Cisco Meraki MX250-HW Overview

The Cisco Meraki MX250-HW is a high-performance Security & SD-WAN appliance designed for large campus networks, enterprise branches and VPN concentration environments. It provides centralized cloud management through the Cisco Meraki Dashboard, allowing network administrators to deploy, configure, monitor and troubleshoot security infrastructure from a single interface.

The MX250 delivers up to 7.5 Gbps maximum NAT firewall throughput and up to 2 Gbps next-generation firewall throughput. It also provides up to 4 Gbps site-to-site VPN throughput, making it suitable for demanding enterprise network and secure connectivity deployments.

The appliance provides two dedicated 10 Gigabit SFP+ WAN interfaces and a high-density LAN configuration consisting of eight 10G SFP+, eight 1G SFP and eight 1G RJ45 interfaces. This combination allows the MX250 to integrate with high-speed enterprise switching, fiber-based infrastructure and conventional Gigabit Ethernet networks.

Key Features

Enterprise Security

The MX250 integrates multiple network security capabilities into one cloud-managed appliance. Administrators can apply security policies across branch, campus and data-center environments using centralized Meraki Dashboard management.

• Stateful Layer 3 firewall
• Layer 7 application-aware firewall
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDS/IPS)
• Advanced malware protection
• Content filtering
• Application-aware security policies
• Traffic monitoring and analytics
• Centralized security policy management

SD-WAN & VPN

Cisco Meraki SD-WAN technology enables centralized control of WAN connectivity and application traffic. The MX250 can be deployed as an SD-WAN edge appliance or as a VPN concentrator for large network topologies.

Meraki Auto VPN simplifies secure connectivity between different network locations. VPN configuration and monitoring can be managed through the Meraki Dashboard without requiring complex manual configuration on individual appliances.

• Meraki Auto VPN
• Site-to-site VPN
• Client VPN
• VPN concentration
• WAN failover
• Traffic shaping
• Application-aware routing
• Secure connectivity between distributed sites

High-Density Network Connectivity

The MX250-HW is designed with a high-density interface configuration for enterprise environments. Its combination of 10G SFP+, 1G SFP and 1G RJ45 ports allows organizations to connect fiber-based and copper Ethernet infrastructure directly to the security appliance.

WAN Interfaces

• 2 × 10G SFP+ WAN interfaces
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet WAN uplinks

10G LAN Interfaces

• 8 × 10G SFP+ LAN ports

1G SFP LAN Interfaces

• 8 × 1G SFP LAN ports

1G RJ45 LAN Interfaces

• 8 × Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 LAN ports

Management

• 1 × RJ45 dedicated management interface
• USB port for supported connectivity and service functions

Cisco Meraki Dashboard Management

The MX250-HW is managed through the Cisco Meraki Dashboard, giving administrators centralized visibility and control of security, routing, VPN and SD-WAN services. The cloud-managed architecture reduces deployment complexity and allows remote administration of distributed network infrastructure.

• Centralized cloud-based management
• Zero-touch provisioning
• Remote configuration
• Network monitoring
• Firmware management
• Traffic analytics
• Security event visibility
• Remote troubleshooting
• Remote packet capture
• Syslog and NetFlow support

Integrated SSD Cache

The MX250 includes 128GB SSD cache storage. The integrated storage supports appliance operations and caching functions within the Meraki security platform. The MX250 is designed as a dedicated network security appliance rather than a general-purpose storage server.

Ideal Applications

Meraki Licensing

The MX250-HW is the hardware appliance SKU. Cisco Meraki cloud management and feature availability require the applicable Meraki license and support subscription.

• Enterprise License & Support
• Advanced Security License & Support
• Secure SD-WAN Plus License & Support