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Cirrus's configuration management features.
Scheduled Network Configuration Backups
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Schedule network configuration tasks, including configuration backups
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Record network configurations for archival history
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Easily view network configuration backups and history
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One of the most popular features in Cirrus is the ability to automatically backup network device configurations. Configuration backups can be scheduled to run whenever you would like them to – whether that's everyday, every other Monday, or every two hours.
Cirrus includes a default configuration backup job that can be run out-of-the-box. With just a few mouse clicks, you can easily modify the job to customize it for your particular backup needs. Cirrus also makes it easy to create your own job from scratch. Each job performs backups of network device configurations based on naming convention, machine type or other custom groups.
Cirrus leverages the Windows® Task Scheduler to organize scheduled jobs. Every job created within Cirrus can be viewed and modified within the application or from within the Windows Task Scheduler.
Configuration backups are not only stored in a relational database for archival history, but also as flat files in an intuitive folder structure that makes for easy viewing.
With Cirrus' scheduled task feature, managing routers and other network devices has never been easier.
Network Configuration Change History
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Set up automated alerts for network configuration changes
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Perform real-time monitoring of network configurations
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Manage changes to network configurations
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Cirrus detects changes that occur to the configurations of monitored devices in real time and notifies you instantly of these changes – giving you more control, instant visibility, and improved security in your network environment. Additionally, this feature enables you to quickly isolate and eliminate a configuration change as the cause of a network problem.
Cirrus works in conjunction with the Orion Syslog Server and the Orion Trap Receiver to log configuration change events and to immediately alert you. When Cirrus detects a configuration change on a device, the system automatically downloads the new configuration and compares it to the existing baseline or the last downloaded configuration. You are then immediately notified of the differences between the new configuration and the old configuration, giving you complete control over the change management process.
In addition to Orion, Cirrus real-time notifications will also work with other syslog servers that support third-party executables.
Side-by-Side Network Configuration Change Comparisons
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Compare the network configuration between two routers or switches
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Track network configuration changes
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Perform side-by-side viewing of network configurations
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Cirrus enables you to quickly and easily compare network configuration files between two routers or switches or to compare the running configuration file to the startup configuration file on a single device. Cirrus makes it simple to baseline network configurations and to compare newer versions to the baseline as they are distributed.
In the Cirrus interface, each change to a configuration file is highlighted for easy viewing; if content has been added the line is highlighted in green and if the content has been removed, the line is highlighted in red. Network configuration files can also be compared in real-time. You simply highlight the two configs and select "Compare Configs."
With Cirrus, you can easily view and track changes to network configurations, ensuring that you are always aware of what’s changing on your network.
Upload/Download New IOS Images
Cirrus includes the award-winning SolarWinds TFTP Server, enabling secure uploading and downloading of IOS images. IOS images can also be transferred to devices via FTP, HTTP, or any other protocol.
Cirrus enables IOS/firmware updates to be performed in real-time or to be scheduled to run during a future time frame. With the enhanced grouping capability of Cirrus, images can be uploaded to devices based on a specific grouping or combination of grouping properties, allowing you to easily manage each type of network device separately.
Network Configuration Rollback
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Access network configuration history
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Rollback a device to the last known good configuration
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Immediately fix unauthorized network configuration changes
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Cirrus includes roll-back functionality, enabling you to immediately "rollback" to a previous "known good" device configuration. This enables you to quickly repair unauthorized network configuration changes or recover devices from failed configuration changes, eliminating unnecessary downtime and security risks.
Multi-Vendor Device Support
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- Leverage built-in configuration management support for devices from more than sixteen hardware vendors
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Cirrus was designed for today’s complex network environment and provides out-of-the-box support for network devices from more than 16 different hardware vendors. Cirrus performs network configuration management and change management for routers, switches, firewalls, VPN concentrators, wireless access points and more.
Supported vendors include:
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Cisco Systems
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Nortel Networks
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Motorola
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Extreme Networks
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Dell
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HP
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Adtran
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Aruba Networks
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RRIS
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Marconi
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Foundry Networks
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Fortinet
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Enterasys Cabletron
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Citrix Systems
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Radware Juniper Networks
Network Configuration Policy Management
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Perform network configuration policy management
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Ensure compliance with federal regulations and internal standards
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Generate policy reports using built-in templates
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Immediately remediate policy violations
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Cirrus' network configuration policy management feature enables you to ensure that device configurations comply with federal regulations, as well as your organization’s internal standards. The Cirrus Policy Reporting Manager helps organizations automate the policy compliance process with scheduled reports that identify devices with configuration violations and those that could be accessed by unauthorized users, pose a security risk, or do not meet internal configuration standards.
