Meraki Releases 2nd Major Upgrade to MX-Series Cloud Managed Multi-Service Router

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Meraki, the recognized leader in Cloud Networking, today announced the availability of the second major feature update to its MX series multi-service router product family. Designed specifically for the branch, the MX provides complete networking and security, centrally managed via the cloud.

Meraki released the MX in January of 2011. Built on Meraki's five years of experience in the cloud, the MX brought out-of-the-box centralized management and zero touch deployment to firewall services, site-to-site VPN, branch routing, layer 7 application traffic shaping and more, all in a single powerful hardware platform.

2nd Major Upgrade Packs Dozens of New Features

Today, Meraki announced the second major firmware upgrade for the MX platform.  This upgrade includes dozens of new features, enhancements, and performance improvements. Available immediately and at no cost to all new and existing MX customers, this update is delivered seamlessly to users from the cloud. Highlights include:

Enhanced Auto-Negotiating VPN

The original MX featured the industry's first auto-negotiating site-to-site VPN, a revolutionary feature that lets administrators instantly create secure distributed networks. This technology delighted customers by eliminating the headaches of site-to-site VPNs - routing tables, authentication, association parameters, key exchanges, etc. - replacing them with point and click configuration and on-demand, automatic provisioning from the cloud. This latest update adds interoperability with third party site-to-site VPNs, enabling heterogeneous network environments and facilitating phased MX deployments.

Identity Based Security Policies

This latest update also enhances the MX's identity-based policy capabilities. The MX now features deep integration with Active Directory environments, enabling administrators to tailor policies, such as content filtering, to a user's identity. In a school, for example, students can be subject to strict content filtering, while teachers and staff enjoy unrestricted Internet access.  Unlike other identity-based policy engines, the MX configures network-wide in just minutes, and does not require agent software on the customer's Active Directory server.

Customer Adoption Outpacing Expectations

Since introduction, customers have embraced the MX at a torrid pace.  Notable customer deployments include:

• Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the worlds 2nd largest music publisher
• Syracuse University, who uses the MX to power their satellite campuses
• Westfield Malls, who deployed the MX in major shopping centers across the United States

"The branch has traditionally been an overlooked area of the enterprise network," said Kiren Sekar, V.P. of Marketing at Meraki. "But demand for secure, reliable connectivity is exploding, with hundreds of millions of people using iPads and cloud applications from remote offices, retail stores, restaurants, clinics and hotels – often without on-site IT. The Meraki MX provides a complete solution for the branch that is easy to use and cost effective. We're delighted to see customer adoption blow away our wildest expectations."

About Meraki
Meraki is the recognized leader in Cloud Networking. 100% cloud-based from day one, Meraki's architecture delivers out-of-the-box security, scalability, and management to enterprise networks. Meraki has been deployed in over 18,000 customer networks worldwide, including Stanford University, British Telecom, Burger King, Starbucks, and M.I.T. Meraki is located in San Francisco, California, and is funded in part by Sequoia Capital and Google.  For more information, visit http://meraki.com.

SOURCE Meraki