Cisco updated its SD-WAN offering, including the addition of network quality of experience (QoE) metrics, a multi-region fabric, and identity-based security. The updates are targeted at enterprises prioritizing scalability and optimized network performance.

The latest release adds a new capability to Cisco vAnalytics which provides automation for Microsoft 365 network routing by providing visibility into network QoE metrics and Microsoft telemetry metrics for each available path. JP Shukla, director of product management for enterprise cloud and SD-WAN at Cisco, explained this enables users to access networking metrics on an analytics dashboard and "get the additional proof point, so they don't have to trust [Cisco].” 

[caption id="attachment_121524" align="aligncenter" width="300"] JP Shukla, Director of Product Management for Enterprise Cloud & SD-WAN, Cisco[/caption]

Shukla said that Cisco provides QoE metrics –  rankings on a scale from zero to 10 – based on the application family being considered. This allows users to analyze the performance of applications on a per-site basis. He added that similar offerings give users raw data for loss, latency, and jitter, but the same parameters don't apply equally to all applications.

The new Cisco SD-WAN Multi-Region Fabric can divide a single Cisco SD-WAN overlay network into multiple regions and a central core-region network for managing inter-regional traffic. The fabric works for both mesh connectivity and hub-and-spoke connectivity models.

“Because of this, we can scale our fabric solution way beyond what anyone else could do. And optimize per region,” Shukla said. “These regions are then connected by your central region.”

Shukla said a key enhancement in the release is that even for site-to-cloud connectivity, traffic is now encrypted from end to end.

In a typical network environment, configuration is based on IP address or some variant of IP address, but Shukla pointed out that in this “hybrid world, that doesn't work anymore because I can take my laptop with a certain IP and sit in my office with a totally different IP.” To mitigate this, Cisco enables users to make what Shukla says are zero-touch network access-based policies that use usernames and user-group names to configure their networks.

Cisco can also extend the SD-WAN fabric over the private underlay into the cloud. Virtual SD-WAN routers are hosted in transit VPCs/VNETs across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, and site-to-cloud traffic leverages the private backbone of middle-mile providers like Equinix and Megaport. 

The company also introduced a wireless router, Cisco Catalyst Wireless Gateway, which can be used either as a standalone wireless home router or integrated with Cisco SD-WAN.

Shukla said the SD-WAN space right now “is very promising, very innovative," adding, "and we see that this innovation trend will continue for quite some time compared to other spaces in networking.”