Mode: Managed mesh¶
Managed mesh uses a combination of VXLAN interfaces and dynamic routing protocols to achieve private WAN routing with aggregators peered directly to each other (no private WAN routers).
Managed mesh Private WAN¶
This mode of private WAN creates a VXLAN mesh between all aggregators, one for each space. It configures the Babel dynamic routing protocol on the mesh so that all aggregators are communicating routes for the mesh space, with aggregators preferring routes within the same routing group. It also establishes BGP between bonders and aggregators over their tunnel (all private WAN modes do this).
To illustrate this, consider the following physical network topology, where aggregators 1 & 2 are in one routing group (RG1) and aggregators 3 & 4 are in another routing group (RG2):
Here is the logical topology of a managed mesh on the above physical topology, where bonder X has aggregator X as its current aggregator, and all bonders are in the same managed mesh private WAN space (SPC1):
All bonders are BGP peers with their current aggregator over the bonding tunnel, and all aggregators run Babel on a VXLAN mesh peered with all other aggregators. Babel protocols are configured so that routes within the same routing group are preferred whenever possible.
An important thing to note is that a distinct mesh is established for each managed mesh private WAN space. The mesh expands and shrinks to include and exclude aggregators as needed, i.e. as bonders belonging to a managed mesh private WAN space are added or removed.
Unlike with private WAN routers, there are no statically configured gateways in managed mesh private WAN, and no PWAN NAT is done in bonding . Instead, aggregator interfaces and protocols can be created to peer with external routers as needed. See migrating for examples of how to achieve routing similar to each former gateway type.
Advantages¶
Managed mesh private WAN is strongly preferred over the use of private WAN routers for a number of reasons, the primary of which are:
Improved scalability
Increased speed
Dynamic routing support
Private WAN routers (PWRs) are a bottleneck for private WAN traffic. By having aggregators peer directly with each other, load is distributed more evenly across the environment. As a result, the managed mesh scales significantly better than using PWRs. This reduction in load, combined with the reduced number of hops, makes the managed mesh significantly faster overall.
Furthermore, since aggregators (and bonders) peer with external routers directly, managed mesh private WAN networks are fully integratable with other networks using dynamic routing.
For these reasons, we encourage new private WAN environments to be deployed using the managed mesh private WAN mode, and for existing deployments using PWRs to be migrated over to a managed mesh solution.
Tip
See migrating to managed mesh for general help with transitioning from private WAN routers to using managed mesh private WAN, and contact support for any specific questions you may have that are not addressed in that documentation.