Cisco Meraki switches and security devices

[localzuk]

Has anyone used Cisco Meraki switch gear or security appliances? Not looking at the wireless side at the moment, but the main infrastructure aspect itself.

 

From a "bunch of different schools" point of view, cloud managed switches seem to be a nice idea!

[Tricky_Dicky]

They do look great, but I'd imagine not cheap especially with the ongoing charges...

[localzuk]

They do look great, but I'd imagine not cheap especially with the ongoing charges...

 

Indeed. However, it'll be a matter of comparing time and management costs with how much time/effort is saved via such a setup. A 48 port 1Gbit L2 switch with 4x 10Gb SFP+ ports for uplinks is about £2200. A 10 year license seems to be about £660.

[Tricky_Dicky]

Have to admit, that's not as much as I thought it would be.

 

Like you said, the time saving could be massive, especially with the filtering down to per port and all the excellent visuals that it can offer.

[DavePa]

I was quoted £5,355 for an MS320-48LP Meraki switch (48 port PoE) - and I was buying a number of them! Looks more likely that we will be going HP2920 (48 port PoE) at £1700 each

[localzuk]

That's a full L3 switch you were quoted for. The 2920 is "layer 3 lite" so only has a subset of the features you'd expect from an L3 switch.

 

You only really need one L3 switch per site anyway, at least that's my experience so far.

 

Meraki don't seem to do a L3 lite model, just full L3 or L2.

 

The equivalent HP switch would be something like the 3800-48g-poe+-4sfp. That comes in around £4200.

 

That said, yes, they are definitely more expensive. The question is, how does that compare to management costs when you've got multiple sites to deal with?

Edited February 17, 2015 by localzuk

[DavePa]

Ah, thanks for that - looks like I'm comparing apples with oranges then! As long as I can configure and manage VLANs at each site I'll be happy. Meraki was actually my 1st choice (we are looking at Meraki wireless as well) but the price I was quoted put me off and the 2920 was suggested as an alternative. At 1/3 of the price it makes sense providing it can do what I need

[localzuk]

Indeed. Its kinda interesting that no-one has replied saying they use their switches though. I'd've thought at least one member would've!

[Gaz]

We use their APs and I Would love a fully Meraki network and its just the costs of the firewall products that stop me doing it. The ongoing costs are a concern but as you say the benefit could outweigh that.

 

Being able to manage our 3 networks from a single pane of glass would be a massive timesaver. I think for me because switches are pretty much set and forget there isn't much that needs to be changed then the cost isn't worth it, however their firewall would be.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Gaz

[Alis_Klar]

Anyone able to post screenshots of the kind of reports you can run off?

[Gaz]

This makes me laugh at how easy Meraki products are to use.

 

The Meraki way.

https://kb.meraki.com/knowledge_base/using-vpn-translation-with-overlapping-subnets

 

The Cisco ASA way

ASA VPN with Address Overlap - PacketU

@Alis_Klar I can only show you a summary report from the wireless APs if thats any use?

[pow]

They aren't all sweetness and light however, especially if you have a setup that is slightly out of the ordinary.

[Gaz]

I agree their configs are very static and there is no CLI but for the majority of installations that will be enough, plus they are constantly updating the FW. My example was that even a non technical person could setup a site to site VPN with a few clicks instead of typing 50 lines of code. The example above is actually a non-standard VPN setup anyway.

[nwilkie]

We have a meraki switches and ap in one of our sites and we are looking to role it out fully to all aites. The ability to do stuff on the fly through the mobile app is great. I can throw reports together for the headteacher in little to know time. Webfiltering and shaping within the system is great. Expensive but so worth it for us.

[bjsvec]

I manage a lot of Meraki gear for myself and my customers. The full product line of firewalls, switches, wireless and MDM. For what you get I think they are really priced well and even cheaper than many alternatives as long as you try to do a apples to apples comparison. The tricky thing is that Meraki is all or nothing. So besides the hardware you get full, easy to use network management, reporting, firmware updates, 24/7 support, etc. When comparing to other products you need to try to add all these pieces in (if they even offer them all)

[Gaz]

I just got an MS220-8P I've gotta say I could get used to managing my multiple networks via a web browser! Its uplinked to an SG300-52 and it allows me to see all the devices connected to that switch. I just used the WOL tool to wake a PC up thats not connected to the meraki switch over the net which is pretty cool.

[localzuk]

Got mine too. Its pretty nice being able to just click a button and make big changes to the network. Definitely on my "to consider" when we start buying switches for our possible MAT.