What’s Next for Cisco Meraki Switching in 2024

Brennan Martin and Alex Burger from Cisco Meraki discussed the upcoming MS17 firmware release for Meraki Switching platforms. The key features they highlighted include:

1. Device Health: MS17 will provide detailed information on CPU and memory utilization, as well as switch and environmental temperature for each individual switch. This will help in understanding if issues are related to device performance or environmental factors, such as a data center being too hot.
2. Remote SPAN and VLAN-based SPAN: These features have been highly requested and will allow traffic to be mirrored from selected ports or VLANs across the network to another switch.
3. Dynamic Port Profiles: MS17 will introduce the ability to create automations for configuring switch ports based on triggers like CDP, MAC OUIs, and RADIUS responses, which will automatically apply the appropriate port profile when a device is connected.
4. Radius Configuration: This isn’t directly related to firmware but will allow consistent configurations to be managed at the organization level, simplifying the process of setting up RADIUS servers and policies.
5. Cloud PCAP and Packet Analysis: MS17 will offer cloud-based packet capture and analysis, allowing users to store, share, download, and analyze packet captures directly from the Meraki dashboard.
6. MAC Block List: This feature will enable users to quickly block misbehaving clients, integrating with the same APIs used for wireless and MX products.
7. Adaptive Policy: Introduction of adaptive policy on compact switches, allowing for in-line SGTs and micro-segmentation controlled through the dashboard, interoperable with other Cisco TrustSec-capable devices.
8. Digital Optical Monitoring: MS17 will provide health metrics for devices plugged into the switch, such as TX/RX power, temperature, voltage, and current, with Meraki and Cisco optics supported initially. This will help in predicting issues before module failure.

The release is expected to be in beta in the second quarter and stable GA in the third quarter. The goal is to maintain Meraki’s simplicity while improving integration with other products and adding more advanced features.