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Intelligent Switching
Intelligent Switching gives you user and application control.
The architecture of an intelligent switch is very different from a legacy switch architecture. An intelligent switch has the packet processing needed to learn and retain a user’s identity and role, the application in use, and the destination server. This intelligence brings business context directly into the switch, enabling IT to deliver user and application control.
Legacy Switch vs. Intelligent Switch Architecture
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Legacy Architecture |
Intelligent Architecture |
Performance |
Wire speed |
Wire speed |
Latency |
Microseconds |
Microseconds |
Hardware |
Fixed |
Programmable |
Processing |
Packet-based |
Flow-based |
User Context |
IP addresses |
Identity, device, role |
Application Details |
Limited to Layer 4 |
Rich Layer 7+ detail |
Access Policies |
Complex - ACLs/VLANs |
Dynamic - by user/role/app |
Security |
Overlay, external apps |
Embedded |
Audit/troubleshoot |
Sampled Layer 4 data |
Full user/app/resource data |
| Bottom Line: The legacy switch architecture cannot support intellligent switching. |
Why do you need Intelligent Switching?
Because so many IT tasks are just too complicated when done with switches built on the legacy architecture.
- Supporting a dynamic and diverse workforce.
- Rolling out new applications.
- Troubleshooting your users’ network problems.
All these jobs are made harder by switches that think in terms of IP addresses, VLANs, ACLs, and Layer 4 ports.
An intelligent switch understands users, by username, and their roles in the organization. It automatically recognizes devices on the LAN. It knows what applications a user or device is running – at Layer 7 not just Layer 4. It knows what the user is trying to do – down to the filename or URL involved – which makes applying policy much easier.
So rather than forcing the business to speak the language of the network, with intelligent switching, the network speaks the language of the business.
A new switch, from the ground up
The underlying architecture of an intelligent switch is different from the legacy switch architecture. You can’t just bolt on a few new features, update a supervisor engine, or run new software to get there. It takes a new switch – with high-performance, specialized hardware and software built from the ground up to provide this kind of intelligence.
| Intelligent Switching Architecture |
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Having intelligence directly in the switch simplifies the task of applying controls. |
Intelligent switches are:
- Dynamic and flexible – policy-based switching, with programmable hardware.
- Integrated – user/role/app knowledge plus switching in a single platform.
- Simple – Easier to maintain than switches based on legacy architecture.
Dynamic, integrated, and simple, with full user and application control – that’s intelligent switching.
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