SD WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) lets you connect multiple companies to multiple interfaces on an SD WAN capable firewall. The SD WAN firewall is application aware and automatically steers traffic over different providers according to certain conditions.

For instance you could possibly connect an MPLS network on a single WAN connection and repair to the Internet around the second WAN connection. With SD WAN the traffic would then dynamically route over either connection according to policies you define.

Overview
To understand how SD WAN works and exactly how it benefits your business it is very important first appreciate how things were configured previously.

Consider hot and cold taps by using an old-fashioned wash hand basin. Think about the hot tap (WAN 1 Interface) is connected to the MPLS Network and also the cold tap (WAN 2 Interface) is connected to the Internet.

In the event the hot tap and cold taps are operated separately it is not easy to manage the temperature and flow in the water as is also totally separate from the other person. Similarly, before SD WAN it absolutely was hard to mix, control and manage traffic (business applications) across separate independent WAN Interfaces (on this example MPLS and Internet) just like the water in the old wash hand basin.

How come SD WAN better?
SD WAN is quite like a modern wash hand basin with the new and cold taps combined in a an easy task to adjust mixer tap. The water temperature can be controlled and can be automatically regulated to offer you the perfect temperature always.

With SD WAN you can have granular treatments for traffic across all WAN networks with advanced flexibility and agility. As an example, you can define policies that frequently send traffic from the main business application in the MPLS network by way of example but automatically transition online VPN if your MPLS network is congested or unavailable.

SD WAN transfers the burden of traffic management from physical devices to software and permits you to effectively and securely route visitors to remote locations including branch offices. Centralised control gives full visibility through the network and enables ease of management.

To sum up SD WAN offers you complete treatments for how you dynamically route and prioritise traffic determined by application type and also other factors for example congestion and availability.

Just how do SD WAN benefit your business?
Lower bandwidth costs
Centralised network management
Full network visibility
Increased choices 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 the increased dependency on cloud-based services in the modern workplace SD WAN provides a much more robust and reliable network.

SD WAN is often a far more flexible option that enables an enterprise to scale connectivity around as their business dictates which enable it to automatically adjust and steer cloud-based traffic over different routes when congestion or supplier failure occurs. This gives a small business to perform an infinitely 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 being implemented and quickly pushed to network hardware such as routers and switches.

After a primary investment SD-WAN can improve a business’s connectivity between branch locations, the primary office, data centres along with the cloud while reducing running costs making lasting savings as time passes.

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