Course contents

Unit 1: WAN and SD-WAN fundamentalsLesson 1.6 (6 of 7 in this unit)6 of 27 in the Cisco SD-WAN course

Cisco evolution: Viptela, vEdge and Catalyst WAN Edge

How Cisco SD-WAN grew from Viptela, and how to read old and new component names side by side.

Intermediate · 9 min read

You'll learn to match the old Viptela names to the current ones, tell a vEdge from an IOS XE SD-WAN router, and read older documents and CLI output without being thrown by the names.

Technical definition

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is Cisco's SD-WAN solution. It grew from the Viptela SD-WAN product that Cisco acquired, was joined by an IOS XE based router option, and has been renamed more than once. The architecture of Manager, Controller, Validator and WAN Edge has stayed recognisable throughout.

Why a course about the future starts with history

A network team that meets Cisco SD-WAN today will see at least two generations of names on the same screen. A tool tip may say Manager, a log message may say vmanage, and the router prompt may belong to IOS XE. The history is short, and knowing it turns the naming into a lookup table rather than confusion.

The timeline in outline

  1. Viptela builds an SD-WAN product. Viptela was a company that sold an SD-WAN solution with its own router (vEdge) and three software components for management, control and orchestration.
  2. Cisco acquires Viptela. This happened in 2017 according to widely published announcements. Cisco then sold the product as Cisco SD-WAN.
  3. Cisco adds SD-WAN to IOS XE. SD-WAN software is made available on IOS XE routers, so that existing Cisco platforms can join the same fabric. The Cisco term for these is often cEdge, short for Cisco edge.
  4. Platform families change. Newer hardware and virtual platforms, such as the Catalyst 8000 family, carry the IOS XE SD-WAN software.
  5. Renaming. The product has been rebranded, with Catalyst appearing in its name, and the controller components were given plain-language names in place of the v-names.

Check dates and exact release numbers in Cisco's own release notes. This lesson deliberately avoids giving release years beyond the acquisition, because version names and their dates are easy to misquote.

A short timeline
A short timelineViptela technology joined Cisco and became Cisco SD-WAN.Viptelaoriginal vendorCiscoacquiresCisco SD-WANproduct nameCurrent namesManager, Controller

On small screens, swipe sideways or focus the diagram and use the arrow keys.

Names changed over the years.
Old names and the names used in this course
Old names and the names used in this courseOlder documents call the management component vManage, the controller vSmart and the validator vBond. Current Cisco material calls them Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, Controller and Validator. Edge routers were called vEdge or cEdge and are now called WAN Edge devices. This course uses the current names and mentions the old ones where you may still see them.vManageSD-WAN Managermanagement and monitoringvSmartSD-WAN Controllercontrol plane, OMP routesvBondSD-WAN Validatorfirst contact, orchestrationvEdge / cEdgeWAN Edge deviceforwarding at each site

On small screens, swipe sideways or focus the diagram and use the arrow keys.

Same functions, new names. When you read an older guide or a command that still says vSmart or vBond, map it to the current name here.

Old names and current names

Old names and current names
Old names and current namesCurrent name; Original name; Role. SD-WAN Manager: vManage Management plane: configuration, policy, monitoring, API SD-WAN Controller: vSmart Control plane: distributes routes and policy SD-WAN Validator: vBond Orchestration: authenticates edges and introduces them to the controllers WAN Edge (a router in the fabric): vEdge, or cEdge for IOS XE routers Data plane: tunnels, forwarding, policy at the siteCurrent nameOriginal nameRoleSD-WAN ManagervManageManagement plane: configuration,policy, monitoring, APISD-WAN ControllervSmartControl plane: distributes routes andpolicySD-WAN ValidatorvBondOrchestration: authenticates edgesand introduces them to thecontrollersWAN Edge (a router inthe fabric)vEdge, or cEdge for IOS XE routersData plane: tunnels, forwarding,policy at the site

On small screens, swipe sideways or focus the diagram and use the arrow keys.

Read each row across: the left box names the item, the others describe it.

The original names often survive inside the product. CLI keywords, peer type columns and log messages may still say vsmart, vmanage or vbond. When the screen and the documentation disagree on a name, the function column in the table settles which component is meant.

Old and current names
Old and current namesOlder material uses the earlier names.vManageSD-WAN ManagervSmartSD-WAN ControllervBondSD-WAN ValidatorvEdge / cEdgeWAN Edge

On small screens, swipe sideways or focus the diagram and use the arrow keys.

