White Paper

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complete lifecycle management capabilities. So you can identify problems much more quickly and control
your entire business network with fewer resources.
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One network with Cisco Unified Access and Unified Computing: Unified access has two overarching
deployment modes – converged access and wireless overlay. Converged access architecture extends all of
the Cisco IOS Software capabilities you use in the wired network – scalability, resiliency, security, QoS, and
more – to your wireless infrastructure. In smaller sites (up to 100 access points) the need for appliance
controllers can be eliminated by leveraging Cisco Catalyst switches that integrate wireless controller
functionality. For larger deployments – irrespective of whether it is a converged access architecture or a
wireless overlay architecture – a controller appliance based deployment makes more sense since it
optimizes IP addressing and roaming at scale. For these deployments Cisco Prime enables you to minimize
the complexities and manage your wired and wireless network components as a single holistic network.
2. Automate and Innovate
Most IT departments spend almost 80 percent of their time on repetitive operations. The entire lifecycle of the
network is affected, from deploying new network devices, to managing the network, to upgrading or replacing
network equipment. This includes activities such as installing software on all your various networking platforms,
managing VLANs, configuring QoS, and more.
Automation
Today, each of these activities—and many others—is a manual process, requiring you to address each switch,
wireless controller, and endpoint device in your network individually. With up to tens of thousands of devices in the
network, it is no wonder IT spends most of its time just making everything run. You need to automate these very
manual and repetitive tasks.
Cisco switches, routers, and wireless equipment can automate software installation, configuration, and image
management across the lifecycle of your network. The zero-touch capabilities brought by Cisco also make your
network easier to manage. You can make a configuration change once and know it is implemented consistently
everywhere, without the errors that inevitably crop up when making changes manually.
Your switches automatically notify you if there is a problem and often provide specific steps needed to solve it. So
troubleshooting does not stretch out over hours and days; many problems are identified and resolved before they
ever affect end users:
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Smart Install lets you install software or make a configuration change once to automatically and rapidly
propagate it across your infrastructure. Plug-and-Play (PnP) is the next generation of Smart Install
functionality. It reduces the need for highly skilled IT engineers and accelerates switch deployments,
especially with large branch and geographically disperse networks.
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Cisco Device Sensor works with Cisco Smart Install to automatically detect new devices.
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Instant Access lets you manage dozens of access switches across your campus as if they were just
extended ports on a single backbone switch.
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Auto Smart Port identifies new devices such as PCs, IP phones, cameras, or connected TVs. It configures
the port, applies the right policy, and assigns the proper VLAN.
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Auto QoS recognizes the applications on that device and automatically configures the right QoS.
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Smart Call Home is an automated support capability that monitors Cisco devices on your network. It flags
issues before your business operations are affected.