Cisco Software-defined Access or Cisco SD-Access takes the complexity out of your network. So network administrators can ease their minds. Cisco SD-Access offers end to end segmentation, network automation, consistent user experience without compromising the security and it provides a transformational shift in building and managing networks faster, easier and with improved business efficiency.

In SD-Access there are four key technologies, that make up this solution, each performing distinct activities in different network planes of operation:

• Control Plane—Messaging and communication protocol between infrastructure devices in the fabric.
• Data Plane—Encapsulation method used for the data packets.
• Policy Plane—Used for security and segmentation.
• Management Plane—Orchestration, assurance, visibility, and management.

In SD-Access the control plane is based on LISP (Locator/ID Separation Protocol), the data plane is based on VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN), the policy plane is based on Cisco TrustSec, and the management plane is enabled and powered by Cisco DNA Center.