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Meraki vs. Aerohive Wireless Solution Comparison

Simplified management

• Intuitive,accessibleinterfacecanbeconfiguredinminuteswithoutonsiteITstaff

• Centrallymanagethousandsofdevicesacrosshundredsofnetworksandlocations

Deep visibility and control

• Network-widemanagementandtroubleshootingacrosswirelessandwiredinfrastructure

• Quicklyfinddeviceswithreal-timesearchandperformdiagnosticswithlivetools

• Createapplication-specificpolicieswithLayer7trafficshapingandapplybydevicetypeorusergroup

Integrated mobile device management

• 100%freedevicemanagementsolutionforiOS,Android,Mac,andPCdeviceswithSystemsManager

• Deploysecuritypoliciesanddevicerestrictions,deployapps,andmonitorinventory

• Noon-premiseserverrequired;SystemsManagerisentirelycloud-based

Why Meraki wireless?

M E R A K I A E R O H I V E

Meraki, Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | sales@meraki.com2

System Capabilities

User&DeviceManagement

Centrallymanagethousandsofdeviceswith

Meraki’sdashboard,whichprovidesfullclient,

device,andOSvisibility.Assigngrouppoliciesto

individualorgroupsofdevices,SSIDs,oreven

bydevicetypebasedonpreferences.Integrates

withActiveDirectoryandRADIUS/8021.Xforuser

authenticationandpolicydeployment.Examples

ofpolicyattributesincludeVLANs,firewallrules,

layer7applicationblockingand/orthrottling,and

splashpages.

Whilecentralmanagementofdevicesis

supported,Aerohivedoesnotprovidecomplete

OSvisibilityandcannotautomaticallyassign

grouppoliciesbydevicetype(i.e.,iPadvs.

Windows7,etc.).IntegrateswithActiveDirectory

andRADIUS/802.1Xforuserauthenticationand

policydeployment.

IntegratedMDM MerakiprovidesSystemsManager,afree

mobiledevicemanagement(MDM)solution

thatintegratesseamlesslyintothedashboard.

SupportsthousandsofiOS,Android,Windows,

andMacdevices.SystemsManagerrequiresno

hardwareorsoftwareappliancetooperate.

NointegratedMDMsolution.Aerohivepartners

withJAMFtodeliverApple-onlyMDMthat

non-educationalcustomersmustpayfor.JAMF

requiresadedicated,on-premiseserver.

ApplicationVisibility&Control

Merakiprovidesrichlayer7applicationvisibility

andcontrol,withafullheuristics-drivenengine

forclassification(e.g.,Skype,BitTorrent,web

traffic)andshaping.Prioritizeand/orthrottle

specificapplicationsorapplicationtype.

Nolayer7trafficshaping.NoLayer7firewall.No

applicationvisibility.

Security&WIPS Meraki’sAPsincludestatefulfirewalls,teleworker

VPN,full-timeintrusionscanning(AirMarshal),

NetworkAccessControl,adultcontentfiltering,

andWPA2-Enterprise/802.1Xintegration.

Additionally,MerakiAPscomewithabuilt-inPCI

compliancewizardandremediationtool.Secure

dashboardaccesswithpasswordrestrictionsand

two-factorauthenticationviaSMS.

Nobuilt-inNetworkAccessControl/anti-virus

protectionoradultcontentfiltering.NoPCI

compliancetool.NoabilitytologintoHive

Managerusingtwo-factorauthentication.

AerohiveAPsdoincludestatefulfirewalls,VPN,

intrusionscanning,andWPA2-Enterprise/802.1X

integration.

Intuitive,Multi-SiteManagement

Deploymultiplesitesrapidlybycopyingsettings

fromonenetworktoanother.Improvesearch

abilityamonghundredsofnetworkswith

networktagging.Firmwareupdatesaredelivered

seamlesslyfromthecloudtoalldevices,

regardlessoflocation.Manageandtroubleshoot

allsitesfromasingleweb-basedinterface.

Aerohivehasacumbersomeinterfacethatis

difficulttoconfigure,anddoesn’tintuitively

identifywhichAPsaredeployedatwhich

wirelesssites.Noreal-timesearchornetwork

taggingisavailable.Firmwareupdatesmustbe

downloadedandrolledouttoeveryAP.

