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
Likelihood to Recommend
WAAS works best for cookie cutter and some unique network design implementations. is best suited for an all Cisco network infrastructure. however, a number of 3rd party network devices can be used and supported when using this product. it's easier with all Cisco. It is priced pretty high to get into and medium to enterprise organizations is best suited to implement this in.
