Call home is a really cool feature that allows you to be a little more proactive on your network. Instead of relying on your SNMP poller (HP openview, CUOM) to provide you with your network health, the devices are becoming more intelligent.
Imagine a module failing in your switch over the weekend and it being smart enough to perform diagnostics (GOLD), open a TAC SR, and have the module there waiting for you on Monday (if needed right?). You could even integrate it into your current network operations and have it alert you and provide more intelligent alerts. I think it will probably help things get fixed faster and hopefully provide more meaningful alerts.
It’s not currently available on every platform since it’s still kind of new. You will find it on the following ::
Nexus 7k and 5k
6500 12.2(33)SXH
7600 12.2(33)SRC
ACE module
MDS 9k
I also read in the roadmap to where you will eventually see it on the ISR routers as well. It requires a SmartNet contract among some other information from you for the whole thing to work, but I think it’s pretty cool.
I personally like keeping the polling system simple (up/down, basic) and having the devices make the initial diagnostics and alert me with what’s wrong and any tests that were done. The Cisco GOLD feature is really cool because the devices can perform all sorts of diagnostics on hardware. Hopefully the configuration can be somewhat standardized so you can apply it easily. Personally, I hate having to tune out false alarms generated by polling systems. I guess we will see how good this can be…
Ted