Likelihood to Recommend It [Cisco UCS Manager] is extremely well suited to large virtual infrastructure environments with resource dense blades. This solution is also great if you want to consolidate a large number of servers (if they are servers that need to stay physical, but can fit in the profile of a blade) - this would reduce data center space utilization as well as power and cooling. Cisco UCS Manager is also great if you're looking for centralized management of a larger number of servers. This would not be a great solution if you have a very small shop - it's not cheap and probably wouldn't give you a ROI if you only have a couple dozen servers total. I'd say it would be overkill for small shops, but if you have the money and don't care, you'll still like it.
Read full review Pros: Splunk is very well suited if you have multiple log sources of related data. All of them can be correlated and tasks can be automated based on the requirement. Other than alerts, Splunk can also run a specific script of your choice, based on some defined conditions. Cons: If you have a few logs but a large number of log sources, Splunk can be very expensive.
Read full review Pros It is very all inclusive for management of every part our our Cisco blade center. It allows us to directly connect to a hardware-based server in the blade center as though we were physically at the console. It allows us to monitor the entire system for faults. It lets us manage connectivity. It is set to alert us via email if a fault occurs. Read full review Real-time + Scheduled alerts - i-e you can set up alerts which are actively monitoring your logs Pretty good response time for search results. With our key/value logging, Splunk makes it blazing fast to query the data. Dashboards provide insights into historical data Love how Splunk indexes all of the data and provides keys to search on Read full review Cons Automation: There is a simple power-shell CMD lets, but it leaves more to be desired. Navigation: Navigating the interface can be confusing. Integration: Integration with ESXi hosts while doing FW upgrades would be hugely beneficial without the need for additional tools. Read full review At times some queries can run slowly if indices are not on a portion of the query you use. Setup time initially can be difficult if your logs aren't stored in common locations or in a common way to write the log. Ability to ingest logs from different locations without having to change code to put logs in a certain place (pro and con). Searches can be a bit more difficult to look through if your log isn't pulled in a manner that is easy to read through splunk. Read full review Likelihood to Renew We are using Splunk extensively in our projects and we have recently upgraded to Splunk version 6.0 which is quite efficient and giving expected results. We keep track of updates and new features Splunk introduces periodically and try to introduce those features in our day to day activities for improvement in our reporting system and other tasks.
Read full review Usability You can literally throw in a single word into Splunk and it will pull back all instances of that word across all of your logs for the time span you select (provided you have permission to see that data). We have several users who have taken a few of the free courses from Splunk that are able to pull data out of it everyday with little help at all.
Read full review Reliability and Availability When properly setup and configured, Splunk is extremely reliable.
Read full review Support Rating Cisco UCSM Support has been very quick to reply and address our concerns, issues, and questions. We have found that Cisco's documentation is clear and concise and fairly easy to find. With Cisco support's help, we are able to quickly and safely meet the demands of our end-users, consistently.
Read full review Splunk maintains a well resourced support system that has been consistent since we purchased the product. They help out in a timely manner and provide expert level information as needed. We typically open cases online and communicate when possible via e-mail and are able to resolve most issues with that method.
Read full review Online Training The online course was simple clear and described the main capabilities of the solution. There is also an initial module that can be done for free so anyone can familiarize themselves with the functionality of this solution. On the other hand, however, there could be more free online courses. Maybe even with a certificate, this would broaden the group of people who are familiar with the platform while increasing familiarity with the solution itself.
Read full review Implementation Rating Smooth without too many major issues.
Read full review Alternatives Considered I think UCS Manager would be able very comparable to other vendors offerings when it comes to server configuration. I think Cisco did a good job in giving you full access to many options that you might not see with Dell or HPE. Every manufacturer would need a similar tool to control their server environment, but I think what Cisco has built into their Manager is a little better than others I've used. You can just see and change so many settings. I would say that is also a bit of a negative by a little bit because sometimes it is hard to dig in and find what you need to change and often might need to reach out to TAC or take a training course to understand all of the interface.
Read full review I wanted to learn a new language that I can quickly master and implement. Splunk is easy, fun to use and best of all, it can be developed in hours not days or weeks. Splunk is fundamentally a programming language that is minimal but yet powerful enough to collect, analyze and visualize data.
Read full review Scalability Splunk can scale in to the petabyte per day range which of course is awesome
Read full review Return on Investment The positive is I was able to consolidate my small server infrastructure from 3 racks to one rack giving me space back and much power savings The negative would be it could feel a little daunting to manage as there are many tabs and pieces to the interface. Read full review Overall very positive. It has provided visibility to what is going on within our network. One drawback is the time it takes to get up to speed with the application, but this is up to the user, and Splunk education is excellent. In my field, IT Security, there are few other friends to have in your back pocket better than Splunk. They are just that good. Read full review ScreenShots