Westcon-Comstor debuted Meraki-in-a-Box, a pre-packaged and ready-to-rock Cisco Meraki environment for the African market.

The kit offering brings together sensors, smart cameras, and switching equipment into an offering designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) set up connectivity and go.

The preconfigured package works via the Meraki Dashboard, with the idea behind it being a simple way to help regional businesses launch cloud-managed networks and distributed technologies.

The kit contains Cisco Meraki’s MX75, a cloud-managed SD-WAN security appliance built for supporting up to 200 users. Featuring a 10-port gigabit ethernet (GbE) interface, a GbE small form-factor pluggable (SFP) port, and three dedicated WAN uplinks, the standout inclusion in the box can power 1 Gb/s firewall throughput and 500 Mb/s of site-to-site VPN throughput – more than enough for SMEs in a nifty desktop form factor.

Also found in the box is the MS130R-8P, a ruggedized eight-port switch that connects all the offerings together. It also makes for suitable use connecting outdoor access points, with it capable of operating in temperatures ranging from -40°F to 158°F. There’s also the MV23M varifocal lens dome camera capable of providing 4K video recording and infrared illumination up to approximately 98 feet.

The MG52 cellular gateway, meanwhile, provides secure, cloud-managed internet access for everything contained within the Comster kit.

“Partners told us they needed a way to bring Meraki to life for customers in a simple and memorable way. Meraki-in-a-Box is our answer to that need,” Ivaniza Araujo, Cisco architectural lead for Meraki at Comstor Southern Africa, told ITEdgeNews.Africa.

The offering is not to be confused with Meraki Go, another box-based solution offered by Comstor that's more aimed at customers with simple networking needs, such as very small businesses including cafés and small offices.