How to Choose a Cisco Meraki MS Switch for your Small Business

Shopping for Cisco Meraki MS Switches

Cisco Meraki MS Network Switches provide Layer 2 switching that unifies devices. Meraki switches fit best in small businesses, branch offices, distributed enterprises, campuses, and other complex deployment settings. These gigabit switches include SFP+ uplinks on all models. At the high end, Meraki switches reach up to 800 Gbps of switching capacity.  In other words, a Cisco Meraki MS Switch is an ideal fit for a wide range of situations.

Managed through a simple single-pane-of-glass interface, Cisco Meraki MS switches excel in the cloud. Extend greater visibility and control across the network. Because of these features, admins can easily track:

  • User activity
  • Security events
  • Configuration changes

Cisco Meraki MS Switches are stackable. So SMBs can easily add future switches to meet business growth – perfect for scalability.

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Why Cisco Meraki MS Switches?

Network switches connect all the devices your business uses. Whether they be VoIP phones, wireless APs, firewalls, SMA devices, or others, a switch acts at the central hub of traffic routing. Cisco Meraki MS Switches intelligently link devices across your network. As a result, admins can take control with:

  • Role-based administration
  • Fully cloud-based management
  • Remote diagnostics tools
  • Packet capture
  • Automated downtime email alerts

Cisco Meraki MS switches let small businesses take advantage of enterprise-grade features without paying enterprise prices. In addition to traditional Ethernet features, MS switches include:

  • MAC Whitelists & MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB)
  • Dynamic ARP Inspection
  • VLAN configuration settings for individual ports
  • Traffic monitoring through port mirroring

And there’s more: deploying a Cisco Meraki MS switch is simple. Plug it in. That’s it.

With auto-provisioning, SMBs that lack IT talent can quickly deploy across multiple sites. That is to say, no messing around with command lines. No complex setup needed. Zero-touch deployment makes Meraki switches a plug-and-play experience.

Choosing a Cisco Meraki MS Switch

Finding a network switch can be a challenge if you’re not familiar with important tech specs and features. So here are a few key features to keep an eye out for:

Power Configuration

Cisco Meraki MS switches include a single power supply, with additional power supply units sold separately. Power supply configurations are hot-swappable, so you can say goodbye to downtime.

Switching Capacity

Switching capacity refers to the total amount of data that a network switch can handle. Vendors measure this in Gbps. If you’re getting a gig or more from your ISP, then you’ll want a network switch that can handle that traffic volume without losing the speed you paid for.

Interfaces

The whole point of a network switch is to act as a central hub. That means you’ll want a lot of ports and types of interfaces to meet the needs of your setup. Cisco Meraki MS switches come in:

  • 8-port
  • 16-port
  • 24-port
  • 48-port

Uplinks

Network switch uplinks are important for stacking. To clarify, uplinks allow two similar devices to directly connect. Whereas devices once required a crossover cable to “talk” back and forth, an uplink port allows your MS appliance to internally route communication between devices.


 

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Still Have Questions about Network Switches?

To sum up, Cisco Meraki MS switches are great for SMBs and branches to centralize all their devices. Firewalls.com provides plain-language product knowledge to our customers. This ensures you make a wise security investment. Next, check out our other network switch tools to see if a Cisco Meraki switch is right for you.

Read our article Five Things to Consider Before Buying a Network Switch

Watch our Video Buyers Guide for Network Switches