What is SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN)?

SD-WAN solutions often offer the following:

• Lower circuit costs by using broadband, DIA, LTE
• Increase network agility by simplifying control of the entire WAN
• Create an active-active hybrid network with MPLS, broadband, DIA, LTE for increased bandwidth capacity and more efficient and higher per-site resiliency/availability
• Automate operations, while templates simplify IT workflows
• Eliminate branch office device sprawl and complexity
• Provide reliable and secure Internet access to cloud and SaaS applications
• Deliver network circuit and carrier independence
• Centralize and unify the entire WAN for simplified management, deployment, and change control

Rather than spending time and resources tediously by configuring and managing networks, an effective SD-WAN solution allows enterprises to focus on deploying applications, like IoT, VoIP, unified communications, and edge computing services.

Focusing on improving these business-oriented services, rather than managing WAN complexities, IT can add these (OTT) services to automated and programmable cloud-native platforms. Secure SD-WAN is a cloud-native platform that provides IT with an automated policy-driven, virtual WAN infrastructure. This transforms the network from a bottle-neck impediment to a business service implementation engine.

Cloud, virtualization, mobility, IoT, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning are all contributing massive amounts of traffic and data over enterprise WANs. Unfortunately, they are also creating network reliability and performance challenges and causing security breaches by exponentially expanding the attack surface.

These technologies have created the need for a simplified and consolidated IT infrastructure. Robust cloud-native VNF-based network and security services are needed in the service provider core, or central enterprise IT infrastructure, and within the network edges.

Secure SD-WAN technology enables flexibility to be deployed as the uCPE platform to host other services, or as a VNF on a third-party uCPE or virtualization platform. Secure SD-WAN has the routing, SD-WAN, analytics, security, and more, all within a single software platform.

This SD-WAN solution provides a cohesive, virtualized network, and a multi-layered security approach that eliminates siloed, single-function appliances that add unnecessary risk, complexity, and cost.

How To Deploy SD-WAN

Network architectures have always found ways to adapt to changing business dynamics to address modern requirements. Legacy WANs are no longer adequate to meet business needs and most organizations are deploying a hybrid WAN architecture. Hybrid WANs benefited from adopting a software-defined approach, which led to the automation, agility, and increased intelligence from SD-WAN architecture.

Today, SD-WAN has gained greater value through being delivered and managed from the cloud: allowing better speed, scalability, and flexibility. Cloud-delivered SD-WAN is a powerful automated, on-demand, and proactive business approach that enterprises leverage to streamline secure connectivity services that can greatly optimize branch offices and IoT.

SD-WAN devices are better at understanding application traffic flows than legacy WAN. This optimization in application traffic flow allows an administrator to use application and identity-driven policies to make intelligent decisions that adhere to business goals and objectives.

For example: to ensure voice service is always optimal, an administrator can analyze voice traffic to determine how well the user experience is or analyze network circuits to determine how well they are performing. Then, the administrator can correlate those together to make dynamic decisions that optimally traffic steer across the WAN. Application and identity-driven policies can be contextual to who you are, what you are using, and where you are.

Secure SD-WAN for Every Enterprise

Secure SD-WAN ensures application security, reliability, and performance for every industry, vertical, and use cases such as enabling healthcare records, banking systems, retail POS systems, airline reservations, transportation logistics, and much more. Whether the application is for internal business operations, commerce, customer relationship management, industrial and utility systems – everything today is network connected and can be enhanced by SD-WAN.

Secure SD-WAN frees IT from single-function and proprietary hardware, eliminating the need for dedicated hardware for each network function. Virtual network services can be provisioned on a universal CPE (uCPE), using an x86-based appliance that hosts Secure SD-WAN’s software and supports 3rd-party VNFs.

Enterprises can take advantage of a software-only solution, that gives them the cost and operational flexibility, and ensures they have the control to deliver on their business objectives. Furthermore, organizations can leverage an open-standard-based cloud-native, multi-stack solution for embedded and robust network and security capabilities that optimize application performance all while increasing security hygiene. Secure SD-Wan needs to integrate with existing brownfield networks at the underlay level while providing a migration to complete Software-Defined networking on-premises and in the cloud. By doing so, enterprises can meet the demands of a modern IT landscape.