DNA Explained - Licensing and DNA Center

[@joetan2098]

I've been confused for quite a while ago regarding the license usage (did some online research but the explanation is unclear to me) until I came across your videos that had cleared all my doubt. It's really an informative video, thank you very much.

[@CiscoSal]

Awesome Joe!! Glad i could help!!

[@WhiskiedGinger]

Yes, Sal, we DO need more content clearly and cleanly explained. Like this! Amazing job!

[@CiscoSal]

Thanks Chandler!! You should come back to cisco 😁

[@daltonsolomon9865]

I feel like there are kids in elementary schools that would understand this video. Very well done sir. Thank you very much!

[@CiscoSal]

Thanks for the comment!!

[@codger4769]

Outstanding! I wish I saw this 10 months ago, thank you!

[@lunhamegenogueira1969]

Finally understood what it is all about. Thanks a million.

[@estebangomez1823]

So, the 9K Router will come with perpetual, lets say Network Advantage licenses, but also, We will need to mandatory obtain DNA licenses ? What if I continue with the Network Advantage Licenses and never do the DNA licenses?

[@CiscoSal]

Yeah no worry you can do that. Network license stays on the box. Dna license is extra features. So if you dont need those extras then dont renew them.

[@viuvanegrapc1]

Very well esplained, congrats. In my opinion generally the subscription part of DNA is useless. Its hard to justify the aquisition of the subscription without DNA Center.

[@CiscoSal]

That goes back to if you need the other features besides dna center. DNA center is only half of a DNA license. There are still switch features you can enable in cli that require a dna subscription. Also…. I didn’t bring it up in the video but the hardware price was reduced to accommodate the subscription. So if you priced out a 3650/3850 with no subscription vs a 9300 with a dna subscription, the 9300 actually comes out less expensive 😀. I would have to do comparisons with customers when we made the transition from the 3650/3850s to cat 9ks.

[@5514861705]

I have a question: If you have a perpetual license for a switch you have bought, why is it mandatory to have a respective subscription? If you have perpetual license for features of a switch, is it a perpetual feature to need to have a subscription to use that switch? thank you for the video

[@andriusd661]

if I have DNA license do I need have device license? If I will purchase DNA-P-T3-A-Y license do I need purchase separately "CSR 1KV AX 500M" for CSR router ?

[@freddytoledocartagena8959]

Hello Sal. Your video is fantastic!, thank you very much for the clarification. But I have a question about all of this, because in my case, I currently have devices that are a little old and has an SNT/ECMU support license, but it did not come with DNA. It turns out that now I am in a stage of renewal, and I want to buy new devices to change the previous ones, and there is my question: Why is CISCO including its DNA to me when I don't need it, is it mandatory to have it? Looking at its features I see that the Essential base license is enough, but they want to add the DNA Advantage. It doesn't seem coherent to me. Could you guide me a little on how I should choose? Thanks a lot!

[@R.skolnikov]

do you need to buy addiitonal DNA for non-cat9k switches fpr examples 2960 or ISR,ASR Routers, if these devices need to be managed by Catalyst Center? (former DNA Center) with cisco prime these devices just need tokens and have classical LAN/IP base sw. my assuption was that we need to buy for example DNAC-ISR1K-E-3Y for ISR1k series in order to manage it in Catalyst center.

[@zenquester3896]

Thanks Sal. I was looking for just this information. Subscribing.

[@stevend6974]

Basically Cisco is pushing an additional fee/subscription onto their enterprise grade devices, needed or not, because they believe enterprises can afford them. Its a money grab. Its more than likely a method to force fund the operations of the Cisco DNA team. I wonder how many customers keep the DNA license after the mandatory license purchase.

[@CiscoSal]

Hi @stevend6974 thanks for the comment! I can see how this can be confusing. Cisco has always had software and subscriptions on their switches. You would buy a device and the software license would be tied to the switch, wireless controller, router etc... You could not move, and it would live and die on the switch. Then on-top you would have Smartnet and SWSS support on the software. This would cover IOS upgrades, TAC support, and hardware replacement. A lot of customer asked to decouple the software and the hardware. This way they can move licenses around as they see fit. So thats exactly what Cisco did. Also to cover the cost of DNA they actually reduced the cost of the hardware AND smartnet. If you were to go back during the transition from 3850 to 9300, it would actually be CHEAPER to get the 9300 with DNA on it. If you dont see value in the added features of DNA then dont renew it after the 3 year period. Hope this helps!

[@LukeMorrel]

Hey Sal, will do do a video covering RTU and SIA licenses on the routing platform? Hitting questions like: main differences, which licenses are required on net new purchase vs renewals, license sharing/pooling, how each hit opex/capex, etc Thanks!

[@azmirnordin5172]

Sal.. tq for the DNA explanation.. Nice

[@bbrendon]

does this have any relation to SmartNet? Does SmartNet have to be purchased in addition to DNA?

[@CiscoSal]

This has no relation to smartnet. You will still need smartnet for tac support.

[@sliddjur]

Coming from a juniper guy - can Cisco DNA make build configuration for you? For instance EVPN-VXLAN topology in the datacenter?

[@gastonhitw720]

I want to buy a good used or refurbished cisco 24 port switch for home use and testing, I'm a ccna student and I don't want a simple switch, but I also don't want to buy licenses, what advice would you give me? what model could be good?

[@janbarthel3276]

Thanks for this great explanation. Exactly what I was looking for.👍 But I have one question, hardware stacking and also StackWise Virtual is also possible without DNA? Because for this question I haven't found the right answer yet.

[@CiscoSal]

Hardware stacking is fine with whatever license. Stackwise virtual you will need network advantage for. There is no way to buy network advantage without dna advantage. So you will end up with dna advantage even if you dont need it. I will say there are other good things in dna advantage so hopefully you find it useful for something else.

