular visibility into network traffic to expose potential problems that can disrupt business operations.
Platform Requirements
Cisco NAM Software 3.6 is supported on both the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series NAMs and on the Cisco Branch Routers Series NAMs. Information regarding system (switch or router) hardware and software requirements can be found in the Cisco NAM Software 3.6 Release Notes posted on Cisco.com.
Availability
Cisco NAM Software 3.6.1b became available in September 2008 as part of NAM hardware orders. Current Cisco NAM customers can download the new release from the Cisco.com Software Center at no charge using their Cisco SMARTnet® contract access privileges.
Customers can order the upgraded Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600 NAMs, the Memory Upgrade Kit, and the spare ISR NAM and voice licenses today. The new system ISR NAM, NME-NAM-120S, became orderable on November 10, 2008.
Ordering Information
Table 3 provides ordering information for Cisco NAM Software 3.6. Table 4 provides ordering information for the Cisco NAMs. To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering Homepage. To download software, visit the Cisco Software Center.
Table 3. Ordering Information for NAM Software 3.6
Customer
Access
Part Number
Description
Current NAM customers
• WS-SVC-NAM-1
• WS-SVC-NAM-2
• NME-NAM-80S
• NM-NAM
Download from Cisco Software Center
None
Cisco NAM for Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600 Series
Cisco NAM for Branch Routers
New customers
• WS-SVC-NAM-1
• WS-SVC-NAM-2
• WS-SVC-NAM-1-250S
• WS-SVC-NAM-2-250S
Preloaded in the NAM hardware
SC-SVC-NAM-3.6
Cisco Network Analysis Module Software 3.6 for Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600 Series
New customers
• NME-NAM-80S
• NME-NAM-120S
Preloaded in the NAM hardware
NME-NAM-SW-3.6
Cisco Network Analysis Module Software 3.6 for Branch Routers
Table 4. Ordering Information for Cisco NAMs
Product Name
Part Number
Cisco Branch Routers Series Network Analysis Module
NME-NAM-120S
Voice Monitoring Software License for NME-NAM-120S, 50 RTP Streams
SNAM-50VOICE
Voice Monitoring Software License for NME-NAM-120S, 100 RTP Streams
SNAM-100VOICE
Cisco NAM Software 3.6 for Cisco Branch Routers Series NAM
NME-NAM-SW-3.6
NM Adapter Card for integration of NME-NAM into supported ISR G2 platforms
SM-NM-ADPTR
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series Network Analysis Module-1
WS-SVC-NAM-1-250S
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series Network Analysis Module-2
WS-SVC-NAM-2-250S
Cisco NAM Software 3.6 for Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series NAMs
SC-SVC-NAM-3.6
Field-Installable Memory Upgrade Kit (2GB) for WS-SVC-NAM-1 and WS-SVC-NAM-2
MEM-C6KNAM-2GB=
For More Information
For more information about Cisco NAM, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/nam, contact your local sales representative, or email the Cisco NAM product marketing group at nam-info@cisco.com.