End-to-EndVisibility

Deepvisibilityintothewiredandwireless

portionsofyournetworkisfullyintegrated.

Getthesamedeepcontroloverallyour

Merakidevices–APs,switches,andsecurity

appliances–throughasinglepaneofglass

accessiblefromanywhere.

Noend-to-endvisibility,asAerohivelacks

dedicatedswitchandsecurityapplianceproduct

linesandMDMisviaa3rdparty.

Meraki, Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | sales@meraki.com3

A Close-up on ManageabilityMeraki’sintuitivecloud-basedsolutionreducescomplexity,acceleratestroubleshooting,andeasestheITburdenofmanagingemployeeandguest-owneddevicesconnectingtotheLAN.

SimplicityMerakiMRaccesspointsaremanagedviaasecure,cloud-baseddashboardthatisdesignedfromthegroundupforeaseofmanagementandconfigurability.NewAPscanbedeployedinminuteswithzero-touchprovisioning,withouttheneedfortrainingordedicatedonsitestaff.ItonlytakestwoclickstocreateasecureguestnetworkthatisisolatedfromthecoreLAN.Firmwareupdatesareseamlesslyprovidedthroughthecloud.

EfficiencyWhetheryoumanagetenMerakiAPsortenthousand,findingandtroubleshootingdevicesiseasy.IntegrationwithGoogleMapshelpsyoukeeptrackofwheredevicesarelocatedandprovideshealthstatusataglance.Instantlyfindindividualorgroupdevicesbytype,OS,IP,MAC,name,andmoreusingGoogle-likesearch.LivetoolsintegratedintothedashboardprovidediagnosticsonAPsandconnectedclients,withreal-timevitalstatistics.

ControlMeraki-proprietaryLayer7devicefingerprintingandtrafficshapingdeliveranunparalleledlevelofcontrolandversatilityoverdevices,applications,andusersaccessingyournetwork.Maintainsecurityandcomplianceviaaccesspoliciesthatcanbeflexiblydeployedtosingledevices,groupsofdevices,orSSID-wide.EveryMerakiAPsupportsupto15differentSSIDs,allowingcreationofisolated,securenetworksfordevicesandusers.

View application usage statistics filtered by time period or SSID.

Drill into APs to view configuration, perform diagnostics, and see connected devices.

Convenient floor plan view provides live health status of network devices.

Meraki, Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | sales@meraki.com4

MERAKI VS. AEROHIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON: Controllingtrafficonyournetwork

DevicesnotofficiallymanagedorsanctionedbyITstaffposesecurityandbandwidthconcernswhentheyattempttousenetworkresources.Forexample,howwouldyouprioritizeVoIPtrafficacrossspecificdevices(e.g.,iPhones)onyourWLAN?

Meraki Dashboard

1. GotheGroupPoliciespageandcreatealayer7trafficshapingruleforVoIPtraffic.We’veselectedallVoIP&videoconferencingtraffic,butyoucouldchooseamongspecificapplications.NowgrantVoIPunlimitedbandwidth;conversely,ifthegoalistothrottleconsumption,dosousingthesliderbar.VoIPtrafficwillbeshapedregardlessofbandwidthutilization,butQoStagscanalsobespecifiedintheeventofnetworksaturation.Layer7trafficshapingisincludedwithallMerakiwirelessAPsatnoadditionalcharge.

2. Next,simplyenablethedashboardtoassigngrouppoliciesbydevicetype.UsingMeraki-proprietarylayer7devicefingerprinting,thetypesofdevices(e.g.,iPad,WindowsXP,Android,etc.)connectingtoyourwirelessLANareautomaticallyclassified.

3. Finally,selectthetypeofdevicetowhichtoautomaticallyapplythegrouppolicy,andselectthatgrouppolicyfromthedropdownlist.Now,wheneveraniPhoneconnectstoyournetwork,itsVoIPconsumptionwillbeprioritized.Noagentinstallationorconfigurationisnecessaryontheclientforthispolicytoapply—itsimplyworks.

