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SD-WAN is a software-defined networking technology for managing wide-area network connections. It has become the standard option for businesses that are looking to improve business application performance, increase agility, and enhance security, while reducing costs with transport independence across MPLS, LTE, and 3G/4G network carriers. SD-WAN simplifies operations with cloud-based management and automation.

The key goal for businesses in adopting SD-WAN as a connectivity solution across the enterprise infrastructure is to optimize the user experience and efficiency for private, public, and SaaS cloud applications. To understand more about what SD-WAN is, we’re going to have a deeper look at:

  • The differences between traditional WAN and the new WAN
  • The challenges that IT experts face today
  • The benefits of SD WAN
  • How SD WAN helps IT departments

Understanding the Traditional and New WAN

The traditional WAN connectivity has long been the mainstay in connecting users across multiple branches and organizational setups to applications hosted on servers in the company’s data center. In this setup, dedicated MPLS circuits were typically used by IT experts and network administrators to ensure reliable connectivity, application performance, and security. The traditional WAN connectivity is no longer viable in today’s cloud-centric business world.

Enter the new WAN – SD WAN. There’s no doubt that cutting-edge business models are increasingly driving the need for a new network connectivity model: SD-WAN provides that solution. Software-defined WAN is a highly effective approach to enterprise network connectivity that not only improves resource usage for multi-site network deployments but also lowers operational costs for enterprises.

Network administrators and IT experts can ensure the highest level of performance for business-critical applications and use network bandwidth more efficiently without worrying about sacrificing data privacy or security. SD-WAN is the core element in improving user experience end-to-end. Now that you understand what SD-WAN is, let’s move to the next step.

Understanding Today’s Dynamic IT Challenges

As more businesses race to adopt the use of Software-as-a-Service(SaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) applications in private, public and hybrid cloud environments, IT experts are realizing that the user application experience is significantly being affected. This is mainly because traditional WAN networks are not well-equipped to handle the unprecedented increase of WAN traffic that multi-cloud technology adoption brings.

The ever-increasing traffic that comes with cloud applications often causes connectivity management challenges for IT, data vulnerability, and application performance unpredictability. Putting these factors in mind, enterprises are faced with growing threats and compliance issues as they get more exposure to the cloud environment. This means that protecting critical business assets when applications are being accessed by a diverse workforce becomes even harder.

Employees, business partners, contractors, guests, and even vendors are accessing enterprise networks and applications at any given time from a myriad of connected devices. Enabling broadband internet in WAN makes enterprise security requirements more critical, creating bigger challenges for IT experts in trying to balance user experience, network complexity, and security. Understanding what is SD-WAN and how it can benefit IT is vital.

The Benefits of SD-WAN

Despite the challenges that the rapidly-evolving cloud environment is bringing to IT departments, the good news is that managed SD WAN services from companies like Mosaic NetworX are enabling companies to gain simplicity, performance, and control over their enterprise-wide connectivity while reducing operational costs.

Here are the core benefits of SD WAN:

Seamless WAN Management

SD-WAN is a cloud-delivered WAN architecture that provides centralized management for enterprises, making it easier to scale connectivity across thousands of endpoints, whether in the cloud, branch, or campus. IT departments can enjoy the ability to automate zero-touch WAN connectivity deployment globally, using a centralized management interface. What managed SD-WAN does is easing provisioning, integration and management processes.

Improved User Experience

SD-WAN optimization plays a critical role in delivering and maintaining optimal cloud application connectivity and performance from multiple enterprise-level clouds to thousands of users from anywhere. Even if there is link degradation or failure, the in-build application-aware routing functionalities can dynamically route network traffic between dedicated circuits and secure internet connections to ensure business-critical applications are constantly being delivered.

Increased Security

Threat prevention is a top priority for enterprises in today’s connected world. SD-WAN architecture for businesses features distributed security at the branch. This means that data being accessed or shared doesn’t have to travel back to the data center or enterprise headquarters to ensure advanced security protection. Increasing security at the right place is exactly what SD-WAN enables enterprises to achieve with less effort.

