The Evolution of the WAN: An Introduction to SD-WAN

The Traditional WAN

The traditional Wide Area Network (WAN) was designed for a different era. It was designed to connect branch offices to a central data center, where all of the applications and data were located. This model is no longer effective in today’s world of cloud computing and mobile devices.

What is SD-WAN?

Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) is a new approach to networking that is designed for the cloud era. It is a more flexible, agile, and cost-effective way to connect branch offices to the cloud.

How Does SD-WAN Work?

SD-WAN works by separating the control plane from the data plane. The control plane is centralized, and it is used to manage the entire network. The data plane is distributed, and it is used to forward traffic. This separation of the control plane and the data plane allows for a number of new and powerful features, including:

Centralized management: SD-WAN provides a single, centralized console for managing the entire network.
Dynamic path selection: SD-WAN can dynamically select the best path for traffic based on a variety of factors, such as application performance and network conditions.
Zero-touch provisioning: SD-WAN allows for zero-touch provisioning of new branch offices. This means that new branches can be brought online quickly and easily, without the need for a truck roll.

Benefits of SD-WAN

SD-WAN can provide a number of benefits, including:

Reduced Costs: SD-WAN can help organizations to reduce their WAN costs by using a variety of transport options, such as broadband internet and 4G/5G.
Increased Agility: SD-WAN can help organizations to be more agile by allowing them to quickly and easily provision new branch offices.
Improved Performance: SD-WAN can help to improve the performance of applications by dynamically selecting the best path for traffic.
Enhanced Security: SD-WAN can help to enhance security by providing a variety of security features, such as encryption and firewalling.

Conclusion

SD-WAN is a new and innovative way to build and manage a WAN. It offers a number of benefits over the traditional WAN, including reduced costs, increased agility, and improved performance. As organizations continue to embrace the cloud, SD-WAN is likely to become an increasingly popular option for connecting branch offices to the cloud.