The principle and the advantages of SD-WAN are now better understood: “Software Defined” applied to wide area networks (WAN) simplifies network management thanks to a dynamic prioritization mechanism of flows.
It automatically chooses the best links available, which is particularly useful for direct Internet access without going through the company's datacenter. These links to the Internet can be aggregated according to predetermined criteria and a compromise between the best possible cost and the best possible quality depending on the type of data.
Contrary to what was said 3 or 4 years ago, SD-WAN does not necessarily lead to lower costs even if it contributes to the disappearance of always expensive MPLS links - which often retain their raison d'être, at least for some flows.
Software Defined provides flexibility; it often combines MPLS lines or leased lines, at guaranteed speed, with public Internet connections.
SD-WAN: simplify and automate deploymentsAs Gartner sums it up, it's about simplifying and automating the management, configuration and orchestration of the WAN, reducing the number of appliances.
Pioneer users are also seeing the speed of deployment and implementation. Another advantage that is verified: the promise of "zero touch" - no or very few interventions.
SD-WAN is therefore particularly profitable for branch office or branch network architectures. Especially since the equipment put in place - known as CPE - Customer Premisses Equipments - requires very little maintenance.
IT teams can thus adapt the capacities of the network site by site, in a granular fashion.
From a central point, SD-WAN also makes it possible to meet the needs of IoT (Internet of Things) collection networks, particularly in the industrial sector, by adding low-speed networks (LP-WAN).
The functions and orchestration of the data plane tend to be carried out in the Cloud, in order to offer direct and optimized access to Cloud or “on-premise” resources. Hence the success of a precursor like Velocloud (acquired by VMware).
For more information about: velocloud networks