What is SD-WAN? Definition & Solutions
Software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) solutions transform an organization’s capabilities by leveraging the corporate wide-area network (WAN) as well as multi-cloud connectivity to deliver high-speed application performance at the WAN edge of branch sites. One of the chief benefits of SD-WAN is that it provides a dynamic path selection among connectivity options—MPLS, 4G/5G, or broadband—ensuring organizations can quickly and easily access business-critical cloud applications.
SD-WAN solutions have become increasingly popular as organizations request fast, scalable, and flexible connectivity among different network environments, and seek to lower overall total cost of ownership (TCO) while preserving user experience. But the wrong SD-WAN solution can significantly inhibit an organization’s ability to quickly adapt to changing business demands, not least because it creates new security headaches.
SD-WAN Explained
mprove user experience and simplify operations at the WAN Edge with an integrated NGFW and SD-WAN in single offering
How SD-WAN Works
An SD-WAN solution connects users to any application wherever it resides from the data center to the cloud. SD-WAN intelligently determines which path best meets the ideal performance needs for a specific application. It then routes the traffic through to the ideal WAN path, whereas traditional WAN architectures only have the ability to route all applications through MPLS. Below are a few characteristics that define how an SD-WAN solution works and has evolved from a WAN infrastructure:
Application Awareness
With traditional WAN solutions, organizations suffer a less than ideal quality of experience and have a hard time delivering high-performance bandwidth for critical applications. Since legacy WAN architectures rely on packet routing, they lack in-depth application visibility. SD-WAN solutions, however, intelligently identify applications on the very first packet of data traffic. Network teams gain the visibility they need about which applications are used most widely across the organization, which helps them make smarter, more well-informed decisions and policies.
Dynamic Path Selection
SD-WAN solutions enable dynamic path selection for traffic to flow through: an MPLS connection, a broadband connection, and LTE. The SD-WAN solution can intelligently identify applications and determine the best path it should take to maximize functionality. Moreover, self-healing capabilities automatically route traffic to the next best available link in the event of an outage of the primary link. Not only does this automated capability reduce complexity within the network, but it also delivers an improved user experience and improves the performance of applications
Application Awareness
With traditional WAN solutions, organizations suffer a less than ideal quality of experience and have a hard time delivering high-performance bandwidth for critical applications. Since legacy WAN architectures rely on packet routing, they lack in-depth application visibility. SD-WAN solutions, however, intelligently identify applications on the very first packet of data traffic. Network teams gain the visibility they need about which applications are used most widely across the organization, which helps them make smarter, more well-informed decisions and policies.
Application Awareness
With traditional WAN solutions, organizations suffer a less than ideal quality of experience and have a hard time delivering high-performance bandwidth for critical applications. Since legacy WAN architectures rely on packet routing, they lack in-depth application visibility. SD-WAN solutions, however, intelligently identify applications on the very first packet of data traffic. Network teams gain the visibility they need about which applications are used most widely across the organization, which helps them make smarter, more well-informed decisions and policies.
History and Evolution of SD-WAN
Modern SD-WAN technology evolved from earlier networking solutions like point-to-point (PPP) leased lines, frame relay, and MPLS. PPP was the original mode for connecting multiple local area networks (LANs) before frame relay removed the need to buy and manage individual connecting links between various corporate locations. MPLS made more improvements by bringing previously separate functions such as voice, video, and data networking onto the same network using Internet Protocol (IP)-based technology.
Fast-forward to the 2000s, and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) came to popularity. MPLS soon overtook frame relay in popularity because of how it leverages Internet Protocol (IP)-based technology to bring previously separate functions such as voice, video, and data networking onto the same network. MPLS today is the most common technology in use for enterprise WANs, and is still held up for the reduced latency and quality of service (QoS) benefits it provides.
In the 2010s, specifically 2013, SD-WAN was born, and as more technologists examined SD-WAN for its benefits, they came to realize many of the same advantages SD-WAN has over MPLS, similar to how MPLS brought more advantages than frame relay. As a simple explanation, SD-WAN delivers MPLS-level QoS while being significantly less expensive and significantly easier to scale.
SD-WAN can handle a variety of connections and dynamically move traffic over the best transport available, and can provide both redundancy and much more capacity using lower-cost links. SD-WAN solutions are significantly cheaper than MPLS overall when time-to-installation and time-to-delivery are also considered. The best SD-WAN solutions offer zero-touch provisioning, allowing sites to be brought on quickly and not requiring networking or security experts to be on-site for installation.
SD-WAN vs. Public Internet
Publicly available broadband internet, referring to high-speed internet services that are faster than traditional dial-up-speed internet, is ubiquitous and inexpensive. Broadband internet, however, can hamper business performance because it essentially asks customers to put faith in the busy and congested public internet as consistently reliable connectivity. Broadband internet is typically unsecure, as well, and data can be compromised if users—especially remote users—access networks using an unsecure connection. SD-WAN makes the overall experience smoother, more agile, and more secure (if security is properly integrated).
Why SD-WAN? Benefits and Advantages
According to researcher IDC, the SD-WAN market will continue growing at a more than 30% rate over the next few years, approaching $5.3 billion in 2023. Many organizations are embracing SD-WAN solutions for a number of key benefits, including the following.
Improved User Experience: The underlying technology in SD-WAN allows remote sites to connect more easily to networks, with lower latency, better performance, and more reliable connectivity. In the era when users demand a lot more of their applications and infrastructure at unprecedented speed and scale, an appealing user experience can be a make-or-break.
Simplicity: As network infrastructures have evolved, the sprawl of point products used for networking and security can make things pretty complicated. SD-WAN uses automation and other benefits to make connectivity a simpler process across mixed environments, including on-premises, hybrid, and cloud.
Multi-cloud Readiness: With more than 90% of enterprises today investing in a multi-cloud strategy, the right SD-WAN solution makes that environment easier to manage. Multi-cloud is not the same as hybrid cloud, in which public and private clouds are integrated to optimize performance, security and flexibility. Multi-cloud simply means that organizations have the flexibility to select the best cloud provider for each of their various infrastructure and application needs. Because of its automation capabilities and also where it resides strategically in the network, SD-WAN has become the solution of choice for rapidly evolving cloud network innovations (including multi-cloud).
Better Security Overall: An SD-WAN solution needs to have integrated security; otherwise, it’s just another connectivity option that unfortunately becomes an attack vector. When properly implemented, secure SD-WAN improves the security of the business overall.
Make SD-WAN Security a Priority
Most SD-WAN solutions aren’t without security challenges, and one of the critical requirements for SD-WAN success is fully integrated security. Without fully integrated security, SD-WAN becomes just another conduit for malware and cyber criminals to attack the network.
A secure SD-WAN solution is explicitly designed to interoperate as a single offering, ideally with each element running on the same operating system and managed using a single-pane-of-glass interface. This ensures that transactions are all seen and inspected, and any threats or anomalous behaviors are shared between every solution for maximum protection. As part of such an integrated system, the networking and connectivity functionalities of an SD-WAN aren’t just more closely associated with the security solutions installed on the platform. They’re the same thing.
A next-generation firewall (NGFW), whose key components include intrusion prevention (IPS), web filtering, secure sockets layer (SSL) inspection, and anti-malware, is an example of an integrated solution. Solutions that combine SD-WAN and NGFW capabilities into single offerings satisfy the key requirements for secure SD-WAN—and ensure the safety and reliability of connections and for the organization overall.
