Cisco Digital Network Architecture

Book excerpt: The complete guide to transforming enterprise networks with Cisco DNA As networks become more complex and dynamic, organizations need better ways to manage and secure them. With the Cisco Digital Network Architecture, network operators can run entire network fabrics as a single, programmable system by defining rules that span their devices and move with their users. Using Cisco intent-based networking, you spend less time programming devices, managing configurations, and troubleshooting problems so you have more time for driving value from your network, your applications, and most of all, your users. This guide systematically introduces Cisco DNA, highlighting its business value propositions, design philosophy, tenets, blueprints, components, and solutions.Combining insider information with content previously scattered through multiple technical documents, it provides a single source for evaluation, planning, implementation, and operation. The authors bring together authoritative insights for multiple business and technical audiences. Senior executives will learn how DNA can help them drive digital transformation for competitive advantage. Technical decision-makers will discover powerful emerging solutions for their specific needs. Architects will find essential recommendations, interdependencies, and caveats for planning deployments. Finally, network operators will learn how to use DNA Center’s modern interface to streamline, automate, and improve virtually any network management task. · Accelerate the digital transformation of your business by adopting an intent-based network architecture that is open, extensible, and programmable · Integrate virtualization, automation, analytics, and cloud services to streamline operations and create new business opportunities · Dive deep into hardware, software, and protocol innovations that lay the programmable infrastructure foundation for DNA · Virtualize advanced network functions for fast, easy, and flexible deployments · Translate business intent into device configurations and simplify, scale, and automate network operations using controllers · Use analytics to tune performance, plan capacity, prevent threats, and simplify troubleshooting · Learn how Software-Defined Access improves network flexibility, security, mobility, visibility, and performance · Use DNA Assurance to track the health of clients, network devices, and applications to reveal hundreds of actionable insights · See how DNA Application Policy supports granular application recognition and end-to-end treatment, for even encrypted applications · Identify malware, ransomware, and other threats in encrypted traffic