Cisco Devices
Last updated
Last updated
ThousandEyes provides customers with a 360-degree view of their digital ecosystem. Customers can install and configure ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent vantage points on Cisco switches and routers to access this real-time map of how their customers and employees experience critical services.
This article provides an overview of terminology, the supported Cisco devices with links to the available installation methods, and next steps for using ThousandEyes.
For more information about ThousandEyes, see the .
The Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly Cisco DNA Center) is the command and control center for Cisco DNA-based networks. For more information, see .
In this article, we will refer at times to "embedded" instances. The terms are defined below for clarity:
Embedded refers to the ThousandEyes capacity entitlement that comes with the purchase of a Cisco DNA Advantage license. This entitlement does not require the purchasing of ThousandEyes licenses, but is limited to the use of Enterprise Agent vantage points.
Non-embedded refers to ThousandEyes licenses purchased directly from the Cisco Global Price List (GPL). These licenses can be purchased in addition to the embedded entitlements in order to gain access to the use of Cloud Agent and Endpoint Agent vantage points, Internet Insights, and to expand your use of ThousandEyes.
While this article primarily focuses on embedded entitlements, the support matrix, setup/installation instructions, and next steps are all applicable to non-embedded licenses as well.
ThousandEyes is a consumption-based SaaS product. Any test run from or to a Cloud or Enterprise Agent vantage point incurs a cost in "units", which are the currency used when data is gathered. When a test is run, the test's cost is deducted from the monthly units your organization has purchased. For more information on how unit consumption is calculated, see .
ThousandEyes Enterprise Agents running on Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches, Catalyst 8000 series routers, and ISR 4000 series routers make use of the same containerized application framework supported by the Cisco IOS XE kernel and Cisco Application Framework. This framework leverages control groups (cgroups) and user namespaces to provide flexible control and total isolation from the main operating system.
The application container is configured to use a user namespace that provides additional isolation and security. User namespaces separate the user IDs between the host operating system and containers, as shown in the image below. A privileged user (known as a root user) in a container cannot be mapped to a privileged user on the host operating system.
In addition, the ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent container is a Cisco signed application, which ensures the authenticity of the applications running on bootflash for Cisco switches and routers.
To ensure reliable performance, the Cisco Application Framework will only allow applications to be activated and installed if there are sufficient resources to do so. If there are not, the installation will fail. In addition, the figure below shows how cgroups limit access to physical resources such as CPU and memory.
The image below shows the results of our performance testing on Cisco 9300 and 9400 devices. No material CPU or memory impacts on the core switching and routing functions were observed during these tests:
We also measured for test result accuracy by fully saturating the browser queue of the Enterprise Agent running on a Catalyst 9000 series switch and comparing that to a benchmark Cloud Agent that we expect to give us reliable results. The results can be viewed in the share links below:
When DNA Advantage licenses are purchased, or additional ThousandEyes licenses are purchased through the Cisco GPL, all Cisco Smart Account administrators associated with the organization will receive a welcome email, similar to the one shown below:
For a full list of supported devices and system requirements, refer to the following support matrices:
Once your Enterprise Agent vantage points have been installed, you can start to build out the tests, alerts, dashboards, and reports, that will allow you to monitor your entire environment. The articles below provide information on where to get started, and your next steps.
The maximum number of authorized embedded entitlements included as part of the Catalyst 9300 or 9400 Cisco DNA Advantage subscription is calculated as set forth in the .
For customers with existing Cisco DNA Advantage licenses (purchased before April 6th, 2021), see the to access your embedded Cisco ThousandEyes entitlements included in your subscription.
The account can be activated by following the "Activate your account" link in the email. Once the account is active, you can install an Enterprise Agent vantage point on each licensed device. See the below for a list of supported devices.
Once you have activated your account, review the supported devices listed below to identify the devices you wish to install Enterprise Agent vantage points on, the system requirements (hardware/software etc), and the available installation methods. For additional reference, see the .
For Cisco Catalyst switches, see .
For Cisco Catalyst routers, see .
For Cisco Nexus switches, see .
For Aggregated Services Routers (ASR) and Integrated Services Routers (ISR), see .
For Meraki appliances, see .
