Cisco Secure Network Server Data Sheet

Product overview

Granting and denying network access has evolved beyond simple username and password verifications. Today, additional attributes related to users and their devices are used as decision criteria in determining authorized network access. Additionally, network service provisioning can be based on data such as the type of device accessing the network, including whether it is a corporate or personal device.

The Cisco^® Secure Network Server is a scalable solution that helps network administrators meet complex network access control demands by managing the many different operations that can place heavy loads on applications and servers, including:

●     Authorization and authentication requests.

●     Queries to identity stores such as Active Directory (on-premise or Microsoft Entra ID), LDAP, and other databases.

◦    API queries to fetch attributes from third-party systems (such as ServiceNow or other CMDB systems).

●     Device profiling and compliance checking.

●     Enforcement actions to remove devices from the network.

●     Reporting.

The Cisco Secure Network Server is based on the Cisco UCS^® C220 Rack Server and is configured specifically to support the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) security application. The Cisco Secure Network Server supports these applications in three versions. The Cisco Secure Network Server 3715 is designed for small deployments. The Cisco Secure Network Server 3755 and 3795 have several redundant components such as hard disks and power supplies, making it suitable for larger deployments that require highly reliable system configurations.

Figure 1 shows the Cisco Secure Network Server.

Cisco Secure Network Server

Product specifications

Table 1 lists specifications of the Cisco Secure Network Server.

Table 1.           Secure Network Server Specifications

Security applications

The Cisco Secure Network Server supports Cisco’s powerful network access and control security applications:

Cisco Identity Services Engine

As the industry’s only complete Network Access Control (NAC) solution, the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a revolutionary product that extends the network access and admission control capabilities and is the bedrock of a zero trust solution. Teams gain agility with zero trust provisioning and flexibility in automating their environment through the entire life cycle of managing Cisco ISE. With Cisco ISE as the centerpiece for zero trust access to the workplace (self managed infrastructure), organizations are lowering risk, protecting the integrity of their business, and accelerating secure network access across the distributed network.

Looking beyond username and password, Cisco ISE delivers unprecedented abilities to acquire user and device identity and context information to forge flexible and powerful policies that govern authorized network access. Cisco ISE is an all-in-one enterprise policy control platform that can reliably provide secure access for wired, wireless, VPN, and Private 5G networks. Cisco ISE can also help IT with secure BYOD on-boarding and allow IT to provide differentiated Guest Access. Cisco ISE provides enforcement actions that allow administrators to restrict devices from the network that are violating access and policies.

Table 2 lists Cisco ISE endpoint scalability metrics for the Secure Network Servers.

Table 2.           Identity Services Engine deployment scalability (ISE 3.1 P6 and later)

Note:       Cisco SNS-3795 is equipped with better RAM, Disk R/W performance. It is best suited for dedicated PAN, dedicated MnT or dedicated PAN/MnT personas.

Ordering information

Table 3 lists ordering information for the Cisco Secure Network Servers.

Each Cisco SNS server can be ordered with HDD, SSD or SED as a configuration option.

Table 3.           Product ordering information

SSD offers improved performance in disk read/write operations and other Cisco ISE operations like reboot, installation, upgrades, database intensive tasks like backup and restore, reports generation, and so on.

Performance improvements vary between an average of 15% in fresh installation, 40% in upgrades, and 80% in exporting extensive reports with tens of millions of records.

Table 4 lists the Cisco Secure Network Server component spares that can be used as Field Replaceable Units (FRUs).

Table 4.           Spare components for the Cisco Secure Network Server

Network connective

Copper PID:

GLC-TE - 1000BASE-T SFP transceiver module for Category 5 copper wire

Fiber PIDs: UCS M6 10G NIC Interoperability with Cisco Cables/Optics

Supported Cisco ISE versions

The Cisco Secure Network Server 37xx supports Cisco ISE 3.1 P6 and later versions only. Upon receiving the SNS-37xx, it is recommended to install the latest patch of the Cisco ISE suggested release.

Connectors and LEDs

Connectors and LEDs

Table 5 lists Connectors and LEDs on the Cisco SNS-3715, SNS-3755, and SNS-3795.

Table 5.           Cisco SNS-3715, SNS-3755, and SNS-3795 Connectors and LEDs

Form factor

Physical dimensions (H x W x D) 1RU: 1.7 x 16.9 x 29.8 in. (4.32 x 43 x 75.6 cm).

Environmental

Table 6 lists environmental information for the Cisco Secure Network Servers.

Table 6.           Environmental Specifications

Compliance requirements

Table 7 lists compliance requirements information for the Cisco Secure Network Servers.

Table 7.           Compliance Specifications

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How to buy

To view buying options and speak with a Cisco sales representative, visit www.cisco.com/c/en/us/buy.html.

For more information

For more information, please visit the following resources:

●     Cisco Identity Services Engine: www.cisco.com/go/ISE

●     Cisco UCS Servers: www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcomputing

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