Meraki, Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | sales@meraki.com5

Aerohive Hive Manager

1. InHiveManager’sNetworkConfigurationpage,choosetocreateanewpolicy,andgivethepolicyaname(wechose“iPhone-VoIP-Priority”).Next,choosewhichSSIDthepolicywillapplyto.Ensurethatthe“EnableWMM”boxischeckedintheSSID’soptionalsettings.

2. NowcreateaQoSClassifiermapforthenetworkpolicy.SelecttheVoIPnetworkservicestoassignQoSsettingstointheClassifiermap(inthisexample,level6voice).AlsoenableDiffServQoSmapping,incaseyourdesiredVoIPtrafficisnotavailablefromthelistofservices.TosetQoSforoutgoingtraffic,createanewMarkermap.NotethattheseQoScontrolswillonlybeineffectshouldbandwidthutilizationreachsaturation.

3. Next,createanewUserProfiletoassignthenetworkpolicyto.IntheQoSsettingssub-menu,createanewRateControl&QueuingPolicy.Namethisnewratecontrolpolicyandchoosewhatlimitstoapplytoallvoicetraffic.Notethatweightedroundrobinsettingsdefineforwardingpriority,withtrafficlabeledas“Strict”immediatelyforwarded—andthusprioritized.

4. Finally,selectthe“ClientClassificationPolicy”sub-menuandcheckthe“Enableuserprofilereassignmentbasedonclientclassificationrules”checkboxtoensurethatthispolicyisappliedtospecifictypesofdevices—inthiscase,iPhones.Select“iPhone”fromthe“OSObject”pull-downmenu.

Meraki, Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | sales@meraki.com6

Out-of-the-box BYOD control

• Integratedlayer7devicefingerprintingclassifiesalldevicesconnectingtoyournetwork,andallowsyoutoautomaticallyapplygrouppoliciesbydevicetype

• Google-likesearchimmediatelyfindsclientsbyseveralvariables,includingOSandmanufacturer

• Real-timevitalstaticsdisplayedforeachclient

• Drilldownintoindividualdevicestogetspecificsonbandwidthconsumption

• Layer7trafficshapingandfirewallruleseasilyallowspecificapplicationslikeFacebookorBitTorrenttobethrottledorblocked

Licensing&SupportMeraki

Merakiwirelessincludesallfeaturesinasinglelicense,and24x7techsupportisincludedatnoadditionalcharge.Licensesareavail-ablein1,3,5,7,and10yearterms.

Aerohive

Aerohivelicensesareavailablein1,3,and5yearterms.Supportisnotincluded,andavailableeither8x5or24x7foranadditionalchargeperAP.

Meraki’s Layer 7 application and device visibility provide deep contextual insight into to client-specific usage.

Meraki, Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | sales@meraki.com7

CommonQuestionsHow are firmware and dashboard updates handled?

Whennewdevicefirmwareisavailable,customersreceivenotificationemailsanddashboardalerts.Toproceedwithupdates,customerssimplyscheduledeliveryinthedashboard—ortheycandelayoroptoutofupgradescompletely.Wirelessmeshconfigurationsrequirenoadditionaloversightforsuccessfulupdates.NewfeaturesareautomaticallyintegratedintotheMerakidashboardatregularintervals.

What if the connection to the cloud goes down?

TheLANstillfunctions;clientscanstillroambetweenAPsandaccesslocalresourcessuchasprintersandservers.Firewallandtraffic-shapingpoliciesarestillenforced.Wirelessmeshroutingstillworks.TheMerakidashboardandtheabilitytomakeconfigurationchangesaretemporarilyunavailable.

How reliable is the cloud?

Meraki’scloudprovidesa99.99%guaranteeduptimeSLA.Ourservicesareco-locatedintier-1,SSAE16certifieddatacenters–replicatedacrosstheworldforredundancy.Seemeraki.com/trustformoredetails.

How large can Meraki technology scale?

Merakiisdeployedinthelargestcloudnetworkingdeployment,supportingover10,000devicesacrossmorethan600Motel6locations.Supportingnewbranchlocationsiseasywithself-provisioningAPs,theabilitytoquicklycopysettingsfromonenetworktoanother,networktagging,andtheabilitytomanageallofdevicesfromasinglepane-of-glass.

ThousandsofSatisfiedCustomers

Free evaluations available at meraki.com/eval