Hardware

Cato Sockets

Cato Sockets are customer on-premise edge devices that connect customer sites to the Cato Cloud, enabling SD-WAN connectivity, traffic forwarding, and centralized policy enforcement. Sockets serve as the connection point between the customer LAN and the Cato Cloud, supporting bidirectional traffic for internet, SaaS, and internal application access.

Sockets can be deployed as physical appliances at customer sites or as virtual appliances in public or private cloud environments. Both deployment models use the same licensing model and provide identical functionality.

Sockets support multi-link WAN connectivity and are centrally managed through the Cato Management Application (CMA), enabling zero-touch provisioning, centralized orchestration, monitoring, and logging across all sites.

Capabilities

• SD-WAN functionality with application-aware routing
• Multiple WAN links per site, operating in Active/Active or Active/Passive modes

• Zero-touch provisioning, centralized management, and monitoring

• High availability through WAN link redundancy and optional Socket-level redundancy
• LAN Firewall capabilities are enabled when a Bandwidth Pool license is applied

Licensing

Cato Sockets are licensed on a per-Socket basis and can be deployed as either physical or virtual appliances.

• One Socket license is required for each deployed Socket
• Primary, High Availability (HA), and cold spare Sockets are licensed individually

Socket licenses are provided as a recurring service and include the right to use the Socket, ongoing maintenance, support, and hardware replacement for the duration of the service.

Socket licenses are sold by Socket type. Each Socket type supports specific interfaces and optional hardware components. Hardware revisions within the same Socket type are functionally equivalent and do not affect the license.

Cato offers multiple Socket models (for example, X1500, X1600, X1700), each supporting specific interface, throughput, and hardware options. Hardware revisions within the same model are functionally equivalent and do not affect licensing

Hardware Components and Peripherals

Socket-related hardware components, including GBICs and interface modules, are licensed on a recurring monthly basis and are associated with the applicable Socket type. Some hardware components, such as rack mount kits, are provided as one-time charge items and are not subject to recurring monthly charges.

For compatibility and support reasons, it is recommended that customers purchase GBICs directly from Cato.

IP Address

The IP Address license provides customers with dedicated public Cato-owned IP addresses assigned exclusively to their account. These IP addresses can be used for network configurations such as NAT, routing, and external connectivity.

Allocated IP addresses are unique to the customer account and are not shared with other customers.

By default, each account includes three (3) IP addresses, which can be used across all supported services and locations.

Licensing

IP addresses are licensed on a per-IP basis. Each licensed IP address represents a single IP address (/32).

Additional IP addresses can be purchased beyond the default entitlement.