Enhancing your organization’s bandwidth, security, and networking capabilities is key to ensuring robust corporate growth. That is fundamental for companies that rely solely on video streaming, teleconferencing, and cloud applications.
The Coronavirus pandemic has made these bandwidth issues even more pressing as enterprises seek a better way to support their digital goals in the face of the limitations imposed by traditional wide area networks (WANs) architecture.
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Software-Defined Wide Area Networks, or SD WANs, have allowed people and enterprises of all sizes to access and optimise high-speed Internet connections and vital data. Industry experts’ forecasts put the SD WAN industry at $43 billion by 2030, up from an estimated $1.4 billion in 2019. What exactly is an SD WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network), how does it work, and what are its benefits? Let’s dive into that.
Table of Contents
What is Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD WAN)?
SD WAN, or Software-Defined Wide-Area Networking, is a programmatic and automated method for controlling an organization’s network connectivity and circuit expenses. It implements software-defined networking (SDN) that allows companies to deploy intelligent hybrid wide-area networks rapidly.
Since global SD WAN consists of IP VPN, internet connection, and wireless connections, it enables you to improve network performance, simplified management, increased security, especially those in the cloud.
Network situations, application traffic security, quality of service (QoS), and circuit cost are all considered to determine the optimal WAN channel to send data. The routing policies are up for configuration.
How Does SD WAN Technology Work?
It’s cost-effective and straightforward to use SD WAN Technology. It lets you securely link all workplaces into a single network for streamlined communication and improved performance. In light of this, you can access the files anywhere from your home computer.
AT&T is the first business ever to use SD WAN. They saved $1,000,000 annually by switching from public internet to private networks. Amazon, Facebook, and Google are other businesses using SD WAN.
Small and large-scale enterprises have found SD WAN to be a reliable and efficient solution for linking numerous sites and locations over multiple data centers.
Regardless of their physical locations, organizations may operate with only a single Internet Protocol (IP) address for all devices and software. This strategy boosts security, lowers operation costs, and promotes overall business performance.
The 5 Key Benefits of SD WAN Technology
Using software-defined wide area networking (SD WAN), a single network connection can serve several remote locations. All devices linked to the WAN can utilize a single Internet connection, eliminating the need for multiple connections for different sites.
In cutting down on the need for new infrastructure, SD WAN helps businesses save money. The other benefits of SD WAN technology include the following;
1. Enhanced Security
SD WAN enhances security by integrating advanced security features such as DNS filtering encryption, IDS/IPS, and a firewall. It can segment and isolate traffic to protect sensitive data and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.
A healthcare organization transmitting patient data across multiple locations can use in-built SD WAN encryption and data segmentation. That ensures the confidentiality and integrity of the data, mitigating the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
2. Increased Business Agility and Flexibility
Your business should quickly and effectively respond to market changes, technology advancement, customer demand, and any external factors in the current competitive world. That is why enhancing agility is the pivotal point for every company.
Agility and flexibility will ensure your strategies and practices are relevant and competitive in a dynamic business environment. SD WAN simplifies network management and allows organizations to deploy new branch locations or connect remote offices rapidly.
Traditional network architectures require manual configuration changes, but SD WAN enables centralized management and policy enforcement. If a company decides to open a new branch office, IT administrators can quickly provision and configure the network remotely. That reduces deployment time and operational overhead.
3. Improved Performance
Before the advent of cloud-based services and smartphones, MPLS was the undisputed leader of businesses’ wide area networks (WAN). The widespread adoption of cloud computing and mobile devices exposes a severe shortcoming in MPLS. MPLS excels in reliably routing data between two fixed locations, but it falls short in cloud and mobile networking.
If a business builds their own MPLS Network, the “trombone effect” is a challenge. Essentially, Internet-bound traffic on an MPLS-based WAN must be backhauled to a company data center, which is inefficient. All Internet traffic is redirected through the business’s server infrastructure. This slows down the network and can be disastrous for UCaaS and other cutting-edge services.
Since the SD WAN innovation eliminates the trombone effect, it boosts performance for smartphone users and cloud-based services by allowing organizations to utilize the most appropriate transport technology like 5G, xDSL, and cable.
Regarding the practicality of last-mile performance, SD WAN is a game-changer, not just because it fixes the trombone routing problem. It’s a versatile and more sophisticated strategy for link bonding, which can greatly enhance last-mile stability and availability.
4. Allows For Cloud Usage
The use of cloud computing is spreading at an alarming rate throughout businesses because it allows workers to access cloud-based applications regardless of location. SD WAN facilitates the direct connection to the cloud at the remote branch by eliminating backhauling traffic. It also routes all the cloud and remote office traffic via the data center.
SD WAN technology boosts the efficiency of cloud applications by giving top priority to mission-critical programs. Apart from that, it also allows for Internet-to-Internet communication between remote locations.
5. Simplified Management
As a company grows, the complexity of managing the wide area network (WAN) increases. The administration and upkeep of its cybersecurity and network optimization appliances have become more difficult.
Problems with supervision and average time to recovery arise when acquiring detailed visibility into the network. When it comes to managing an extensive network, having a centralized and integrated perspective is invaluable. This is where cloud-based SD WAN comes in.
Conclusion
When appropriately chosen and deployed, SD WAN can extend its capabilities deep into the local branch LAN. It will enhance security and improve WAN performance to safeguard locally installed devices and secure direct access to SaaS apps and other internet resources. Other benefits of switching to SD WAN include better business agility, flexibility, and easy access to cloud-based services.
This cutting-edge technology can yield substantial economic rewards for companies willing to invest more time and resources. SD WAN technology will significantly lower operational costs and support more extensive SD Branch efforts.
