The Orion Network Configuration Manager (NCM; formerly known as the Cirrus Configuration Manager) allows for the tracking and management of device configuration data across heterogeneous network devices. According to the vendor, in the upcoming new release of NCM the devices of better than 16 different manufacturers are supported by the product, including those from Cisco, Nortel, 3Com, Juniper, Foundry, and more. Communication/interactions with the devices is via several possible protocols, including SNMP (v1/2/3), Telnet, SSH (v1/2), and TFTP.

NCM is a downloadable software package that is loaded onto a Windows-based machine; it is licensed by the number of devices to be managed.

Features of the product include the ability to drill into the configuration history of a device, seeing differing device configuration settings over time as well as providing an audit trail of who made which changes. Configuration modifications are monitored and alerted in real-time (alerting methods include Syslog and SNMP Trap Servers), and a Side-by-Side comparison feature allows for the color-coded review of pairs of configuration files (either the current configuration compared to an initial base-line configuration, or to the configuration of another device). In addition to its ability to monitor and report on configuration changes, the product also supports the direct, and simultaneous implementation of configuration changes; including support for the changing of community strings, ACL updates, or MAC address block list updates across multiple devices. Devices can be grouped and managed via various properties, and user access can be managed via role-based account settings (existing A/D authentication is also supported).

Multiple device configuration files can be backed up by the product, based on naming conventions, machine types, or other custom groupings. These backups can be scheduled to occur as often as required by the customer. Rollback is supported to a previous configuration file, and IOS/Firmware upgrades to the devices can also be performed.

Other features include the detection/reporting of policy-based configuration violations (either internally defined policies or out-of-the-box reports specifically for HIPAA, SOX, CISP, or Cisco Security Audit), with a device remediation feature enabling the restoration of the device configuration to a conformant state; integrated access to the vendor's "Thwack" user community, where users can upload/share device command templates, scripts, and/or configuration snippets; and an Inventory Reporter with the ability to report device information such as serial numbers, interface/port details, IP addresses, and more.

New features in the latest release of NCM include integrated support with the vendor's Orion Network Performance Monitor (providing the ability to monitor network performance and configuration settings within the same GUI window); expanded device support; support for automated network device discovery; and support for global configuration searches (search for specific text in any configuration file or any node with matching text).

The new version of Orion Network Configuration Manager is expected to be available at the end of September with a base price of $2,495 (which includes the first year of maintenance).

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