DNAC and Switching Hardware

[ex-engineer]

I was told that DNAC (DNA Center) must be added as a line item on a quote for LAN switching hardware, even if they don't want to use DNAC? Is that true? Why is that? 

[balaji.bandi]

That is marketing.

You do not need DNAC to manage Switches, you can buy switches along and configure manually.

There is no mandate to buy DNAC (which is white elephant to manage, if the switches or device are not thousads in the Enterprise Lan).

[ex-engineer]

Thanks, BB, but I think you are indeed mistaken.... the Cisco account team is telling me that I MUST buy DNAC licenses for any net new Catalyst install... this seems to be Cisco policy. 

[ex-engineer]

Balaji, I agree that forcing customers to buy DNAC licenses for basic L2/L3 features is a bad business practice. 

[Preston Chilcote · Accepted solution]

The original post could be read to ask about the Cisco DNAC appliance (now called Catalyst Center).  The appliance is not required.  The licenses are used by the network devices themselves and are required upon initial purchase:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/software/one-wireless-subscription/nb-06-dna-acces-wl-sw-faq-ctp-en.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/software/one-wireless-subscription/nb-06-dna-acces-wl-sw-faq-ctp-en.html

Q. Is a software subscription mandatory with the Cisco Catalyst 9000 switching family? What options are available to customers?

A.  Yes, customers must buy software as a subscription along with the Cisco Catalyst 9000. To enable all Cisco Networking capabilities, customers will require Catalyst Advantage, which is packed with powerful solutions such as SD-Access, Assurance, and Encrypted Traffic Analytics.

I encourage you to ask your Account Team to get a demo of what Catalyst Center can offer you.  There are a couple of very popular features: Assurance for network monitoring and troubleshooting and Software Image Management (SWIM) for easily upgrading lots of network devices (which dramatically helps keep the network up to date on fixing known security vulnerabilities).

[ex-engineer]

Sorry for the delayed response. Thank you for the information. This seems like an attempt to gouge customers. We never needed any special licenses to run Catalyst LAN switches running CatOS or IOS in the past. Now suddenly basic L2/L3 functionality requires a license? 

[Leo Laohoo]

DNAC appliance is not required, however, even without a DNAC appliance the purchase of DNAC License is a mandatory. 

Choose the Essential 3-year license and when the license expires, let it.  No harm will happen to the switch when the DNAC license expires.

[ex-engineer]

Thanks, Leo. As I said, a scam.