What is SD-WANâEverything You Need to Know in One Spot
The business wide area network (WAN) provides private connectivity between sites in a multi-location enterprise. As you can imagine, the technology has evolved substantially over the last few decades from basic point to point private line services to meshed network topologies. SD-WAN Explained will cover the latest in WAN transformation and describe the characteristics of Software Defined Wide Area Networks.
Evolution to SD-WAN
The evolutionary path up to todayâs SD-WAN incudes:
- Private Line (point to point)
- Frame Relay and ATM
- VPN and Network-Based VPN
- MPLS
- SD-WAN
The traditional WAN would enable users at a remote office to access applications hosted at a corporate data center. Simple point to point networks were often the go-to in this type of environment, but they could not scale to connect users for larger enterprises. Frame Relay and ATM packet-switched networking offered greater economies as a âhost portâ at a data center could serve as the on-ramp for all the remote offices and the hub for most application flows. In this legacy design, generally the data center would be the single gateway to the internet for all corporate users. Learn more about networking in our article entitled LAN vs WAN
As internet service providers expanded their presence and the number of global internet endpoints grew exponentially (Internet Growth Stats) business IT leaders and network service providers began to design and deploy WAN solutions using IPsec VPN tunnels across the internet. VPNs enable more dynamic private networks at a lower net cost than traditional private network solutions and can be highly secure due to inherent authentication and encryption capabilities.
MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) is a packet-switched network technology that generally took over the market for frame relay and ATM networks and allowed many service providers to decommission their frame and ATM core switches. MPLS is now a common carrier core technology as it allows carriers to encapsulate and easily route other types of traffic, hence the name âmultiprotocolâ. The global market for MPLS is still strong and many large enterprises continue to buy and renew MPLS nodes, especially for site in geographies where internet service routes are questionable or security is of high concern.
SD-WAN or Software Defined Networking is the latest trend in enterprise networking. Macronet Services defines SD-WAN as an application-aware WAN technology that uses policy-driven decision making to direct flows of network traffic over underlying network links. SD-WAN solutions include the SD-WAN edge (physical or virtual), network transport, and an Orchestration layer, which controls the policies and simplifies management of the network by providing a source for detailed reporting.
The SD-WAN Marketplace
The market for SD-WAN is growing rapidly and is expected to surpass $6B in 2023 as enterprises adopt SD-WAN as their primary technology for connecting their locations and cloud services. The decisions to move to SD-WAN is typically driven by the IT leaders focus on the âend user experienceâ and the need to enable secure high-performance connectivity directly to cloud-based business applications. Further, SD-WAN can layer on a full stack of security feature and functions to combine into what is now called a Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE. SASE architectures may now incorporate next generation security features such as:
- IDS/IPS
- Secure Web Gateways
- Anti-Malware
- DDOS Mitigation
- CASB
You can learn more about the SASE model (Here).
A Summary of SD-WAN Characteristics Includes:
- Network Agnostic â SD-WAN can leverage multiple types of network links at a single site
- Meshing â all sites can be fully meshed if desired
- Secure â Security can include a full stack of firewall functions and encryption
- Application Control â packet forwarding decisions based on policies
- Automation â centralized management enables simplified automation
- Visibility â centralized viewing of routing and applications specific performance
- Reporting â detailed reporting across the WAN
- Availability â uptime enhanced by multiple links and High Availability (HA) designs
- Efficiency â fully utilize bandwidth and direct applications to specific link types
Procuring the right SD-WAN solution for your enterprise might seem like an overwhelming task due to the ever-expanding list of available solutions. Macronet represents hundred of suppliers and the team at Macronet Services can help you define the ideal architecture and efficiently navigate the options. In the discovery process, we will use our tools and experience to help you consider:
- Locations
- Connectivity
- Data Applications
- Real-Time Applications
- Security
- Disaster Recovery
- Wireless Access Points
- Reporting & Analytics
- Current Inventory and Other WAN Environments
- Business Considerations
SD-WAN Offerings
At Macronet Services, we see various sourcing trends that are driven by factors that are very specific to each of our clients. SD-WAN procurement models generally include:
- Customer Managed
- Carrier Integrated
- Managed Service Provider Overlay
- Network-Based
Some clients are highly sophisticated and have the ability deploy and support SD-WAN edge and Orchestration solutions on their own, but most businesses do not have the desire to invest in the depth of resources for a Customer Managed model.
