Tool Radar for network and data centre operations
Our assessment of tools, techniques and platforms for data centre, network and IT operations. Drawn from hands-on project work, not from data sheets. Every placement comes with its reasoning, and we revise the radar once a year.
The FlixConsulting Tool Radar places tools, techniques and platforms for data centre, network and IT operations in four rings: Adopt, Trial, Assess and Hold. It draws on experience from projects in the public sector, industry, logistics and banking. Every placement states when a tool is a good fit and when it is not.
The closer to the centre, the more we recommend an entry. The numbers lead to the list below and to our reasoning.
- Adopt
- Proven in several projects. Our standard recommendation for the task.
- Trial
- Proven in projects, but tied to prerequisites. We recommend it when team, scope and setting fit.
- Assess
- Interesting and worth watching. It should prove itself in a pilot before wider use.
- Hold
- Not for now. Existing set-ups can stay, but we would not start anything new with it.
All entries are new in edition 2026.
By quadrant
Techniques
- 1 Flow data for capacity and fault analysis sFlow, NetFlow and IPFIX show who talks to whom, and how much.
- 2 Operational knowledge as Markdown in Git Runbooks and operational documentation under version control, readable by people and AI.
- 3 Phased migration with a rollback plan Migrate in waves, each with testing, acceptance and a way back.
- 4 RPKI validation for BGP Accept only BGP routes whose origin is verified.
- 5 Source of truth before automation Establish one authoritative data source first, then automate.
- 6 AI document search with source citations Ask questions of your operational documentation, with a source for every answer.
- 7 CI/CD in air-gapped environments Pipelines in networks without internet access.
- 8 Network configuration from the source of truth Generate device configurations from the data in the source of truth.
Tools
- 10 Ansible Configuration and changes as code.
- 11 GitLab CI/CD Pipelines for deployments and network changes.
- 12 NetBox Source of truth for network, IP and data centre data.
- 13 Terraform Infrastructure as code for cloud and data centre.
- 14 Artifactory Central store for packages and images, even without internet access.
- 15 FNT Command Planning of buildings, cages, racks and cable routes.
- 16 Foreman Provision servers from scratch and control patch levels.
- 17 Helm Packaging and configuration for Kubernetes applications.
- 18 Nautobot Source of truth with custom workflows and apps.
Platforms
- 23 AWS EKS Managed Kubernetes on AWS.
- 24 Hyper-V Virtualisation for Microsoft-centric environments.
- 25 Kubernetes Container platform, if a team can carry the operational load.
- 26 Microsoft Azure Public cloud closely integrated with Microsoft 365 and Entra ID.
- 27 OPNsense and pfSense Open-source firewalls for smaller sites and test environments.
- 28 Podman Containers without a daemon and without root privileges, good for individual hosts.
- 29 Proxmox VE KVM virtualisation with management, clustering and backup.
Operations & monitoring
An opinion you can check
- 01
From practice
The radar only includes what we have worked with hands-on. We do not rate anything we only know from data sheets.
- 02
Reasoned
Every entry says when it is a good fit and when it is not, so you can apply the recommendation to your own environment.
- 03
Reviewed every year
Once a year we review every entry. New and changed entries are marked.
Questions about the radar
What do the four rings mean?
Adopt means proven in several projects and our default recommendation for the task. Trial means proven, but tied to prerequisites such as team, scope and context. Assess means worth watching and best tested in a pilot first. Hold means we would not start anything new with it at present. Every placement states when an entry is a good fit and when it is not.
How often is the radar updated?
Once a year. New entries and changed placements are marked, and earlier placements remain traceable for each entry.
Why are some well-known tools missing?
The radar only includes tools, techniques and platforms we have worked with in practice. We do not place anything we know only from data sheets.
Which tools suit your operations?
In an initial call we review your tool landscape and show where a change pays off and where it does not.