This section will continue our deep-dive into the different Cisco SD-WAN operations by exploring the control plane. The chapter is broken into five distinct sections:

  • Underlay vs. Overlay routing
  • Control Connections
  • vSmart
  • Overlay Management Protocol
  • OMP Best-path Algorithm

The first lesson will examine the difference between the underlay and the overlay routing. Then we will discuss the process of establishing control connections to each SD-WAN controller. The third section of this chapter will quickly introduce the vSmart controller. Then, we will explore the Overlay Management Protocol (OMP) and see how vSmart uses OMP to facilitate the control-plane function across the overlay fabric. In the last section, we will deep-dive into the OMP best-path algorithm, and then we will go through the following practical examples:

  • Lab#1: OMP Best-path Algorithm - Send Path Limit
  • Lab#2: OMP Best-path Algorithm - Send Backup Paths
  • Lab#3: OMP Best-path Algorithm - vSmart Source Preference
  • Lab#4: Reducing control-plane traffic on LTE WAN links