Learn both.

Two kinds of WAN Edge

Both can join the same fabric, but they are not the same software and the day-to-day experience differs.

Two kinds of WAN Edge
Two kinds of WAN EdgeViptela OS routers and IOS XE SD-WAN routers.Viptela OSvEdge platformsOlder softwareIOS XE SD-WANCatalyst edge platformsCurrent softwareand

On small screens, swipe sideways or focus the diagram and use the arrow keys.

New designs use IOS XE SD-WAN.
Two kinds of WAN Edge
Two kinds of WAN EdgePoint; vEdge (Viptela origin); IOS XE SD-WAN router. Software base: The original Viptela operating system Cisco IOS XE with SD-WAN functions CLI feel: Its own style, with commands such as show omp routes IOS XE style, with show sdwan commands for the SD-WAN parts Everyday IOS features: Provided by its own feature set Inherits IOS XE capabilities, as released Where it fits today: Existing deployments; check life-cycle notices The platform family for new designs, but check your releasePointvEdge (Viptela origin)IOS XE SD-WAN routerSoftware baseThe original Viptela operating systemCisco IOS XE with SD-WAN functionsCLI feelIts own style, with commands such asshow omp routesIOS XE style, with show sdwancommands for the SD-WAN partsEveryday IOS featuresProvided by its own feature setInherits IOS XE capabilities, asreleasedWhere it fits todayExisting deployments; checklife-cycle noticesThe platform family for new designs,but check your release

On small screens, swipe sideways or focus the diagram and use the arrow keys.

Read each row across: the left box names the item, the others describe it.

The OMP route exchange, TLOC concept and tunnel model are the same idea in both. The commands differ, and so do some feature names, so a command in a guide for one type may not exist, or may look different, on the other. This course uses IOS XE SD-WAN commands and labels every output as an example.

Reading the two vocabularies side by side

  • show omp routes in older guides is similar to show sdwan omp routes on an IOS XE router. Check the exact command in your own release.
  • vsmart in a peer type column is the Controller.
  • vedge in an inventory list can mean a Viptela router, or a general word for edge in older text. Look at the model.
  • Controller here means an SD-WAN Controller, not a wireless LAN controller or any other kind.

How the pieces map to the lab used in this course

The course lab has one Manager (10.255.0.10), one Controller (CTRL-01, 10.255.0.11), one Validator (VAL-01, 10.255.0.12), two hubs (HUB-01 10.255.1.1 and HUB-02 10.255.1.2) and two branches (BR-01 10.255.2.1 and BR-02 10.255.2.2). These are system IPs from a teaching plan. Site IDs 10, 20, 101 and 102 in examples are likewise examples, not requirements.

Changes to expect

Product names, feature names and menus keep moving. The architecture, a central brain with distributed edges that tunnel over any transport, has moved much more slowly. When a lesson, a guide or an exam question uses an unfamiliar name, ask three things: which plane does it belong to, which of the four components is it, and which release is the document written for.

Mistakes with names and generations

  • Treating vEdge and IOS XE SD-WAN as the same software. The fabric idea is the same; the commands and features can differ.
  • Searching only for the new name. Useful older articles and bug reports use the v-names.
  • Copying a command from a guide for the wrong platform. Check which edge type the guide covers.
  • Quoting dates from memory. Release and support dates change; use Cisco's notices.

Test yourself on the names

Predict · scenario 1

A guide says to check the vSmart for the OMP routes of a site. Which current component is that?

Predict · scenario 2

Which statement about the history of Cisco SD-WAN is the best supported?

Predict · scenario 3

An engineer pastes a command from a vEdge guide into an IOS XE SD-WAN router and it is rejected. What is the most likely reason?

FAQ

Do I need to learn the old names for the exam?
Learn both. Exam topics, current documentation and your own router may use the current names, while older guides, blogs, CLI keywords and existing deployments use the old ones. Being able to switch between them saves time.
Is a vEdge the same as a Catalyst 8000?
No. A vEdge is a Viptela-origin router that runs the original SD-WAN software. A Catalyst 8000 Edge platform runs Cisco IOS XE with SD-WAN functions. Both can be WAN Edges in a fabric, but they differ in software, commands and support status.
Is vEdge still supported?
Support for older hardware changes with Cisco's life-cycle announcements, so this lesson gives no dates. Look up the end-of-sale and end-of-support notices for the exact model, and the release you plan to run, before you design around it.