Carrier Integrated solutions are very common globally since many network service providers have built the SD-WAN orchestration layer and network-based security into their network and most carriers already have experienced managed services operations teams. In this model, you can source both network circuits and the SD-WAN edge from your network service provider.  Carriers generally align with several SD-WAN technology partners such as VMWare Velocloud, Versa Networks, Cisco Viptela, Silverpeak, or other leaders.
Managed Service Provider Overlay networks can be sourced from a growing number of MSPs who focus specifically on designing, deploying, and implementing SD-WAN solutions for businesses. These solutions can be deployed over-the-top of existing WANs and typically provide 24x7x365 monitoring and support. Some MSPs have developed sophisticated internal tools to manage deployments and to integrate with enterprise ticketing systems. Each has their own strengths and the Macronet Services team can quickly help identify a short list of viable options for your business.
Network Based SD-WAN solutions are continuing to gain market share and are a great fit for certain enterprise users. In this model, the SD-WAN service provider has built out a global network of PoPs using various Tier 1 carriers and can offer SLAs across their core network. Enterprises connect to the network using IPsec VPN or may deploy an appliance at the customer edge. The SD-WAN core typically includes a list of enhanced security features and options such as remote access.
Looking Ahead in SD-WAN
As noted in this article, the SD-WAN market will continue to grow rapidly and the total number of options will continue to expand as service providers and technology vendors integrate more capabilities into their products. The movement towards the co-managed SASE SD-WAN model will increase in velocity as attack surfaces increase due to cloud and remote networking initiatives.
Regarding the WAN component, the SD-WAN architecture will include more 5G and LEO satellite links as performance metrics improve for these services and enterprises demand rapid deployment of secure high-bandwidth solutions. IOT adoptions will drive the need for highly granular segmentation based on the device class and the required security posture of each class.
Managed SD-WAN service providers will work to maintain an edge by developing and enhancing their own Intelligent Process Automation and AIOps (AI for IT Operations) solutions. Some will build their own SIEM/SOC product offerings to service clients who need to outsource security operations.
Enterprise users will benefit greatly by selecting MSPs who can align best with their needs and serve as a seamless and cost-effective extension of their IT operations. Contact Us at Macronet Services to have a conversation about how we can help your team design, source, and govern your WAN in partnership with your IT team.
Related Posts
15 Comments
Comments are closed.
Recent Posts
- What is Avaya Aura Contact Center? Quick Answer + Advice
- 5 Modern Conference Room Design Ideas (You Need to Steal!)
- Enterprise Call Branding: The Missing Link in Voice Network Security
- Optimizing SDWAN Performance: The Strategic Role of Tier 1 ISPs in Global Network Design
- Unleashing Productivity: AI Capabilities in Zoom vs Microsoft Teams
Archives
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- December 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
Categories
- Uncategorized (1)
- Security Services (64)
- Cloud SaaS (50)
- Wide Area Network (291)
- Unified Communications (194)
- Client story (1)
- Inspiration (4)
- Tips & tricks (22)
- All (4)
- Clients (12)
- Design (3)
- News (249)
- Music (1)
[…] you need SDWANpost Covid as all of your corporate apps reside in AWS & you have adopted UCaaS? Â Perhaps […]
[…] software-defined network (SDN). MVE provides the edge-networking architecture that supports partner SD-WANÂ technology directly on Megaportâs […]
[…] team at Macronet Services helps IT teams design and source the best options for SD-WAN and cloud-based collaboration tools including Unified Communications as a Service and Contact […]
[…] in the swiftness of change, teams did not realize what they were losing from a traditional carrier SDWAN. Often, they did not have to architect a truly low-latent, cost-effective cloud networking path […]
[…] location such as your other cloud instance, datacenter, WAN etc. Â As we look at the landscape of SDWAN, may companies have opted to push more workloads to public cloud, especially Oracle an remove less […]
[…] Wide Area Networks (WANs):A rising tide in the SDWANÂ environment is organizations ditching this architecture in favor of a Zero Trust network. Â As […]
[…] if not, open a trouble ticket with your carrier before the sun rises. Â As more companies opt for SDWANreplacing legacy MPLS networks, they invariably add 1-5+ carriers in their network across Broadband, […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]
[…] SDWAN […]