Cisco WAAS WAN Optimization
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Our organization has a network design of hub and spoke. All of the spoke locations are connected via an MPLS link and have varying speed connections. To facilitate a seamless and robust WAN network we implemented WAAS as a bandwidth optimization tool. It enables us to provide a faster user experience without having to implement faster networks and pay more money monthly for the service.
We use WAAS for all of our MPLS WAN connected sites to connect back to our primary datacenter and application service site.
Pros
- Network file and application optimization
- VOIP telephony optimization
- Citrix application optimization
- Standardized user experience for networking usage
Cons
- Administrator GUI user interface is archaic and very dated
- Admin GUI lacks a bunch of feature support options you have to do via CLI
- Some endpoint functionality needs to be done at each site instead of from the central admin tool. so redundant effort and can cause site config drift
- Admin GUI lacks some monitoring and reporting options that would be helpful for support and trouble resolution
Most Important Features
- WAN optimization
- application optimization
- citrix optimization
- vpn service optimization
- voice optimization
- database optimization
- data replication optimization
- DR scenario optimization
Return on Investment
- saves monthly internet service costs
- seamless network experience for all users at all sites
- ok troubleshooting admin portal so some IT skills are required to manage this
- is costly to purchase
- somewhat complex to set up but easy to administer once working
Alternatives Considered
Riverbed SteelHead
Other Software Used
Cisco Nexus Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches, Cisco Meraki MS