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This chapter introduces the various components of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. We can group these components into four main categories, as shown in the diagram below:

  • Orchestration Plane
  • Management Plane
  • Control Plane
  • Data Plane
Figure 4.1. Cisco SD-WAN Architecture Overview.
Figure 4.1. Cisco SD-WAN Architecture Overview.

This order is not random. It is intentional. It matches the real sequence of how edge routers join the SD-WAN network. A router first uses the orchestration plane, then connects to the management and control planes, and only after that can it build data-plane tunnels (IPsec or GRE) and start forwarding traffic.