Cisco SD-WAN: How to Manage Cisco vManage Online Training

Cisco vManage is a centralized network management platform specifically designed to configure, monitor and troubleshoot software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) and devices used across such networks. This course explains to administrators how to deploy and manage policies within vManage, how to use it to track network performance, and how to maintain security compliance. vManage can simplify network management tasks, reduce operational complexity and generally allow for more efficient control over an SD-WAN infrastructure.

SD-WAN is a technology that defies simple explanation, but it begins with wide-area networks. A WAN is a network connecting devices over large geographical areas. A software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) looks and operates like a large, private network, but actually uses mixtures of public and private network infrastructures to connect devices. Using computer logic and software, the connections and traffic between devices is optimized while rendered effectively "invisible" to other traffic.

No, although this course on managing Cisco vManage could be used as a part of a cert preparation regimen, this is a skills-based course that's more focused on real-world and practical skills than it is on exam preparation. Many of Cisco's professional-level, large-scale certifications like the CCNP Service Provider or CCNP Enterprise rely on an understanding SD-WAN and vManage, but this course doesn't prepare you for those large certs in their entirety.

Networking professionals, especially anyone who works on a Cisco SD-WAN, should take this course on managing vManage. That includes network administrators, network engineers and network architects, or aspiring IT professionals who'd eventually like to work in one of those roles. This course reveals how to use vManage to enable centralized network management and monitoring on large-scale virtual networks, which is a fairly specialized skill set but also an extremely valuable one.

SD-WAN routing works by using specialized software intelligence to determine the best path for data traffic across a network. SD-WAN technology assesses network conditions and routing attributes (e.g. bandwidth availability, latency, network congestion, etc.) to dynamically select the optimal route for each application's data packets. In executing dynamic routing, SD-WAN routers can utilize multiple connection types, including MPLS, broadband internet, and LTE, allowing for flexible and efficient routing decisions.