Anyone using Zyxel Nebula?

Jimmy you know Nebula is simply a management interface pulling everything together in one pane of glass for you to look at, make changes (limited configuration changes) and determine status. It has been around for a few years and just recently jumped a version so we are all experiencing the upgrade at this time.

My opinion is if your just doing basic configuration management and wanting something that can tie it all together then Nebula is good. BUT if you have to get into some of the deeper configuration settings of USG devices and you want to see the running default settings of the device then you should keep it out of Nebula and just manage it through the device Console. Note: If you do start in Nebula and then switch to Console you will start with the familiar Default configuration on the USG device and have to go in and re-enter everything. I guess that is to be expected but just be aware, you can't go switching back and forth.

I think ZyXEL is pretty well gotten the AP & Switch configuration management in Nebula working. They are lacking at this point on the USG series of devices. Maybe if they would have just taken the existing Console interface and replicated it in the Cloud we might have been closer to a solution but instead they have totally re-written the Cloud management and a lot of things are missing that are available only in the Console. 

ZyXEL has always been very good with their documentation and I know they are just about to release a new Nebula doc to address the recent upgrade. Right now all their docs on the USG refer to the Console management of the device.

Although you really don't have to have the complete network stack in Nebula, Router - Switches - AP's  it helps to get the full picture of the system but each level is fully manageable as a single item on it's own.

My clients that are fairly simple in their setup are fully under Nebula. I'm bringing up one large client that I just had to remove the USG FLEX 700 from Nebula and bring it up under Console Management. This leaves a hole in their Nebula management but the 20 some odd switches and 10 AP's are all under Nebula management.

Of interest for this large client is I have had to separate their devices among 3 different "sites" under the same Organization under Nebula because each bunch of devices are served by different IP stacks and different gateways and it was easier to have Nebula manage each separately rather than all bunched together. Some basic tutorial on Nebula expected configuration would assist you in laying out your Organization and Sites.

Hope this helps. 

-stew