Cirrus provides several out-of-the-box policy reports designed specifically for the standards and regulations set forth in HIPAA, SOX, CISP, and Cisco® Security Audit.
With Cirrus, it is also easy to build custom policy reports specific to your organization’s compliance needs. Administrators can build policy reports that reflect specific device configuration templates and then execute the report on all appropriate devices to identify corrections that need to be made to configurations.
With Cirrus’ streamlined device remediation feature, you can even automatically remediate any policy violations right from your reports. By simply right-clicking on a policy violation within the report interface, it’s easy to immediately apply a remediation script to repair any devices that were found to be in violation with policies. In doing so, Cirrus streamlines the configuration policy verification and remediation process for HIPAA, PCI, and other regulations.
Network Inventory of Devices
Cirrus is not only a comprehensive configuration management solution, but is also a device management solution. Cirrus creates a detailed network inventory of all managed devices. Serial numbers, interface and port details, IP addresses, ARP tables, installed Windows software and many other details are included in Cirrus’s configuration management database.
Real-time network inventory reports can be viewed within the Cirrus interface or you can easily schedule these reports to be generated automatically and then e-mailed or printed. Reports can also be exported to Excel, HTML, PDF, or a plain text file.
Configuration Management Reporting
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Use pre-defined network configuration management reports
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Create custom network configuration management reports
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Build inventory reports with a few mouse clicks
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Cirrus delivers easy-to-read reports on all network configuration data, which can be run in real time or on an automated basis – a key feature in any effective network configuration management solution.
Cirrus ships with pre-defined reports for change management, inventory, and policy management. These reports enable you to accomplish a variety of tasks from quickly viewing all configuration changes across your network over the last 30 days to providing the COO with proof that network device configurations are compliant with federal regulations.
Additional reports include:
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Device location and contact information
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Down nodes
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Current IOS image and versions
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Last boot of each device
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Switch Ports
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Cisco cards and system information
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Cisco Chassis IDs
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Over 35 inventory reports available by default
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Detailed inventory reports for each device include details, such as:
Port map
VLANs by port
Cisco chassis
Cards in Cisco devices
Total and used memory
TCP and UDP services
Flash memory
ARP table
User Roles & Permissions
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Create multiple user accounts with different privileges
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Leverage your existing Active Directory infrastructure for user account authentication and password management
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Create device login credentials for better tracking of who made configuration changes
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Cirrus enables multiple user accounts to be created with different privileges. This ability offers an additional layer of security by ensuring that particular activities are performed only by the individuals who have appropriate permissions. Additionally, Cirrus can now leverage your existing Active Directory® infrastructure for user account authentication and password management.
Cirrus also enables you to create device login credentials – a feature that is normally reserved for those expensive NCCM solutions that will add at least one extra zero to your bill. This feature allows you to better track who made configuration changes to ensure policy adherence and to aid in troubleshooting network issues.
User Activity Tracking
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View who made configuration changes, who backed up configurations, and when users logged in and out of Cirrus
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Ensure compliance with federal regulations, such as HIPAA and PCI, and deliver necessary documentation for external and internal audits
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Quickly troubleshoot network issues by determining who made what changes
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With Cirrus, you can view who made configuration changes, who backed up configurations, and when users logged in and out of Cirrus. This user activity tracking ability ensures compliance with federal regulations, such as HIPAA and PCI, while also enabling you to provide necessary documentation for external and internal audits. Additionally, activity tracking makes it quick and easy to determine who made what changes when diagnosing a network problem.
Supported Protocols
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- Leverage multiple protocols to communicate with devices, including SNMP v1/v2/v3, Telnet, SSH v1/v2, and TFTP
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Cirrus offers multiple methods for connecting to and communicating with network devices, including SNMP v1/v2/v3, Telnet, SSH v1/v2, and TFTP. Cirrus fully supports SNMP v3, enabling you to collect node and inventory information using this secure communications protocol. You can also upload and download configurations from Cisco® devices using SNMP v1, v2, and v3. While SNMP v3 support is typically reserved for high-end NCCM solutions, Cirrus brings this important security feature to the mid-market.
MAC & IP Address Finder
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Locate MAC addresses automatically
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Perform searches by IP address, MAC address, or host name
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Finding the location of a MAC address on a network can be difficult. Cirrus makes this task easy by automatically locating the switch port a device is plugged into. Searches can be performed by IP address, MAC address or host name.
