As a cloud-managed network management solution, the Cisco Meraki Dashboard enables users to provision, configure, and troubleshoot global networking and IoT deployments.
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Riverbed Modeler (discontinued)
Score 6.0 out of 10
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Riverbed Modeler provided a comprehensive development environment to model and analyze communication networks and distributed systems. The application has been sunsetted, and is no longer available.
There was essentially a comparative analysis that was done before selecting Cisco Meraki Dashboard. So compared to Forcepoint's SD- WAN, which was the previous incumbent, this one is much easier to set up and deploy and get up and running.
Catalyst Center, in tandem with a controller, is... overly complex. Supposedly that provides a greater level of control than a Meraki cloud based solution, but that hasn't been my experience.
Don't be comparable, be better! Make more useful for the operations side that the Engineer can check in the morning and tackle issues right off the bat!
I’ve worked with other network‑management and security platforms operating in the same space as Cisco Meraki, which has shaped my perspective on its strengths and limitations. Meraki's interface is far more intuitive, and remote troubleshooting tools are more advanced. …
There exist many simulation simulators like NS2, but Riverbed Modeler is one of the simulators which introduces the GUI interface for networking. The platform just changes the scenario of networking, as it makes it so easy to understand and implement. The functionality almost …
The only thing comparable to OPNET is Packet Tracer, which is basic and very limited. Packet Tracer in terms of tool comparison between the two is like OPNET's stone-age relative.
Well suited is if you do configuration one time and roll out to multiple sites, multiple networks, multiple wireless S societies. You create a profile and rollout, and you use automation that takes care of a lot of your manual work. So it's pretty suitable for those divers. Anything related to customization that a Cisco Meraki Dashboard doesn't offer and you use your other automation tool, I think there is an improvement for Cisco Meraki Dashboard to involve all those features and integrate with other third party services.
Riverbed Modeler needs to improve the scenarios of LAN MAN WAN, as the available scenarios under all of these follow a simple area structure that's not connected to the ISP when it comes to simulation. This generates dummy traffic.
Riverbed Modeler also needs to work on the selection of result sets so that, as with most designed networks, we can select any result parameter to show. All the parameters are displayed, whether they are relevant or not. It needs to display only relevant result parameters to select.
The back-end TCP/IP model needs more clarity to expose the structure to some changes.
The dashboard is easy to navigate and offers many pages that are loaded with information. Cisco Meraki adds new features to the dashboard based on customer feedback and I have seen so many updates and changes that have improved upon the previous version. Most recently they have added Cisco's AI and are looking at an Automation option that will only further improve usability.
A number of networks we've taken over were using Ubiquiti Unifi, which is an okay solution, but a lot more cumbersome to manage. We've found the Cisco Meraki Dashboard system much more intuitive and way less time-intensive. Simple things like setting up dedicated DHCP entries or poking holes in VLAN firewalls are way easier in Cisco Meraki Dashboard.
There exist many simulation simulators like NS2, but Riverbed Modeler is one of the simulators which introduces the GUI interface for networking. The platform just changes the scenario of networking, as it makes it so easy to understand and implement. The functionality almost listed every possible network in the world, which is not given by any other tool. Moreover, it is releasing updated versions to match with the latest technology.
The return on investment is that we went from having a team of 10 people managing this technology to having two people managing the technology, so the human capital expense went down. With that, we didn’t lose any functionality—on the contrary, it continued to expand.
It comes with a costly paid license, but simulating the network before actual deployment saves a lot of costs, in case after deployment we feel performance is not good and we need to change. This would waste a lot of money, but Riverbed saves this money.
Its OPNET GURU academic edition is available free of cost, but with limited functionality, which is good for students in maximum case. This will degrade our sale of Riverbed Modeler.
A one-time investment in Modeler saves a lot of cost regarding networks, topology, designing, and provides a lifetime license with updates.
