Another consideration is what happens if you run out of budget for license renewals for any reason.
Unlike equipment you own with a perpetual license, the cloud-based networking gear will stop functioning unless you feed it licensing money on regular intervals as evidenced by the email below. -Charles ---------- Date: Sun, 1 May 2016 16:02:49 +0000 From: Meraki <nore...@meraki.com> Subject: Warning: Your Meraki networks will stop working tomorrow Dear Charles Spurgeon, Thank you for being a valued Meraki customer. Our records show that your Meraki Cloud license has expired. If you wish to continue using your Meraki networks, you must renew your license immediately. If you choose not to renew, your Meraki systems will cease to provide network access on May 2, 2016. If you have recently made a Meraki purchase, please add your license key to your Dashboard account. Licensing information can be viewed here: [removed] To purchase additional licenses, please contact Meraki Sales or your authorized Meraki reseller. You can find contact information at [2]meraki.cisco.com. Please let us know if you have any questions. A [3]license expiration FAQ is also available on our website. Regards, The Cisco Meraki Team 1. https://n77.meraki.com/o/04Drhc/manage/dashboard/license_info 2. http://meraki.cisco.com/form/contact 3. https://documentation.meraki.com/zGeneral_Administration/Licensing/Licensing_FAQ 4. https://n77.meraki.com/login/license_warning_opt_out?key=347875_04Drhc ----------- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Chuck Enfield Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 9:00 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cloud managed infrastructure One important consideration that was missed in regard to cloud services is what happens if your provider goes out of business. I don’t mean to suggest it’s a show stopper, but you should ask yourself what the odds are that it will happen and what the consequences are if it does. From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Hall, Rand Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 9:02 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cloud managed infrastructure Lee's is about as good an analysis as you can get: "Put another less cynical way, the cloud stuff works well when IT resources (or patience) are thin as it takes a few major headaches out of the equation. But there is no free lunch- the hidden costs of cloud managed is less features (this is good and bad IMO), less visibility down deep in the individual pieces, and as you are hinting at… a leap of faith on trusting the cloud." We've run a 700 AP cloud-based deployment for 5 years with just one minor cloud problem early on that lasted a couple of hours with minimal practical impact. This is much better uptime than I can provide botching maintenance now and then. Rand Rand P. Hall Director, Network Services askIT! Merrimack College 978-837-3532 rand.h...@merrimack.edu <mailto:rand.h...@merrimack.edu> If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and five minutes finding solutions. – Einstein On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 1:03 PM, Lee H Badman <lhbad...@syr.edu <mailto:lhbad...@syr.edu> > wrote: To add a bit to Sam’s input- running both on prem and cloud systems makes me thoroughly appreciate that on the cloud side, someone else is on the hook for care and feeding of things like the management system and the “cloud controller” or the “no controller” or whatever each vendor wants to call their magic. If the premise versions weren’t too-frequently bug-ridden, it may be a different story. But spending copious amounts of time keeping up system building blocks through their code issues makes you appreciate the cloud versions that just generally work. Put another less cynical way, the cloud stuff works well when IT resources (or patience) are thin as it takes a few major headaches out of the equation. But there is no free lunch- the hidden costs of cloud managed is less features (this is good and bad IMO), less visibility down deep in the individual pieces, and as you are hinting at… a leap of faith on trusting the cloud. I’ve been cloudy for almost 7 years at a number of small sites, and in each case it was absolutely the right choice. But all cloud-managed systems aren’t equivalent either- my advice is to unequivocally trial anything that you might purchase and make sure it fits what you need, the way you need it. Lee Badman | CWNE #200 | Network Architect Information Technology Services 206 Machinery Hall 120 Smith Drive Syracuse, New York 13244 t 315.443.3003 <tel:(315)%20443-3003> f 315.443.4325 <tel:(315)%20443-4325> e <mailto:lhbad...@syr.edu> lhbad...@syr.edu w its.syr.edu <http://its.syr.edu> SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY syr.edu <http://syr.edu> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> ] On Behalf Of Samuel Clements Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 12:19 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU <mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Cloud managed infrastructure Disclaimer, I work for a VAR. Having said that, my personal opinion is that there is always a specific time and a place for your control plane and that's really the consideration. In situations where you have sites that would require low compute (typically smaller sites) that would be appropriate for Aruba Instant for example, those would be ripe for considering moving control plane to the cloud. Of course the big name in that space is Meraki and they have an awesome page over at http://meraki.com/trust - but there is a ton of space to consider private cloud options (in Azure/AWS for instance) with 'real Cisco', Aruba, Ruckus, etc - all having virtual WLCs that can play in those spaces. If your goal is to remove on-premises gear, in those situations where the architecture makes sense, there are tons of not only public cloud offerings (that come with their own OpEx considerations) as well as private cloud options that generally fit in your already preferred vendor-of-choice. This makes things like code-qualification, support, purchase discounts, hardware investment all become less of a challenge when you abstract out the architecture from your existing platforms today. Said differently, if vendor-lock in is important for your consideration, many of your existing APs today can be moved to the Cloud - which is of course just a fancy word for someone else's computer. :) It's still a touch on the nascent side in my opinion, but it's one that, for smaller sites, makes sense in a lot of environments. -Sam On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 10:57 AM, Dexter Caldwell <dexter.caldw...@furman.edu <mailto:dexter.caldw...@furman.edu> > wrote: Hi Everyone, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts, concerns about cloud-managed AP’s, or other infrastructure devices. Specifically do you have security concern? Have any of you implemented any such solutions and which management model do you prefer. Dexter Caldwell Dir. Systems & Networks Furman University dexter.caldw...@furman.edu <mailto:dexter.caldw...@furman.edu> ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss.
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