In the rapidly advancing era of digitization, the increasing demand for upgrading enterprise networks has become evident. Among the hottest emerging technologies, SD-WAN has gained widespread adoption in organizations, institutions, and enterprises engaged in cross-regional operations. Prior to deploying SD-WAN, a careful assessment and consideration of the following key points are essential to ensure a successful and smooth implementation.
1. Cost-effectiveness
The economic viability of SD-WAN lies in its ability to avoid expensive WAN link costs, particularly when facing an annual WAN data growth of around 20%. By integrating with networking connections, SD-WAN securely utilizes low-cost Internet links, including DSL, cable, Ethernet, wireless, etc., to meet the escalating bandwidth demands.
2. Reliability
SD-WAN ensures a more reliable connection by allowing traffic to flow through two or more independent WAN links. By contracting with multiple communication service providers, IT organizations can diversify WAN connections, including combinations of networking providers, cable companies, and wireless providers. The intelligent features of SD-WAN monitor links, routing traffic through the most efficient path, enhancing connection reliability.
3. Traffic Prioritization
Enterprises increasingly favor direct connections from remote offices to the fastest cloud or SaaS applications, rather than routing all traffic back to the central data center. SD-WAN enables enterprises to set application and user-driven priorities and security policies, identifying and directly routing branch traffic to the correct data center.
4. Plug-and-Play
Most SD-WAN solutions are highly deployable in remote offices. SD-WAN hardware can be easily shipped to offices, plugged into power and WAN connections, and then remotely configured by IT, channel partners, or service providers. SD-WAN solutions integrate seamlessly with existing network equipment and network security products in branch offices.
5. Multi-Cloud Support
Considering that most enterprises use applications in internal data centers, public clouds, and have users accessing SaaS applications simultaneously, SD-WAN solutions have the capability to identify and route cloud-based traffic. They can recognize the IP addresses of leading SaaS providers and accordingly route traffic.
6. Internal Security
SD-WAN solutions safeguard unreliable Internet links and identify abnormal traffic. Each SD-WAN vendor provides unique solutions, including firewalls, whitelists, blacklists, encryption, etc. Additional features may include content filtering, endpoint management, and policy implementation, requiring interoperability with existing network security products like next-generation firewalls.
7. Management Automation
The intelligent management and automation features of most SD-WAN solutions are located in central data centers or the cloud. This centralized IT operator management allows for intelligent administration, orchestration, and automation through the console.
By carefully considering these seven key points, enterprises can gain a more comprehensive understanding of SD-WAN and ensure the successful implementation of their network upgrades. Deploying SD-WAN not only enhances network performance but also brings a more economical, flexible, and secure network connectivity experience for enterprises.
Feel free to consult Ogcloud for more information on SD-WAN!
Contact us: SDWAN,International network,It outsourcing,Cloudphone,OgCloud