October 24, 2017
Cisco is ushering in a new era of networking technology that they call the Network. Intuitive. Along the way, the rest of us need to keep this new information straight. The Network. Intuitive, Digital Network Architecture (DNA), and DNA Center are all terms and solutions that, though interrelated, have clear definitions that distinguish them from each other. Still, that doesn’t even cover the nine other associated solutions involved in the Network. Intuitive. When learning about this new networking breakthrough, you cannot simply point your finger at one technology. The Network. Intuitive is an umbrella term with multiple umbrella terms beneath it.
To help sort through it all, we’ve developed this Network. Intuitive Infographic that lays out the important terms and how they relate to each other.
The Network Intuitive: Explained
Associated Services:
In addition to the Network Intuitive, DNA, and the DNA center, there are several associated solutions. These technologies either complement or are accessed through the DNA Center.
- Catalyst 9000 Series Switches: Cisco has released a new series of switches designed to support the advancements made in the Network Intuitive including Encrypted Traffic Analytics.
- Software-Defined Access: SD-Access is a solution within DNA and utilized through the DNA center, and it provides policy-based automation and secure user segmentation. Most importantly, it allows network administrators to automate daily tasks such a provisioning, troubleshooting, and configuring.
- Software-Defined WAN: After the recent acquisition of Viptela, Cisco is poised to provide an exceptional SD-WAN solution as part of the Network Intuitive. An SD-WAN helps reduce operational costs of your WAN while also improving performance through intelligent path control, application optimization, and automation.
- Analytics and Assurance: Analytics and Assurance is as the name describes. Through the DNA Center, administrators gain access to powerful and actionable insights. Collect real-time data and utilize Cisco’s advanced correlation and machine learning algorithms to identify performance issues on the network.
- Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA): Data Security is in a perpetual struggle to find the balance between protecting network data and preserving the privacy of users, and encrypted traffic perfectly encapsulates this argument. Encrypted traffic is encrypted so outside users cannot ascertain its contents. At the same time, hackers and malicious actors sometimes fill encrypted traffic with their malware. ETA allows the environment to detect malware in incoming data without the need to unencrypt it, thereby neutralizing the argument altogether. Traffic can stay private; data can stay protected.
- Cisco Stealthwatch: Stealthwatch is a security monitoring application providing insight into the network. Users can gain visibility on both internal and external threats while also leveraging exceptional security analytics.
- Cisco TrustSec: TrustSec is a software-defined network segmentation application. Users can reduce their security risk by segmenting devices without redesigning their networks.
- Cisco Umbrella: Cisco Umbrella prevents your users from unknowingly reaching malicious websites through their web browsers. Umbrella merges with your Domain Name System (DNS) Regulator. Should a user try to access a website known to be malicious by Cisco Umbrella, the search request is blocked before any connection can be established.
- Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE): ISE reduces the complexity of user management on your network. A clear interface displays every active user and device on the network, and additional analytics on user activity can be accessed.
Together, They Create Something More
While the Network. Intuitive is certainly multi-faceted, it cannot be denied how powerful it could be with these solutions working in tandem. Insight and automation are the two driving principles for the Network. Intuitive. Internet devices now outnumber human beings. With an internet that large and constantly expanding, we’ll need both insight and automation to try to manage it all.
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