Replacement Product of Meraki MX100-HW

[EKWL-HW]

Dear,

We are currently using two Meraki MX100-HW appliances configured in an active High Availability (HA) setup. One of the MX100-HW units was recently sent for warranty RMA, and Meraki has offered an MX95-HW as the replacement, since the MX100-HW has reached its End-of-Sale (EOS) status.

Given this replacement, we would like to clarify the following:

1. Is the MX95-HW officially considered a suitable replacement for the MX100-HW?

2. Can High Availability (HA) function properly between one MX100-HW and one MX95-HW? If not, what configuration or migration path do you recommend to maintain redundancy and seamless failover?

3. Will there be any licensing-related concerns with using the MX95-HW as a replacement for the MX100-HW, especially in an HA setup?

We would appreciate your guidance on how best to proceed with this mixed model HA scenario.

Thanks in advance.
Shahed. 

[ww]

Mx95 has better performance, and support new firmware. so its a good replacement. 

You can't do HA between 100 and 95, so they need to replace both (not sure if they do that.. ask support)

Support needs to convert the license from mx100 to 95

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Licensing/Meraki_Co-Termination_Licensing_Ov...

[Mloraditch]

Having just had a similar situation, support will send another 95 if you let them know about your HA setup.

And for an RMA where they send a different model they will swap the license even if its not covered by the normal MX license swap scenarios. I.e. you are on PDL or if you ever get a switch of MS models during an RMA.

As for the actual swapping, there is no way for it to be seamless. There are two methods, one you can remove both old MXs from the network and then add the 95s or if you aren’t worried about client tracking data you can clone the existing network, all settings will copy over and then once staged properly just move cables and disable VPN on the old and enable on the new. If you use combined networks you will have to split and recombine once complete.

Regardless you should stage and make sure firmware gets fully updated before the swap to eliminate that from occurring during the changeover.

[AlexL1]

Hi  EKWL-HW,
Welcome to Meraki Community 🙂

I would like to re-confirm (comments ww and Mloraditch) and add the following:

Point 1 - The spare MX must be the same MX model as the primary. Warm spare functionality is not supported between different MX models (for example, MX95 and MX100).

Point 2 - Please, reply back to the RMAed case number and let the Meraki Network Support Engineer arrange sending a 2nd MX95.

Documentation - https://documentation.meraki.com/MX/Deployment_Guides/MX_Warm_Spare_-_High_Availability_Pair

Point 3 - Replacing an Existing MX with a Different MX - Method 1 (Quick Swap) and Method 2 (Clone and Replace). Method 1 seems easier and quicker 🙂

• There are a few points to highlight after the replacement is finished - don't forget to Re-enable the following if you are using (all configs will be saved in the Cloud):
  • Client VPN
  • AnyConnect Client VPN
  • Site-to-Site VPN / Non-Meraki VPN

1. Method 1 (Quick Swap)
   1. Remove the Old MX from the Current Network
   2. Add the Replacement MX to the Same Network
   3. Adding a Second MX to Form a Warm Spare Configuration
   4. Physically Swap the MX and Allow it to Check In
   5. Re-Enable Site-to-site VPN (optional)       
   6. Re-generate AnyConnect custom certificate (optional)   
2. Method 2 (Clone and Replace)
   1. Create a Clone of the Existing Network
   2. Add the Replacement MX to the Clone Network
   3. Adding a Second MX to Form a Warm Spare Configuration
   4. Bring the Replacement MX Online
   5. Physically Swap Devices
   6. Re-Enable Site-to-Site VPN (Optional)
   7. Re-generate AnyConnect custom certificate (optional)
   8. Delete the Original Network (Optional)
   9. Integrating the Cloned MX Network with an Existing Combined Network (Optional)
      1. Splitting the Combined Network 
      2. Re-combining with the New MX Network

Point 4 - Comparison between MX95 and MX100 - MX95/105 Datasheet

and MX Sizing Guide & Principles and https://www.cloudwifiworks.com/datasheets/meraki_datasheet_mx.pdf

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

[PhilipDAth]

You can use this sizing guide to compare the MX100 and the MX95.

https://documentation.meraki.com/MX/MX_Sizing_Information/MX_Sizing_Principles