Using Cisco products, you have about three options for managing Catalyst switches (not including command line). They are:
1. High end. Use CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS). Part No. CWLMS-2.2-K9, List Price US $19,995. Installon on Solaris or Windows, scales to 500+ devices (limited only by your hardware and OS platform's scalability), etc.
2. Entry level. Use CiscoWorks Small Network Management Solution (SNMS), Part No. CWSNM-1.5-K9, List Price US $2,995. Windows only, license limits you to 40 devices (as of Version 1.5, August 2003).
3. Full featured but limited to Catalyst switches. Use the Cisco Catalyst Switch Manager. Part No. EMS-CCSM-6X00-3.0= (version 3.1 is curent but not listed as of the June 2004 price list - probably need to download an update once you've purchased the product and have it on your maintenance contract) List Price US $4,000. Solaris only. Targeted to carrier class customers (personal observation, not Cisco position) who are already running some sort of Operational Support System (OSS) and want to add management of their Catalyst products. You can order an evaluation copy of this if interested in it. Part No. EMS-CSM31KIT-D-K9 Cisco Catalyst Switch Mgr v3.1 DEMO Media Kit (no cost) applies.
Hope this helps.
