Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) is becoming the answer to many network challenges, including reducing the cost of pricey links like multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) and private ethernet connections. These connections tend to be priced at a premium and challenging for IT teams to manage. Network redundancy is complex and requires a labor-intensive approach. When WAN acceleration was required, add-in products were necessary to support certain applications.
Enterprises are increasingly turning to SD-WAN, and the motivation is often the expected cost savings that come with carrier autonomy, which allows for the access of a variety of pathways along with automated policy that directs traffic based on application requirements and congestion concerns.
While there are numerous benefits, one of the challenges of SD-WAN is ensuring that data and systems are secure. Cost savings are attractive to companies transitioning to SD-WAN, but they also seek out the improvement in application performance as well as management simplicity. Having all of these advances and security coverage as well creates some challenges.
All of these expectations for SD-WAN hinge on its ability to be application aware. This ensures both specialized application performance acceleration and security at the firewall-application level are possible.
Next-generation firewall (NGFW) providers are beginning to work in partnership with SD-WAN providers in order to offer hosted cloud firewall gateways, so that firewall services and cloud internet access are centralized. While SD-WAN gateway and hosted firewalls are promising services, the impact multiplies when they are combined.
Application Performance
When SD-WAN is implemented, one of the more noticeable benefits is application performance improvement. The solution is equipped with algorithms that allow it to optimize application traffic between sites. It has an awareness of the pathways and their quality, so that it can route traffic according to the application requirements and which pathways are experiencing the level of quality necessary for a successful transmission. This is important for applications like voice or video that tend to be sensitive to latency or jitter.
Improved Security
The complexity of managing security across multiple sites increases the value of SD-WAN for centralizing internet access through an NGFW. Enterprises move to a cloud-based NGFW, making it easier to manage and more reliable, securing the network all the way to the edge. In addition, SD-WAN gateways and hosted firewall services tend to be housed in large data centers around the world, offering improved connectivity for enterprise branches.
SD-WAN also ensures improved traffic visibility, with better insights and control over how data is being transmitted. This improves security in terms of protection, detection, and the ability to isolate a threat to a particular pathway or according to predetermined network segmentation.
SD-WAN offers network optimization when integration includes application awareness and security functions. Enterprises that don’t include these considerations in their SD-WAN selection process may always be trying to chase the promised benefits of SD-WAN technology.
For more information about SD-WAN and choosing a solution that improves application performance and data and systems security, contact us at Cloud Source.