SD WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) permits you to connect multiple agencies to multiple interfaces while on an SD WAN capable firewall. The SD WAN firewall is application aware and automatically steers traffic over different companies according to certain conditions.
As an example you could possibly connect an MPLS network on a single WAN connection and connect to the net around the second WAN connection. With SD WAN the traffic would then dynamically route over either connection depending on policies you define.
Overview
To be aware of how SD WAN works and just how it benefits your organization you should first appreciate how things were configured previously.
Consider cold and warm taps by using an old-fashioned wash hand basin. Think about the hot tap (WAN 1 Interface) is coupled to the MPLS Network as well as the cold tap (WAN 2 Interface) is attached to the Internet.
If the hot tap and cold taps are operated separately it is difficult to manage the temperature and flow of the water because they are totally outside of each other. Similarly, just before SD WAN it had been difficult to mix, control and manage traffic (business applications) across separate independent WAN Interfaces (within this example MPLS and Internet) similar to the water in the old wash hand basin.
Why is SD WAN better?
SD WAN is a bit being a modern wash hand basin with both the new and cold taps combined within an easy to adjust mixer tap. The water temperature can be controlled and will even be automatically regulated to provide you with the perfect temperature always.
With SD WAN you could have granular control over traffic across all WAN networks with advanced flexibility and agility. By way of example, you are able to define policies very often send traffic out of your main business application in the MPLS network for example but automatically switch over to the net VPN if the MPLS network is congested or unavailable.
SD WAN transfers the load of traffic management from physical devices to software and lets you effectively and securely route visitors to remote locations like branch offices. Centralised control gives full visibility throughout the network and enables easy management.
In summary SD WAN gives you complete treatments for how we dynamically route and prioritise traffic based on application type and other factors including congestion and availability.
How can SD WAN benefit your small business?
Lower bandwidth costs
Centralised network management
Full network visibility
Increased selections for vendor selection and connection type
SD-WAN benefits businesses by removing expensive routing hardware and instead provisioning connectivity and services through the cloud. With all the increased reliance upon cloud-based services in the modern workplace SD WAN provides a considerably more robust and reliable network.
SD WAN can be a a lot more flexible option allowing a business to scale connectivity up and down as their business dictates and may automatically adjust and steer cloud-based traffic over different routes when congestion or vendor failure occurs. This permits a small business to run a lot more efficient and cost-effective enterprise reducing bandwidth costs as required without compromising availability. Corporations are effectively avoiding over provisioning which lowers overall WAN costs.
The centralised control enables changes to become implemented and quickly pushed over to network hardware such as routers and switches.
After a basic investment SD-WAN can improve a business’s connectivity between branch locations, the primary office, data centres as well as the cloud while reducing running costs making long lasting savings over time.
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