Preview of Cisco Cloud Delivered Campus Fabric

See the future of Cisco’s Cloud Delivered Campus Fabric in this preview. The presentation detailed Cisco’s efforts to extend cloud management capabilities to more Catalyst platforms, particularly with the 17.18 release, which introduces support for the Catalyst 9500 and the rest of the Catalyst 9200 portfolio. This aims to address the challenges of traditional networks, such as management sprawl, troubleshooting difficulties, configuration inconsistencies, and security complexities, by creating a unified, cloud-managed campus fabric. The focus is on enabling larger environments with features like VRF support, BGP, routed interfaces, and RPVST, while also simplifying the integration of existing networks into the fabric.

A key aspect of this cloud-managed fabric is its seamless integration with existing network infrastructures. It allows for the gradual migration of network segments into the fabric, minimizing disruption and the need for extensive hardware overhauls. The underlay is designed to accommodate existing subnets, which can be moved into the fabric and selectively deployed across different leaves. This approach supports distributed wireless configurations and optimizes network topology by controlling broadcast traffic replication. Security is also a central theme, with full integration of adaptive policy and access manager to ensure granular control over endpoints, irrespective of the fabric topology.

The setup process is streamlined into five steps, three of which are critical: creating the fabric, assigning roles, and configuring border routing. A staging function allows for the review and approval of configurations before deployment, enhancing change control processes. The presentation also demonstrated the user experience, highlighting tools for troubleshooting and verifying fabric deployment. This cloud-orchestrated EVPN fabric aims to simplify network management, enhance security, and provide a flexible path for modernizing campus networks without requiring a complete infrastructure replacement.