Cisco Meraki Cloud-Based Network Deployment

Cisco Meraki System

• Cisco Meraki introduces a cloud-based system to reduce overhead and promote enterprise growth.
• The system offers full functionality and is easily managed and monitored using diagnostic tools.

Deploying Cisco Meraki Devices

• Cisco Meraki devices are deployed in campus or remote branches.
• Devices are onboarded easily in the cloud.

Connecting Devices

• Devices automatically and securely connect to the Cisco Meraki cloud.
• Devices register to the proper network and download their configurations.

Managing the Network

• The centralized dashboard provides visibility, diagnostic tools, and management of the entire network.
• Devices automatically establish a connection with the Cisco Meraki cloud when powered on.
• Devices come preconfigured with hostname, IP addresses, and a certificate for encryption.

Encryption and Security

• All management traffic is encrypted using a proprietary lightweight encryption tunnel with AES 256 encryption.

Cisco Meraki Dashboard

• The dashboard is a web interface accessible via any modern web browser.
• Each device creates its own management tunnel.
• Management traffic has a low overhead of 1 to 2 kbps for management data.
• Management data consists of configuration downloads and monitoring data reported back to the cloud.
• User traffic is routed normally and is not proxied through the Cisco Meraki cloud.

Benefits of Cloud-Based Solution

• Historical security concerns about hosting applications in the cloud are addressed by using robust, secure solutions like Cisco Meraki.
• The cloud is a collection of highly reliable multi-tenant servers distributed around the world at Cisco Meraki data centers.

Security

• User traffic never touches the Cisco Meraki cloud, making it HIPAA- and PCI-compliant.
• Customer management data is replicated across independent same-region data centers in real-time and archived in automatic nightly backups.

Reliability

• Cisco Meraki cloud has achieved 99.99% uptime.
• Devices store the last known configuration locally, allowing them to continue passing user traffic even if they lose connectivity to the cloud.
• Locally hosted configuration pages enable basic configuration changes like uplink settings.

Future-Proof

• Firmware upgrades are scheduled and pushed via the dashboard, requiring no onsite presence.
• Cisco Meraki has three firmware tracks: stable, stable release candidate, and beta.
• Firmware versions can be chosen on a per-network basis through the dashboard.
• Upgrades can be scheduled, manually activated, or turned off.

Scalability

• Cisco Meraki manages back-end scalability, allowing users to scale solutions by adding more devices and licenses to the dashboard.

Learn about Cisco Meraki's cloud-based system for deploying and managing network devices. Understand the easy onboarding process, out-of-band control plane, and diagnostic tools for effective network management.