“Transitioning a large network must be done over a period of time, so coexistence is always critical”
Changing core infrastructure is always hard, always fraught with complications and always littered with unexpected roadblocks. That’s why we do it so infrequently, and usually after an appropriate period of consideration, testing and verification. Transitioning a large network is something that must be done over a period of time, so coexistence is always a critical factor because there is never one homogenous solution in place.
After about six years of hard use, it was necessary to look again at our core network switching, firewalls and Wi-Fi access points. The solution I put in place back then was from Cisco Meraki, a cloud-based user-friendly platform that can scale to global enterprises. One benefit is that it doesn’t drag you into the deep dark hole that is the Cisco command line.
It’s worked well and been very reliable, but one word I wouldn’t use to describe it is cheap. That applies to both the hardware and the licences required to run it. Worse still, when the licence expires the devices stop working. There’s no “fall back to basic mode” on offer: you’re either licensed or your network goes dark.
Which is one of the reasons why I started looking: the thousands I spent on licensing four-and-a-half years ago was coming up for renewal. And with numerous changes in the network, it wasn’t a simple case of handing over a large cheque to keep the existing system running.
Back then, each of our four sites was logically separated,
