NETLAB+® Product Comparison
The NETLAB+ product line consists of three versions, allowing you to select the best fit for your organization's budget and requirements.
| Details | NETLAB Academy Edition® (AE) |
NETLAB Professional Edition® (PE) |
NETLAB Enterprise Edition™ (EE) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled, remote access to lab equipment, PCs, and servers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Record and assess student work | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supports custom labs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supports Cisco Networking Academy Labs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automated device and configuration management | Cisco IOS | Cisco IOS | Multi-Vendor Support |
| Allows usage outside of Cisco Networking Academy Program | No | Yes | Yes |
| Support commercial training programs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Branding | No | Yes | Yes |
| Maximum Number of Equipment Pods | Up to 12 | Up to 15 | Configured to meet your specifications |
| Custom pods | 2 of 12 may be custom topologies | All pods may be custom topologies | All pods may be custom topologies |
| Purchase Price (USD) | $6,795.00* | $19,995.00* | Price based on your unique system configuration and requirements |
| Annual software maintenance and support contract (USD) |
Required after year 1 $2,395.00* (included in year 1 purchase price, due annually in subsequent years for continued use) |
Recommended $2,995.00* (not included in year 1, required to receive Academy updates) |
Maintenance and support pricing is based on system configuration and ongoing requirements |
*Starting price for category, select price for details.
What is the difference between NETLAB Academy Edition®, NETLAB Professional Edition® and NETLAB Enterprise Edition?™
NETLAB Academy Edition (NETLABAE) is available exclusively to Cisco Networking Academies as part of Network Development Group’s partnership with Cisco to service educational institutions participating in the Cisco Networking Academy program. The terms of the NETLABAE license restrict the use of NETLABAE to be used solely to teach the Cisco Networking Academy curriculum. NETLABAE allows the use of two custom pods for the purpose of case studies within the Cisco Networking Academy and for Academies to test (not implement) teaching additional curriculums.
NETLAB Professional Edition (NETLABPE) was created to meet the needs of the many academic institutions who asked for the ability to use NETLAB+ to teach outside of the Cisco Networking Academy curriculum. NETLABPE is licensed to teach any curriculum that the academic institution has acquired the right to host. NETLABPE is an off-the-shelf product designed for the following:
- Host equipment and virtual machines.
- Allow your organization to design equipment pods to host.
- Allow your organization to a design library of lab content.
- Automate pre-load of configurations and clean-up of lab.
NETLAB Enterprise Edition (NETLABEE) is a customized product, built to meet the specific requirements of your organization. NETLABEE provides an enterprise-level solution that can be designed to meet the needs of large-scale organizations, research and development projects, or to meet requirements unique to a specific organization.
See the NETLAB+ Product Comparison Table >
Why are NETLABAE, NETLABPE and NETLABEE priced differently?
NETLABAE is priced based on the size of the market. NETLABAE is discounted heavily because 1) each Academy pays a lease review the required annual fee to cover development costs to keep the system current, 2) amortizes the cost of ownership over several years to assure affordability, and 3) may only use the system for Cisco Networking Academy training. The annual support fee is required for continued usage.
NETLABPE is priced as a one-time purchase, off-the-shelf solution. An annual maintenance fee is not required with the purchase of a NETLABPE system, nor required for continued usage. However, the purchase of a support agreement is required in order to continue receiving software updates, including those needed to support the Cisco Networking Academy curriculum.
NETLABEE is priced to accommodate organizations with unique requirements or the need to host a large amount of equipment sets behind one large server deployment. Pricing and support plans are based on specific system configuration and requirements. Our team works closely with you during each stage to ensure a quick and successful deployment.
What products can be hosted and automated with NETLAB+?
Many products can be hosted behind a NETLAB+ system for the purpose of remote access via the Internet. What can be automated depends on the base functionality of the equipment. Some devices can be fully automated. Some devices have design limitations that allow for partial automation. Some devices have design limitations that allow no device automation. If the device can be managed via a console port and command line interface (CLI), full or partial automation may be possible. For complete automation, the manufacturer’s design must allow for remote password recovery and image recovery (if desired).
NDG supports a large array of Cisco equipment because 1) of our partnership with the Cisco Networking Academy and 2) the market for Cisco equipment justifies the labor to design automation around remote labs for many devices. NDG will consider automating other devices when an opportunity justifies the labor to automate required devices or when a customer is willing to fund the automation cost with the understanding that the automation driver will be used as a generic driver as needed and deployed by NDG.
Can I buy NETLAB Professional Edition and host any equipment?
You may host any device that is listed as a supported device. If the equipment you wish to use is not listed there are a couple of options:
- You can submit a request for NDG to develop the automation. If the device is a high-need device by existing customers, NDG will develop automation.
- If the device is not in high demand you can fund the development of automation. The development can be funded by covering the costs or by business development efforts that assure cost recovery plus profit.
NETLAB Professional Edition is an off-the-shelf product. If your organization wants to pursue the development of equipment drivers and software tools not built into the NETLAB+ product line, NDG will propose the NETLAB Enterprise Edition as a starting point. If the business opportunity will allow a specialized appliance or multiple NETLAB+ servers, we will do our best to lower the cost of ownership on subsequent systems.