What is your primary use case for Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms?

My main use case for Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is to use it as a router inside the cloud, facilitating BGP peering between that and the Palo Alto firewalls, and I have also used it as part of SD-WAN, serving as a vEdge for the SD-WAN devices or cEdge, whichever way you prefer. A specific example of how I use Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms in my environment is that I use it as a router in the cloud to form VPN tunnels over the internet between the different cloud regions and to connect them into a fully meshed network, and I also use it in Azure to connect my different Azure cloud environments.

My main use case for Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is utilizing it as an edge device to connect the MPLS network with the LAN or WAN. I can provide a specific example of how we use it as an edge device in our environment: our clients use Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms because we provide that type of support. We set up the device for our clients and they typically use it as a border router between the internet and their network or to connect with the MPLS. Regarding how our clients typically rely on Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms, it depends on the performance. Cisco is always a great choice. The great thing about Cisco Catalyst is the performance and how it can handle so much traffic and information at the same time, forwarding using CEF technology compared with other brands.

My main use case for Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is that in our deployment, we use it only as a Meraki SD-WAN hardware platform for new SD-WAN sites, serving as the SD-WAN gateway for offices. Providing a specific example of how I use it as an SD-WAN gateway for our offices is straightforward: the office consists of LAN and Wi-Fi deployment with switches and access points, all using Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms as the gateway to the outside. With that SD-WAN gateway, we connect our data centers with gateways in the hub, and we connect to internet applications using tunnels to our cloud security provider. We have been using this new platform recently, transitioning from Meraki MX platforms to a mix of MX platforms and Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms using the Meraki software only.

I have been using Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms for more than one year, and I use it for different projects. My main use case for Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is SD-WAN, routing, security, and cloud connectivity, and it is very useful. I mostly use Catalyst 8000 Edge family for remote sites or, depending on the type, I place it in the data center or similar locations, and I am trying to set up a nice topology. Then I test it for several features so I can use it for the proof of concept part. I can check all the features, security services, modules, interfaces, and all features before I release it. Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms are very powerful devices and very interesting. Most importantly, you can manage it with vManage from the GUI and cloud, so you do not need to test or have it physically, allowing you to manage it from the cloud anywhere, and that is very important for monitoring.

Currently, we are using the Cisco 5585 and the Firepowers, and the Firepower IPS, which comes as part of the firewall module, and the switching and the routing. For switching, we have the Catalyst and the core switch, the big one, which is 8800, and also 68 series. I have experience working with Cisco products and Cisco solutions many times. I used to work on Cisco at the beginning, but nowadays I am on another platform. At this time, I am in a particular administrator position. From time to time, I am driving some standards of a Cisco product. We have UCS, ASA 5585, and Firepower.

Our use case for using Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is that we were establishing a new equipment room for the relocation from the old building to the new building.

Major use cases for Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms are primarily for SD-WAN Edge devices, application-aware routing, and it combines routing and security since this is a one-box solution integrated with a firewall, IPS, IDS, and URL filtering, along with VPN IPsec and segmentation concepts. When analyzing performance of Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms, I'm looking at network WAN performance metrics for mission-critical applications, measuring metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, RTT value, and also using SLA-based routing for path selection. In terms of application performance metrics, Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms uses Deep Packet Inspection, focusing on application response time, per application latency, jitter, loss, and throughput per application. In terms of analytics and telemetry, we are using NETCONF or SNMP polling. We monitor interface statistics, loss, latency, jitter, application performance, CPU, and memory utilization. If we have an IPsec tunnel, we're also monitoring telemetry such as tunnel health, alongside routing and control plane status using vManage or ThousandEyes.