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Network Security Guide
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN Definition
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN – If you work in the network technology sector, you have probably heard the term SD-WAN many times in recent months. In this post, we will discuss concepts to help show why SD-WAN could be of great benefit to your business.
SD-WAN means different things to different providers, not to mention all the dedicated hardware, software, and licenses necessary to run these solutions. The goal of SD-WAN is to allow organizations to save money and meet their connectivity needs faster.
Understanding how Cisco Meraki works requires looking at the broader design principles behind SD-WAN architecture, including centralized management, traffic policies, application-aware routing, and the separation of network control from underlying connectivity.
Cisco Meraki Features
At Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solution included with the base license (business license) on all Meraki MX SD-WAN security devices and did not require additional servers or hardware. Just connect it, configure it in the Meraki panel, and start saving money, add value in other areas of the business.
SD-WAN is an acronym for Software-Defined WAN and is a technology that forms the family of software-defined network technologies (SDN), with another example being software-defined access. Being defined by software means that decisions about how traffic can be routed between all sites in the WAN are defined by the policy, and their behavior adapts to the condition of the WAN rather than having a fixed configuration.
Cisco offers more than one approach to SD-WAN, and Cisco Viptela SD-WAN represents another enterprise-focused platform that uses centralized orchestration and policy-based control to manage distributed WAN environments.
Cisco Meraki isn’t the only platform designed to optimize application performance across distributed networks. Silver Peak SD-WAN is another SD-WAN solution known for addressing WAN performance and application delivery across hybrid network environments.
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solutions achieve this through a series of functions, such as resistance, security, quality of service, application optimization, and much more.
SD-WAN platforms can also take different approaches to virtualization and centralized policy management. Nuage SD-WAN uses software-defined networking concepts to manage connectivity and network policies across distributed environments.
If it is not broke, do not fix it
Innovator’s dilemma teaches us that if you don’t introduce disruptive technology into an established space. Established space such as WAN, then someone else will do.
The simplicity of Cisco Meraki SD-WAN means that power and flexibility. Which are directly in the hands of the customer or service provider. This means that without the need for additional devices or updates, customers can benefit from more network connectivity.
While this type of preferential routing is available in traditional MPLS networks, it is usually only available at a premium level, in a set of limited classes. And also for predefined networks or applications. While Cisco Meraki SD-WAN combines application detection based on layer 7. Layer 7 that comes across the entire Meraki stack to achieve this in a shorter way.
As organizations move applications and users away from traditional data-center networks, SD-WAN is increasingly being combined with cloud-based security services. This convergence is a key part of SASE, an architecture that brings networking and security capabilities together for distributed environments.
Why use Cisco Meraki SD-WAN?
We often joke that the SD-WAN is just a magical, policy-based entertainment built on the Cisco Meraki automatic VPN. It also uses open standards-based technology that you have probably already used. What we specifically refer to here is a technology originally creates on Google. But later open source, which is incorporates into most of its products (for example, Gmail, Google Drive).
Security devices and SD-WAN MX use this technology to infer latency and jitter. And also, loss of virtual path packets between 2 MX. These three things jointly give us the ability to calculate an Average Opinion Score (MOS). This MOS can be used to rate the acceptability of a WAN route for voice traffic.
Another major SD-WAN platform is VeloCloud SD-WAN, which focuses on simplifying WAN deployment and management while improving connectivity between branch offices, cloud services, and other distributed resources.
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is a cloud-managed approach to software-defined networking that simplifies WAN connectivity, centralized management, and application-aware traffic control. If you’re new to the technology, our SD-WAN definition and overview explains the core concepts behind software-defined WAN before diving into Cisco Meraki’s implementation.
This means that one of the pre-configured policies is the ability to choose the virtual route. And that is best for voice traffic: a quick profit for everyone.
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN can simplify network management across distributed locations, but organizations still need to protect their infrastructure, endpoints, and connections against cyber threats. Following established network security practices can help strengthen the overall security of an SD-WAN deployment.
