A decision framework for choosing SSH direct, an edge proxy, or native HTTPS for network automation. Plus what the industry needs to build next.
CLI Over HTTPS Part 4: Where Do We Go from Here?


A decision framework for choosing SSH direct, an edge proxy, or native HTTPS for network automation. Plus what the industry needs to build next.

Most network devices don’t speak HTTPS natively. The practical solution: move SSH to the edge and talk HTTPS (or QUIC) over the WAN. Here’s the proxy, the tunnel, and the measured proof.

I built clibench, a dual-protocol device emulator in Go, to measure SSH vs HTTPS CLI performance at realistic latencies. Here’s the architecture, the code, and the numbers.

SSH-based network automation is slow at scale. Not because of the devices, but because of the protocol. Here’s what the SSH handshake actually costs and why HTTPS is a faster transport for CLI commands.