View Real-time Network Interfaces
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View network interfaces in real time
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View details, such as port and traffic status, ARP cache, and much more.
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Cirrus ships with several real-time network interface views that include detailed data for each interface, including: real-time port status, real-time traffic stats, port configuration, real-time ARP cache, last time data was transmitted/ received, real-time Cisco discovery protocol, and shutdown/enable network interfaces.
Show Command Management
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Run show commands on network devices
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View real-time status changes with network devices
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Perform device grouping, filtering and pattern matching
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Cirrus has a robust "show command" function that runs real-time commands on remote devices to obtain information from the devices. The collected data is formatted, filtered and displayed within the Cirrus interface. This command can be set to refresh every few seconds, allowing you to watch real-time status changes on network devices.
Additionally, advanced features such as grouping, filtering, and pattern matching enable you to extract real-time information from multiple network devices at one time using user-defined search criteria
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With Cirrus, you can easily add your own show commands, such as Show Tech to the default command list, or you can even add command line statements. For example, "Ping http://www.solarwinds.com/" or "write 10.0.0.1 ${SysName}.Config" can be added.
Bulk Network Configuration Changes
Need to quickly change a community string, password or block a MAC address? Cirrus can execute bulk network configuration changes either in real-time or during a future, scheduled change window.
MIB Browser
The award-winning SolarWinds MIB Browser is integrated into Cirrus. The extensive MIB database of more than 250,000 standard and vendor-specific OIDs significantly extend the capabilities of Cirrus by providing quick access to any SNMP value. Numerous standard MIBs are included in the Cirrus interface by default and the ability to easily add additional MIB values to the view is also provided.
Dynamic Device Grouping
With Cirrus's network configuration management device grouping capability, it's easy to organize views according to your business requirements. Network devices can be grouped by type, location, building, business unit, application, or other custom set of properties. Once the groups are established, you can quickly perform backups, schedule configuration changes, run configuration reports, or upload files across one or many groups of devices.
Integration with Other SolarWinds Products
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Leverage integration with Orion, Engineer’s Toolset, and Thwack
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View Cirrus configurations and reports in the Orion web console
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Access all Engineer’s Toolset tools using the "right-click" mouse option
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Search Thwack directly from the Cirrus interface
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Cirrus delivers easy integration with other SolarWinds products to maximize your investment:
Integration with Orion
Network devices discovered within the Orion Network Discovery tool can be imported directly into the Cirrus Configuration Manager database. Orion also displays Cirrus configurations and reports on the Orion website. Additionally, the Orion Syslog Server or Orion Trap Receiver can be used in conjunction with Cirrus to detect configuration changes, notify users of configuration changes, and automatically backup the changed configurations.
Integration with Toolset
If you own both Engineer's Toolset and Cirrus, you can leverage the functionality of the Toolset directly from the Cirrus application simply by using the "right-click" mouse option or by selecting a tool from the Cirrus toolbar. Powerful applications from Engineer's Toolset, such as IP Network Browser, Real-Time Interface Monitor, and MIB Browser, are available in the Cirrus toolbar by default; plus, you can easily customize the Cirrus toolbar to include direct access to any tool within the Engineer’s Toolset.
Integration with Thwack
Cirrus offers direct access to Thwack, SolarWinds user community website. Links to Thwack are located throughout the Cirrus application, enabling you to leverage the expertise of an extensive community of network engineers who are highly skilled with SolarWinds products. Integration between Cirrus and Thwack makes it quick and effortless to post a question or search for answers in the Thwack forums. Additionally, you can easily search Thwack for device templates, scripts, and other useful Cirrus customizations.
Easy Migration
Cirrus makes it easy to migrate network devices from an existing database list or other network configuration management solution. You can import data directly from Excel®, Access®, SQL Server, CiscoWorks®, SolarWinds Orion®, SolarWinds Sonar Discovery Database, Kiwi, comma delimited file, or plain text file.
Central Network Configuration Repository
Cirrus stores all network configuration, inventory, and policy data within a Microsoft SQL Server database. Business-critical components stored within the database (e.g., network configurations and network device credentials) can be encrypted to ensure your device data and network configurations meet regulatory compliance standards, such as PCI.
Cirrus System Requirements
Hardware: Pentium III - 800 MHz, 256 MB RAM, 1 GB Hard Drive Space Available
Operating System: Windows XP Professional, 2003 Server
Database Support: – Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2005 Express
Included with Cirrus – Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express
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