[@aurelien1241]

Hello, I would like to know how to add a license on a 9200 switch. We purchased 2 switches C9200-48P-A, with 3YR SNTC 8X5XNBD Catalyst 9200 48-port PoE+, Network Advantage and C9200 Cisco DNA Advantage, 48-Port, 3 Year Term License. Before, we didn't have DNA and we used 2960. I looked on google, but everything seems complicated to me.

[@CiscoSal]

All new switches are smart licenses based. So once it phones home to the smart license server the switch will pull the dna advantage license. You don’t actually install a license on the box anymore. You can access your smart license portal from software.cisco.com Let me know if that answers your question.

[@aurelien1241]

@@CiscoSal ok, thanks. Does the switch need to access the internet? If so, just long enough for the server to put the DNA license on the switch? Or all the time? Currently, the switches ordered are not in production.

[@CiscoSal]

How did you buy the switch? If it was through a reseller that buys it direct then the licenses is already installed on the box from factory. Google “cisco slp.” If it went though distribution then needs to hit the smart license portal to get the license.

[@user-uu9df5ly3z]

Does AP show SSID if AP does not have dna software for wireless licensing?

[@CiscoSal]

For wireless you need to purchase a dna license to get an AP license for the controller. Once your dna license expires, if your not using any of the dna features, you dont have to renew. The controller AP license does NOT expire.

[@user-uu9df5ly3z]

@@CiscoSal Thank you for replying For just the lab environment, even though AP doesn't have the license, it works properly, right? Like AP shows SSID, connecting to the client and so on

[@CiscoSal]

Yes but you will show a license deficit in your smart account.

[@The-Expertz]

@@CiscoSal hi sal. I have 9800cl wlc and i am going to purchase 20 APs c9105axi. how many license i need to buy of AIR-DNA-E?

[@CiscoSal]

@@The-Expertz 20 licenses. One per AP.

[@kylemcdermott4725]

Sal, you aren't that far from us. Does Cisco every have physical events in this area?

[@CiscoSal]

Hey Kyle! Where are you located?

[@benbbuxton]

Hi Sal, do you work for Cisco or a Cisco partner?

[@CiscoSal]

Cisco. Did you have a question i can help with?

[@benbbuxton]

@@CiscoSal just curious, good vid

[@CiscoSal]

Thanks!

[@marcomadrid6762]

Hi Sal, what if I buy a refurbished C9500-48Y4C-A, I need to have forcely a DNA Advantage license?

[@CiscoSal]

If you buy it legit though cisco certified resell program then dna is mandatory. Even if you buy it off gray market you may still need to call cisco and buy dna licensing if you need any of the features in dna essentials or advantage.

[@marcomadrid6762]

@@CiscoSal so, if I don´t need any features from DNA Advantage just only features of Network Advantage like OSPFv2-3, BGP I´m not forced to buy it? Thanks for ur reply

[@CiscoSal]

@@marcomadrid6762 If you buy it from a legit Cisco partner then you MUST buy a DNA license. If you buy it gray market aka "it fell off the back of a truck" you wont pay for DNA BUT, then the box is not supported by Cisco and you can not upgrade the IOS-XE code. Even if you buy it gray market, you may still get in the situation that you need DNA and end up having to buy it. For example, you might need DNA for Netflow. Here is the product matrix showing all the features in DNA. www.cisco.com/c/m/en_us/products/software/dna-subscription-switching/en-sw-sub-matrix-switching.html

[@akshaykumarjadhav945]

Great job thanks

[@TorsTechTalk]

Thank you, well explained Sir.

[@fertunamoea8459]

Great insights thanks

[@CiscoSal]

Thank you!

[@behrad8860]

awesome

[@RotaDefault]

well explained. thanks

[@darcoeme]

Muy clara la explicacion muchas gracias.

[@CiscoSal]

fabuloso feliz de ayudar

[@HelenaBorges-fi9yz]

this is amazing

[@techsolutions9294]

How does DNA Premier license fit in this mix?

[@CiscoSal]

Dna premier is pretty much gone. It was a bundle of dna advantage and a few other random products like ISE. It does not exist at all for switches anymore. You might still see it on some other products. But like i said its really just dna advantage with other products bundled in. Hope that helps!

[@shinababes]

Hey Sal, I believe you can upgrade an essentials to advantage but not advantage then back to essentials.

[@CiscoSal]

Correct. You can go up but not down.

[@promontorium]

I have one obvious question no website or person in the universe seems to address, how many components does a subscription cover? One per component? 100 components per subscription? wtf.

[@CiscoSal]

Its quantity based. So if you have 30 switches each switch needs 1 license. So if you were doing DNA advantage then you would need 30 DNA advantage licenses.

[@bimatube1274]

In other words buy license!

[@AkramMohammed]

to do a heat map, is it free software?

[@CiscoSal]

I’m not sure i unstated what you are taking about. This video was around licensing on switches.

[@AkramMohammed]

@@CiscoSal i have a building where i need to do heat map survey to see the coverage. i heard that DNA Centre can do this. You have any info on this?

[@CiscoSal]

You can try this. www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/dna-center/2-3-3/user_guide/b_cisco_dna_center_ug_2_3_3/m_work-with-wireless-2d-and-3d-maps.html#Cisco_Task_in_List_GUI.dita_9f5c0d39-d6d5-4a04-b52d-118a5e4f8180

[@captainplacard9666]

Nope, you don't need DNA. I'm living proof. The ex got my DNA in the divorce

[@user-zu6gi9kn5l]

Mats right, you are not showing the true tools that TRUE traders use. this is dog doo doo