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Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is a set of WAN management and traffic-steering capabilities built around Meraki Auto VPN on supported WAN appliances. It can use multiple internet or cellular uplinks, steer eligible traffic, and apply traffic policies to help a network respond to changing link availability or performance. It is not a single standalone product or a guarantee that every application will recover instantly: behavior depends on the appliance, firmware, configuration, and uplinks.
How Meraki SD-WAN works
Meraki Auto VPN automates the creation and maintenance of site-to-site VPN connections through the Meraki Dashboard. Participating MX and Z-series appliances advertise participating subnets and WAN addresses; the Dashboard generates route information and distributes tunnel keys and configuration. Cisco says Auto VPN traffic is encrypted using an AES cipher. Cisco’s Auto VPN documentation describes the setup and operation.
With multiple WAN uplinks, an appliance can establish Auto VPN tunnels over both interfaces. Administrators can configure policy-based routing, load balancing, and dynamic path selection to determine which paths eligible traffic uses. Without multi-uplink Auto VPN, Cisco documents use of the primary WAN link with failover to the secondary if the primary fails. Those are configuration-dependent behaviors, not universal defaults. See Cisco’s Meraki SD-WAN overview and Auto VPN overview.
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Uplink management and path selection
Administrators can configure uplinks, Multi-Uplink Auto VPN, load balancing, and VPN traffic policies. These controls can help make use of available WAN links and select paths for eligible traffic. Which options are available depends on the appliance and its firmware. Cisco’s traffic-shaping settings documentation describes related configuration areas.
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Traffic shaping and flow preferences
Traffic shaping can prioritize or limit traffic identified by application or other supported traffic signatures. VPN flow preferences can direct eligible flows to preferred uplinks. Cisco documents an important boundary: shaping and VPN flow preferences apply to Meraki Auto VPN traffic, not traffic on non-Meraki VPN tunnels or peers. Check the specific policy documentation before assuming a rule covers all VPN traffic: traffic shaping settings and VPN flow preferences.
Where it can be useful
- Resilience across WAN links: Configure primary-uplink behavior, failover, or load balancing to use available circuits. The result depends on the appliance, uplink setup, and selected policy.
- Prioritizing sensitive applications: Traffic shaping and path preferences can give selected traffic configured treatment. Cisco’s architecture guidance discusses protecting performance-sensitive traffic such as VoIP.
- Small or remote sites: Some MX models offer cellular connectivity for sites with unreliable wired WAN service or a need for another uplink. For example, Cisco’s MX67 and MX68 documentation describes cellular-equipped variants; it is an example, not a complete model comparison.
- Operational visibility: The SD-WAN monitoring view provides Auto VPN tunnel performance information that can help explain dynamic path-selection decisions. Meraki Insight WAN Health offers a broader uplink view and requires the relevant license. See SD-WAN monitoring and WAN Health.
Hardware and deployment checks
Meraki SD-WAN runs on supported Meraki WAN appliances; it is not a feature that can be enabled on arbitrary network hardware. Before choosing a design, verify the model’s uplink types and feature support, the firmware requirements, and the licensing needed for the management and monitoring features you plan to use.
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- Identify required uplinks. Decide whether the site needs one or multiple wired links, cellular connectivity, or a combination, and confirm the selected appliance supports them.
- Define the traffic scope. Establish whether the traffic needing steering or shaping uses Meraki Auto VPN. Policies described for Auto VPN do not automatically apply to non-Meraki VPN traffic.
- Specify recovery behavior. Distinguish between selecting another path, an Auto VPN tunnel failing over, and a physical circuit going down. These are different events and do not have one universal recovery time.
- Check monitoring licenses. Confirm licensing for add-ons such as Meraki Insight WAN Health if you need its broader uplink view.
- Verify current support. Check Cisco’s current documentation for model availability, firmware compatibility, configuration requirements, and licensing before deployment.
Failover timing: what Cisco’s figures mean
Cisco’s Meraki SD-WAN overview reports sub-second failover and failback for dynamic path selection, and 30–40 seconds for Auto VPN tunnel failover and failback. These are source-specific figures; the available documentation does not establish the applicable release conditions or imply that an application will resume within those times. Actual recovery can depend on the failure type, configuration, appliance, and application.
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