#CiscoChampion Radio, S2|Ep. 46. Meraki

#CiscoChampion Radio is a podcast series by Cisco Champions as technologists. Today we’re talking about Meraki with Cisco Subject Matter Experts Joe Aronow and Simon Tompson.

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Cisco SME

• Joe Aronow, Product Marketing Manager for Meraki
• Simon Tompson (@MerakiSimon), Marketing Manager for Meraki

Cisco Champion Guest Hosts

• Ed Walsh (@vEddieW), CTO Evangelist
• Chris Brown (@ChrisKnowsIT), Senior Network Operations Manager
• Samuel Clements (@samuel_clements), Mobility Practice Manager

Moderator

• Breana Jordan (@breanajordan12)

Highlights

• Overview of what’s new with Meraki
• Meraki is all about simplifying IT
• What Meraki is doing with switches
• Meraki has discovered that there is a few gaps in portfolio for customers wanting to build larger local area networks and build out their access layer
• New Physical stacking switches released to help address this gap
• Stacking and what it means to Meraki
• Security appliance intro
• Cool advances on the switches regarding stacking
• Significant changes in the MX portfolio on the security side
  • Added a new security appliance, the MX 84. Replaces the 80. Refresh the 80 with a more powerful platform and to make sure there aren’t big gaps in the portfolio. This is a update to the mid-range MX series.
  • Added iWAN – making the network smarter
• Coming soon… going into beta in a few weeks:
  • Active, active VPN
  • Policy based routing
  • Dynamics VPN path selection
• Meraki approach is to take the key functionality and make it more straight forward.
• Meraki is focused on three functionality
• Good Resources:
  • Blog entry on MS350 stacking- https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2015/11/how-are-we-stacking-up/
  • Blog entry on MX84 and MS350- https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2015/11/bringing-meraki-magic-to-the-enterprise/
• Policy based routing
• Q: Meraki technology is in the use cases you described could you talk about other use cases you are starting to look at? Like IoT solutions. Where is Meraki going in the future?
  • A: Meraki is all about simplifying IT. Big challenge with keeping the simplicity mantra of Meraki and adding new features and capabilities our customers are looking for. Meraki is very critical about adding. Simon can’t give anything away for 2016 but Meraki has some great plans.
• Want to get up to speed on the latest from Meraki…here are some great resources:
  • Meraki Blog- https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/
  • Meraki Webinars- https://meraki.cisco.com/webinars
• Meraki wants to know what you want, what is your feedback out in the field? Ears are always open on Twitter (@MerakiSimon)
• Meraki solutions are not just S&B product
• @Chris Really loves the quarterly webinar https://meraki.cisco.com/webinars/watch/meraki-quarterly-update
• Meraki is looking at re-engagement with existing customers
• MS350 switches: 5 models
  • Added dedicated vantage point
  • Dedicated stacking interface
  • Valuable speed fans
  • Datasheet- MS Switch Series: https://meraki.cisco.com/lib/pdf/meraki_datasheet_ms.pdf
• Q: I am not sure if I heard the answer as to when the Beta code will be available to enable iWAN features? I do not see that available for our MX64
  • A: The IWAN open beta should begin in the next 1-2 weeks.
• Virtual and physical stack
  • Difference and the benefits to physical stack explained
  • Virtual stacking does not go away with physical stacks it is not either or but both
  • Building bigger networks with Meraki switching
• Q: For SMB’s looking at a firewall solution. What is the compelling story of selecting Meraki vs. ASA. Can you also chat about Sourcefire IDS/IPS integration?
  • A: centers around the desired use case
• Cisco has kept the strength of two portfolio’s by keeping them separate
• A lot of interest in the hybrid model
  • Meraki at the branch and Cisco classic in the campus and data center
• Q: Cloud management systems as you move forward?
  • Explore ways we can use the data we have today
  • We have avoiding big data aggregation
  • We don’t interact with customer data – https://meraki.cisco.com/trust
  • Meraki CMX info- https://meraki.cisco.com/solutions/cmx
• Discuss troubleshoot tools when using Meraki
• Systems manager is a secret source of Meraki’s success
• Blog- Reactive Network Rules- https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2015/12/reactive-network-rules/
• Coming with more launches in 2016, so stayed tuned!

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