Item: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Rating: 10
Author: Ian Lane

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Use globally to connect over 500 branch offices and multiple DCs. Provides connectivity for a user population in excess of 100k. All WAN solutions in the global network use Cisco Viptela

Pros and Cons

Pros

Intelligent re-routing of application traffic
Easy to use management platform
Quick integration of new locations and devices
Granular customisation options based on well understood hierarchical lists

Cons

Some applications are not recognized in the protocol packs, although this is dependent on the pack vendor rather than Cisco

Return on Investment

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN has enabled huge cost savings when moving from a dual MPLS solution to full internet topology
Leveraging both links at the same time in Active. Active mode essentially doubles available bandwidth for peak periods, meaning a reduction in overall bandwidth costs is possible no matter the underlay
Central management has meant large savings on operational costs

It is easy to use, implements well understood hierarchical rules-based customisation for application awareness routing. Deployment is simplified with the possibility to locate aggregation devices anywhere, and a centralized cloud-based management platform.

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Meraki MX, Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points, Cisco 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 1000) and Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISR 4000)

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Cisco IOS, Cisco Nexus Series Switches, Cisco Meraki Dashboard

Likelihood to Recommend

Provides excellent functionality for various use cases, whether we use it for direct internet access only with DC tunnels available as backup as is the use case in the UK in a full internet solution, or providing reliable links in the case of hybrid topology which is heavily used in other countries in our network. Great for reducing costs by making low-cost underlay technologies a viable networking option. Not really easy to identify where it is not suitable since it is working well in all of our global network use cases, including inter-DC connections.

Comments

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN - Super-Networking!

Modules Used