Cisco licenses for basic configuration

[paradise3net]

Hello,

I'm new here and even though I used to be CCNA certified (it expired) I never had to deal with Cisco licenses.

So, my question is the following:

I'm building on a daily basis small/medium networks and wifi deployments using most of the time Ubiquiti. I want to switch to CISCO, at least for the buildings with multiple users and big traffic. Do I need a license for the basic setup which looks like this?

• Maximum 3-4 Vlans.
• Router on a stick
• no routing protocols like eigrp or ospf - it will be 99% for LAN.
• Access control
• Dyndns
• Sometimes, WAN redundancy/failover

Extra, but very rare - VPN for users who are working from home. no more than 20 users per site

I would like to use ASA + Catalyst switches

Thank you

[ammahend · Accepted solution]

You will need licenses.

given your requirement, you might also look at Meraki  (Cisco cloud based solution)

https://meraki.cisco.com/products/?utm_team=gtm&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=general&unique_id=735169x752&utm_audience=prospect&utm_industry=general&utm_content=Brand_Search_US_CA_EN_Brand&utm_id=7016Q000001YGDMQA4&utm_term=meraki+pr...

[Ramblin Tech · Accepted solution]

If I might ramble on a bit about licenses... to be clear, Cisco does not sell you switch/router software; that is, you do not own the s/w. Cisco retains all rights to the s/w and sells you a license to run their s/w on Cisco hardware (or specified NFV environment in the case of VNFs).

What does this mean? As the other respondent said "You will need licenses." Everyone always needs a license to legally run Cisco s/w and no one has the right (according to Cisco's EULA) to distribute Cisco s/w except Cisco. So, whether you buy brand new Cisco gear from an authorized reseller, or buy old kit from eBay, Cisco's position is that you must obtain a valid license from Cisco before you operate the gear.

If and how Cisco enforces its EULA wrt licensing is a rant for another time...