SNMP vs Netflow vs Syslog

🔍 Confused Between Syslog, SNMP, and NetFlow?

You're not alone! In this post, I’ll break down the key differences in a simple and practical way 👇

🔸 NetFlow

NetFlow monitors live traffic on your device interfaces ⏱️
It provides insight like:
📦 Number of packets
🔁 From which Source ➡️ Destination (IP or MAC)
📍 Used protocol and port number

🔸 Syslog

Syslog sends alerts about events and changes happening on the device 📨
It notifies you with messages such as:
🔌 Port up/down
❌ OSPF Neighbor Down
⚠️ Native VLAN mismatch

You can configure where those messages are sent:
📺 Console
💾 Buffer
🖥️ Telnet / SSH
🗄️ External Syslog Server

🔸 SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

SNMP is used to monitor the health and performance of your devices 📡
You can track:
🧠 CPU • 💾 RAM • 🌐 Interfaces • 🌀 Fans

It also supports remote configuration using:
📥 Get – Retrieve info
🛠️ Set – Apply config
🚨 Trap – Alert without acknowledgment
📢 Inform – Alert with acknowledgment

There are versions 1, 2, and 3 — but it’s highly recommended to use SNMPv3 for:
🔐 Encryption
✅ Authentication

🧠 In SD-Access Environments:

A single device like the Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly DNA Center) can handle all of these tasks 🔄
It can act as:
🟢 Syslog Server
🟢 SNMP Server
🟢 NetFlow Collector

You can easily configure that under:
Design → Network Settings → Telemetry 🖱️