What is cloud networking?

Short definitions

• Cloud networking: the broad term for networking that uses cloud-hosted infrastructure or services, whether the network itself runs in the cloud or is only managed from it.
• Networking in the cloud: virtual networks, routing, firewalls and VPN gateways that run inside a public cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure, connecting the servers and applications you host there.
• Cloud-managed networking: physical switches, access points, firewalls and cameras on your premises, configured and monitored from a web dashboard the vendor hosts. Cisco Meraki is built on this model.
• Cloud-delivered networking and security: services such as SASE, where traffic is sent to the provider's cloud to be inspected and routed. See our sister site's guide to SASE.
• Cloud computing: renting compute, storage and software from a provider over the internet. Cloud networking is the part that connects it all together.

Cloud networking vs cloud-managed networking

The two meet in the middle. Meraki's vMX, for example, is a virtual MX security and SD-WAN appliance that Meraki documents for deployment in Microsoft Azure. It lets your physical branch sites join the same Auto VPN as the servers you host in the cloud, all managed from one dashboard.

Control plane and data plane

Every network does two jobs. The data plane moves your traffic: web pages, files, calls and video. The control plane (often split further into a management plane) decides how the network behaves: configuration, routing decisions, policies, monitoring and updates.

In a traditional network both live on site, in the devices themselves or in controllers and management servers you run. Cloud-managed networking moves the management side to the cloud and leaves the data plane where it was.

Meraki calls its design an "out of band" control plane that separates management data from user data. In Meraki's own documentation:

• management data (configuration, statistics and monitoring information) travels from each device to the Meraki cloud over a secure internet connection; Meraki says it uses an encrypted tunnel for this
• user data, such as web browsing and internal applications, does not flow through the cloud; it goes directly to its destination on the LAN or across the WAN
• if a device loses its connection to the cloud, it carries on with its last known configuration until connectivity returns

That is why a cloud-managed network does not slow down or stop because the dashboard is unreachable: the dashboard is how you manage the network, not the path your traffic takes. Our cloud vs on-premise networking guide goes into what that means day to day.

Cloud networking vs cloud computing

People often search for "cloud networking vs cloud computing" as if they were alternatives. They are not; one supports the other.

• Cloud computing is the service you consume: virtual servers, storage, databases and software as a service.
• Cloud networking is how you reach and protect those services and connect them to your offices and users: virtual networks, private links, VPNs, SD-WAN and SASE, plus the on-site networks that get your staff online in the first place.

A business moving applications into the cloud usually finds its network matters more, not less. More traffic heads out to the internet and SaaS, branch sites need dependable connections and backup links, and remote workers need secure access. That is where cloud-managed SD-WAN, cellular backup and teleworker gateways come in.

Everyday examples of cloud networking

• Branch SD-WAN: security and SD-WAN appliances at each site build encrypted tunnels to each other automatically and fail over between connections. See multi-site networks.
• Cloud-managed Wi-Fi: access points across many buildings, configured once and monitored centrally. See cloud managed Wi-Fi.
• Cloud-managed switching: PoE switches for phones, cameras and access points, with port settings changed from a browser. See cloud managed switches.
• Cellular backup: a 4G or 5G gateway that takes over when the fixed line fails. See Meraki MG cellular gateways.
• Home workers on the corporate network: a small gateway at home that connects back to head office over VPN. See Meraki teleworker gateway.
• Secure access without a VPN: zero trust network access to private apps. See our sister site's guide to ZTNA.

Cloud networking concepts in plain words

A few terms come up in every conversation about cloud-managed networks:

• SD-WAN: software-defined wide area networking. Appliances at each site choose the best available connection for each type of traffic and fail over between connections, under central policy.
• Auto VPN: Meraki's name for site-to-site VPN that builds itself. Once MX appliances are in the same dashboard organisation, encrypted tunnels between sites can be set up in a few settings rather than configured tunnel by tunnel.
• Zero-touch provisioning: a device is claimed in the dashboard and given its configuration before it arrives. When it is plugged in on site and reaches the internet, it downloads that configuration itself.
• Configuration template: one set of settings applied to many sites, so a new branch gets the same Wi-Fi, VLANs and firewall rules as the others.
• SSID and VLAN: an SSID is a Wi-Fi network name; a VLAN is a separate network segment on the wired side. Together they keep guests, staff, payment systems and IoT devices apart.
• PoE: Power over Ethernet. Switches power access points, phones and cameras through the network cable, so the switch's power budget is part of the design.
• Network access control (NAC): checks who or what is connecting before granting access, and to which network. Meraki's cloud option is Cisco Access Manager.

None of these is unique to the cloud, but cloud management makes them easier to run consistently across many sites.

Is cloud-managed networking right for you?

Cloud-managed networking suits organisations that want one view of every site, fewer boxes to maintain and changes that can be made remotely. It is a natural fit for multi-site businesses, schools and trusts, retail chains, hotels and growing offices without a large network team.

It asks two things in return: a licence for every device for as long as you want it managed, and acceptance that management happens through the vendor's cloud. For some organisations, especially those with strict rules about where management data sits or very large campus networks with in-house expertise, an on-premise or mixed model may suit better. Cisco now lets some of its newest hardware run either way, which our Cisco Meraki vs Catalyst page explains.

To see how this works in practice, start with our cloud managed networking overview, or contact us with a question about your own network.