Savings aside, there are many other reasons companies are switching their IT infrastructure over to SD-WAN. Here is a quick rundown of some of the other reasons the IT professionals that we work with are making the switch:
- Security
- Encrypting network traffic
- Segmenting your network
- Having a central provisioning system
- Increasing visibility into and control of your WAN
- Optimizing performance
- Securing any and all transport to enterprise and Cloud data centers
- Centralized Orchestration
- Central provisioning dashboard
- Zero touch and secure deployments
- Simplified operations
- One-click service insertion
- Network Visibility
- See clearly into your network to pinpoint any problem areas for a quick fix.
- Troubleshoot without affecting your end user experience.
- Make sure provider is honoring QoS by pinpointing where network problems are occurring.
- Provider Reliability
- Increased network visibility allows you to make sure all aspects of QoS are being honored.
- Know if end user experience is suffering due to a problem on the provider side.
- Builds trust, and leads to quicker fixes and a better relationship with your provider.
- Performance
- Increased app performance for optimal end user experience
- Assured application security
- Managed on-ramp to the Cloud
- SD-WAN provides on-premise view into Cloud applications.
- Decrease in jitter, latency and packet loss.
- Jitter – A packet delay caused by variations in timing across the network
- Latency – How much time it takes for a packet to get from one point in your network to another
- Packet Loss – Failure of a packet of data to reach its designated destination
- Connection
- An SD-WAN architecture is ideal for geographically-dispersed teams.
- Increased communication speed between branches
- Increased security of sensitive files across network
- Scalability
- Scale the deployment of your WAN as you grow.
- Hybrid options: Augmenting your current MPLS infrastructure with Broadband
- As traffic increases, you can move applications to Cloud or restructure your WAN.
- Flexibility
- SD-WAN working as a virtual overlay allows for hybrid solutions.
- Dedicate some traffic to MPLS and some to SD-WAN and still decrease costs.
- Setup your network in whatever unique way best suits your company infrastructure.
What’s the Difference Between Hybrid WAN vs SD-WAN?
Hybrid WAN is used to connect two geographically separate WANs to a branch office using two different types of connections to carry the traffic. Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) refers to network operators leveraging software-defined networking (SDN) to deliver services across MPLS, LTE, or broadband.
The two technologies share similarities in that they are both used to make the existing WAN more agile and flexible and to solve problems that exist with outdated WAN technologies.
In fact some consider hybrid WAN to be a step toward SD-WAN. For example, a large enterprise uses MPLS from a service provider for its sites, but it often deploys an additional network to off-load some applications to its private data centers and streamline its traffic.
Many believe the reason large enterprises rely on MPLS is because it comes with a service agreement that provides additional services like central billing, help desk services, and more. But hybrid WAN offers analytics, service provisioning, and other services that are worth considering.
SD-WAN Attributes
SD-WAN involves separating the control plane from the data plan and integrating the WAN and branch networks into a single end-to-end framework that uses policies to manage traffic. It also uses generic data plane devices in the branch.
What makes it appealing to enterprises is that it offers open hardware platforms and standardized network links that can reduce prices for WAN. It also offers hardware that can be managed via the cloud by a service provider, which reduces the need for the customer to manage it. It offers the conveniences like self-service portals and self provisioning. And it also offers cloud services such as WAN optimization and application & policy control for more efficient bandwidth usage.
SD WAN VS TRADITIONAL WAN
SD WAN has been seen in IT world as a paradigm shift from orthodox way network and services work. Until recently, traditional WAN (MPLS , PTP etc) links were provisioned across multitude of branches for inter-connectivity of companies. However, SD WAN has come up as a game changer as it will provide a great opportunity for companies to save on cost (OPEX and CAPEX) including better control and improved application/user experience by utilizing Internet Links instead of MPLS/PTP links.
