Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) is a virtual
architecture that securely connects remote locations to applications. It shifts
the decision-making process from local edge routers to a central controller,
improving performance and reducing costs. It enables organizations to reduce
reliance on expensive MPLS links by sending lower-priority traffic over cheaper
public Internet connections. It also provides redundancy by routing traffic to
a different path when the primary one is congested or fails.
Scalability
What is an SD WAN? Unlike
traditional networking technology, SD-WAN uses software to manage networks.
This allows it to scale quickly and provides flexibility for IT teams to respond
to changing network conditions. In addition, it allows organizations to choose
multiple connectivity options and improve performance and cost by reducing data
loss. However, it is essential to note that it doesn't replace existing network
infrastructure and may require an additional investment in hardware. In
addition, it's important to educate stakeholders about the deployment process
and ensure leadership is on board with the project. In the past, WAN
connections were backhauled from branch offices to a centralized internet
security point in a data center: this increased WAN management costs and
limited application performance. With SD-WAN, traffic is rerouted across
multiple paths to the data center based on policies configured by IT. This
helps to eliminate costly MPLS links and boosts application performance.
Moreover, SD-WAN's centralized management interface makes it
easy for IT teams to monitor the performance of their network from a single
location. This helps them to identify potential problems and make changes
accordingly. This enables businesses to optimize bandwidth and achieve
significant cost savings. The most important features to look for in an SD-WAN
solution include centralized management, path intelligence, and application
visibility. It should also support cloud connectivity and provide a secure
posture for sensitive data. However, it is essential to remember that the
features you need will depend on the applications you use and how you plan to
work in the future.
Flexibility
As WAN technology evolves, network operations must be more
agile and responsive. The traditional WAN isn't suitable for this since it
relies on backhaul connectivity services that add latency and impair
application performance. This can be costly and can affect business
productivity and customer satisfaction. Fortunately, SD-WAN can improve
performance by routing traffic over multiple connections. This provides a more
reliable network and ensures that applications will remain online even in the
event of a failure at one site. SD-WAN aggregation also reduces network costs
by leveraging existing bandwidth. This allows organizations to deploy new sites
at lower costs and quickly get them online. Another benefit of SD-WAN is its
flexibility. It can use a wide range of network connectivity,
including broadband Internet, 4G cellular connections, MPLS, and more. It can
also be used to connect to SaaS and cloud-based applications. In addition, it
can support remote workers by allowing them to work securely from home or
public spaces. A key feature of SD-WAN is its ability to manage network
policies centrally. This eliminates the need to manually configure individual
edge routers, which is time-consuming and error-prone. In addition, centralized
management can help reduce operating expenses by eliminating the need for
dedicated IT staff. It can also help businesses save money by avoiding
unnecessary hardware purchases and upgrades.
Security
While SD-WAN offers many benefits, it does not replace security. For optimal protection, a secure SDWAN solution combined with a robust infrastructure and an appropriate security policy is essential to keep your business data safe. This is why choosing a vendor with strong security features is so important. These include a Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
to protect encryption keys and multifactor authentication for privileged
accounts. It also should be built on a hardened platform and support
directory-driven, role-based access control. Unlike traditional networking
architectures, where traffic created in branches is returned to a centralized
Internet security point in the corporate data center, SD-WAN enables branch
locations and remote users to connect directly to the public Internet. This
eliminates the need for backhauling and improves application performance. The
SD-WAN optimization technology allows organizations to prioritize traffic by
business application requirements. This prioritized traffic is routed over a
cost-effective internet connection, such as broadband or 4G LTE. This improves
application performance and user experience, even during network congestion or
stability issues. In addition to reducing costs, SD-WAN can increase
scalability. It can support integrating multiple devices, including IoT sensors
and edge computing. Moreover, it can improve security by encapsulating and
protecting the security payload of packets. This can prevent the retransmission
of packets containing malicious code, such as a Trojan horse.
Cost
With the proliferation of remote work, businesses demand
fast, flexible connectivity to applications and networks. To help improve
performance and reduce costs, organizations are turning to SD-WAN. However, not
all solutions are created equal. To ensure a quality SD-WAN, businesses should
look for a solution that provides security, WAN optimization, application
performance, and secure remote access services. An SD-WAN enables organizations
to connect branches and headquarters to centrally managed data centers, cloud
platforms, and internal business applications using a mix of transport
technologies, such as MPLS, LTE, and broadband Internet. This enables
enterprises to optimize bandwidth utilization and lower operating costs by reducing
dependency on expensive MPLS circuits and routing less sensitive data over
low-cost, public connections. In addition, an SD-WAN allows enterprises to
synchronize networking policies across the network, which reduces complexities
and enables greater efficiency and agility. It can also improve security by
separating the data from the control plane. This decoupling of hardware and
software reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Finally, a comprehensive SD-WAN solution should include built-in redundancy.
For example, an SD-WAN with dual active uplinks enables a seamless transition
to a secondary link during a network outage, preventing the interruption of
business-critical applications. In addition, it should have a centralized
management portal where business insights are gathered, and traffic paths to
applications can be prioritized based on criticality.