How SD WAN Helps IT Departments

As businesses adopt cloud-based applications, IT departments are faced with multiple challenges, including fighting the day-to-day complex battle of connecting multiple types of end users connecting through multiple devices to multiple cloud environments. With fully-managed SD-WAN, IT can enjoy a number of benefits that help them deliver threat protection, smooth routing, efficient offloading of expensive network circuits, and simplified WAN network management.

Some benefits for IT departments include:

IT network tools

  • IT experts can enjoy reliable connectivity for all critical business applications. The functionalities offered are capable of handling multiple hybrid links to support all network scenarios. Route application also makes it easy to drive efficient service delivery.
  • Real-time security enforcement and troubleshooting of network problems with integrated threat protection and secure traffic flow across the entire broadband internet connection.
  • IT experts can enjoy cloud optimization and seamlessly extend the connection to multiple public cloud infrastructures, ensuring improved performance for their diverse SaaS applications.
  • With access to a single-source point with centralized management for configuration, control, and management of WAN connections, cloud, and application security, IT departments can enjoy operational simplification across the enterprise.

With a clear understanding of what SD-WAN is, IT experts can make use of this networking technology to take business operations to another level, but with the right SD-WAN as-a-service.

Get Started With Mosaic NetworX’s SoftWave SD-WAN as-a-Service

Want to simplify your enterprise application delivery infrastructure for SD-WAN related services? Mosaic NetworX works closely with you to ensure branch and WAN simplification by eliminating the need to plan, design, negotiate with multiple carrier MSAs, and manage WAN connections.

Get started with our proven SD-WAN solutions today or contact us to learn more.

2019-03-06T06:31:37+00:00

SD-WAN

Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is an application of the technology called software-defined networking (SDN). SD-WAN is applied to WAN circuits that connect enterprise branch offices to data centers, and cloud/SaaS services. By abstracting network hardware and circuit characteristics from the applications that use the network, SD-WAN simplifies network control and management, while assuring optimal application performance. SD-WAN enables network agility and reduced costs through policy-enabled workflow automation, and provides a complete view of the network within a single screen, via a centrally managed controller.

A Transformed Network

SD-WAN allows organizations to create reliable, higher-performing WANs by combining multiple lower-cost circuits, that either partially or completely replace expensive and rigid private WAN circuits, like MPLS. Hybrid, (MPLS, plus another circuit, like broadband Internet, DIA, LTE, etc.) or all-Internet connectivity is enabled to increase reliability and lower costs.

SD-WAN software abstraction uses a centrally managed network overlay, and decouples network services from the network infrastructure underlay comprised of diverse hardware devices. SD-WAN can replace traditional branch routers, with virtual or physical appliances that control application-level policies through the network overlay.

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Simplified Branch Office Connectivity

Branch offices are quickly and easily provisioned with automated zero-touch deployment. Configuration, orchestration and on-going monitoring and troubleshooting are accomplished centrally. SD-WAN enables branch edge connectivity with network services insertion to enable efficient access to multiple cloud, SaaS, and corporate data centers. Branch edge deployment options include, a virtual-machine on a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) device, a virtual machine on an existing x86-based router, or a purpose-built Edge device.

Reduce branch complexity by eliminating multiple single-function network and security devices, and integrating these services within the SD-WAN platform as virtual network functions (VNFs). This reduces device sprawl, and simplifies deployment, monitoring and ongoing management.

WAN Performance and Reliability

A central controller sets the policies and prioritizes traffic. Using these policies across all available bandwidth, traffic is properly routed to ensure each application has the proper performance and bandwidth to meet service level agreements (SLAs).

WAN performance and quality are optimized by automatically steering traffic to the best circuits at any point in time, on a per-packet basis. Performance metrics are continuously measured, and applications are automatically identified, optimized and prioritized, based on business policies and circuit costs. This is all accomplished on a sub-second basis to protect against blackouts and brownouts, while dramatically improving application availability. WAN circuit degradation is remediated using forward error correction, jitter buffering, and synthetic packet production technologies.

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2024-07-26T10:20:26+00:00
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