Use Cisco Network Assistant for quick Configuration

This article mainly introduces how to quickly configure the Cisco Router Network Assistant and provides specific operation steps. I believe this article will benefit you a lot after reading it.

Cisco provides Cisco Network Assistant CNA, a free tool for small and medium-sized enterprise SMBs, to help you configure Cisco devices. Of course, you may think that tools that direct to small and medium enterprises are not necessarily applicable to you, but remember that in Cisco terminology, "Small and Medium Enterprises" may be a very large enterprise, at least in my opinion.

Because this tool is free of charge, you can download it from Cisco's website or click here to download version 5.2. CNA supports small and medium routers, Catalyst switches, PIX firewalls, IP phones, and wireless access points of the 6500 series. According to Cisco, CNA is ideal for enterprises with a maximum of 250 users.

More security tools> go to topics

More network management software> Special Topics

Of course, I don't know how many users will be in your network. However, the number of users in the network determines which vro Configuration tool you need. Maybe you have more than 250 users, therefore, Cisco may think that you should have more budget for network management, so it wants to sell you a management tool ).

However, in my managed network, there are 1200 users in 70 different cities, and CNA can be used to manage them well. In fact, this tool also supports many more advanced Cisco devices that we will not be able to use right away.

In some places, CNA can replace CISCO's ConfigMaker-a free tool that you can download from Cisco's website. Cisco has officially abandoned ConfigMaker and does not support it any more, or has plans to upgrade it.

ConfigMaker is also a very easy-to-use tool, and if you are using devices that support this tool, it is still a simple and easy-to-use tool. In fact, a TechRepublic member once told me that he liked this tool very much and is still using it. This is one of the reasons that prompted me to study this topic.

For common Cisco routers, especially the 2600 series and 3600 series, ConfigMaker can still well configure their basic functions. The reason why ConfigMaker is no longer used is that this tool can only generate static configurations. The basis is that you tell it what to configure and what to configure), and then download these static configurations to the vro. However, over time, users began to want to have a network management tool that provides much more functionality than ConfigMaker. They want to get more real-time status and interface information from the vro. They want the software to create a more suitable configuration based on the current configuration of the router and apply the configuration immediately.

This is what makes CNA shine better than ConfigMaker. The biggest drawback of ConfigMaker is that it does not support any new Cisco devices, and that is why fewer and fewer people use this tool over time.

After using ConfigMaker for a while, I admit that I don't have high expectations for the functions provided by CNA. However, CNA left a very deep image for me. As a free tool, it provides amazing features.

In my case, I want to configure a Cisco 3550 switch, which is not supported by ConfigMaker. Of course, I know that I can use the command line to achieve my goal, but I would like to know which graphical interface tool can provide the function of configuring the switch. Click the thumbnail in Figure B to view the web interface I opened when configuring the vswitch.

Click Web control connection to bring you to the Device Manager of 3550. For Web management-based interfaces, this implementation method is very good. After several upgrades, Cisco has greatly improved this interface .) Click the thumbnail in Figure C to view the sample of the Cisco 3550 Device Manager screen.

In addition to the Device Manager, I can also use CNA as a manager alternative. Click the thumbnail in Figure D to see what CNA looks like when you use CNA to manage the 3550 switch.

CNA provides many functions and Wizard, which provides more real-time information than ConfigMaker. For example, click the thumbnail in Figure E to see the real-time performance diagram of port utilization.