Any Cisco CCIE will tell you they prefer to configure a Cisco router via the CLI. They love the intuitive nature of this interface and often compare it with competitive hardware interfaces when considering a purchase.
For this reason, Cisco's CLI has become a standard in the industry, which many hardware vendors copy and promote when trying to get into Cisco accounts (i.e. through the 600,000-plus certified individuals in the Cisco Career Certification Program).
 Vendors such as Adtran not only have a Cisco-like CLI, but they also support some of Cisco's most important features such as Activating NetFlow. Adtran supports NetFlow v9 on most, if not all, of the NetVanta line. The commands to enable it are very similar to the Cisco CLI. |
For example, to globally enable NetFlow v9 on an Adtran device, the following commands must be included (i.e. not all shown) with Adtran:
(config)# ip flow export destination <IP Address> <port>
(config)# ip flow cache timeout active 1
(config)# ip flow export template timeout-rate 15
Similar to Cisco IOS, it must be enabled per interface with Adtran:
(config)# interface Ethernet 0/1
(config-eth 0/1)# ip flow ingress <ACL>
On a Cisco Router, the above can be compared to:
(config)# ip flow-export version 9 (must be specified as Cisco supports version 5 as well)
(config)# ip flow-export destination <IP Address> <port>
(config)# ip flow-cache timeout active 1
(config)# ip flow-export template timeout-rate 15
NetFlow with Cisco routers is then enabled per interface:
(config)# interface Ethernet 0/1
(config-if)# ip flow ingress
Further details can be found at http://www.adtran.com
 Enterasys Networks is another vendor touting a Cisco-like CLI. Their interface includes a couple enhancements such as the ability to enable NetFlow on all ports at once. Configure NetFlow on an Enterasys device as follows: |
(config)#netflow set interval 1
(config)#netflow set ports all-ports
(config)#netflow source <ip-address>
(config)#netflow set collector <ip-address> flow-destination-port <port>
(config)#netflow enable
Further details can be found at http://www.enterasys.com
 Riverbed Steelhead appliances for WAN acceleration also support NetFlow. |
"All of Riverbed's Steelhead appliances ship with NetFlow support to help improve traffic visibility for our customers," said Alan Saldich - vice president product marketing at Riverbed Technology. Below are the basic commands assuming that the defaults are taken:
(config)# ip flow-export destination <ip-addr> interface <int #>
(config)# ip flow-export enable
Further details can be found at http://www.riverbed.com/products/appliances/
 "It's great that Cisco opened up NetFlow to other vendors, certainly the lion's share of our business for Scrutinizer is from Cisco customers." |
"However, we are seeing more customers calling in needing help when they try to activate NetFlow on their Enterasys or Nortel gear," said Michael Patterson - CEO of Plixer International, Inc.
Related story:
| Terry's Blog | The history of the Cisco CLI |
Have you tried another vendor's NetFlow CLI interface?
How does it compare with Cisco's?
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The Leader in Network Knowledge
No reason to recreate the
No reason to recreate the wheel that Cisco invented.
LOL
Justin Lofton
Systems Engineer
Tredent Data Systems, Inc.
http://www.tredent.com
Why Has Juniper Been So Successful
Isn't it funny, that the vendor who has done the best against Cisco in routing - Juniper - is so completely anti-Cisco, especially their CLI. Junipers CLI is a little hard to grasp for newbies, especially Cisco veterans, but once you start to use it you see how great it is.
So, while all the other network hardware vendors build their devices with Cisco CLI and manage to get a whole 1-2% of the market (Adtran, Foundry, Force 10, take your pick), Juniper builds good routers with their own CLI and they are doing well.
Makes you think...if a competitors device is just like Cisco, why not just buy Cisco?
Mike
Yeah, I agree as it relates
Yeah, I agree as it relates to matching up directly as with Juniper. They should have their own CLI but for Riverbed appliances it has made it easier for our engineering team. They are all Cisco engineers that are now also Riverbed certified and we are deploying Steelhead appliances in a lot of Cisco environments so it works out well for us.
Justin Lofton
Systems Engineer
Tredent Data Systems, Inc.
Riverbed Application Acceleration