Software Defined Wide Area Network

A wide area network (WAN) might be used to connect branch offices to a central corporate network, or to connect data centers separated by distance. In the past, these WAN connections ofen used technology that required special proprietary hardware. The SD-WAN movement seeks to move more of the network control is moved into the “cloud,” using a sofware approach.

Features and Benefits

• Extensibility to 3rd party products via service chaining
• Advanced application visibility and control
• Better agility and responsiveness
• Increased application performance
• Security and micro-segmentation

How It Works?

Transferring data traffic directly across the internet delivers the best application experience for users. However, not all cloud-bound or web traffic is created equal. Many cloud applications – and their providers – natively apply robust security measures. Accessing these “trusted” applications directly from the branch, across the internet provides the needed security to protect the enterprise from threats. A few examples include Salesforce, Office365, ServiceNow, Box, and Dropbox.

SD-WAN uses software and a centralized control function to more intelligently steer or direct traffic across the WAN. An SD-WAN handles traffic based on priority, quality of service and security requirements in accordance with business needs. The conventional router-centric model distributes the control function across all devices in the network - routers simply route traffic based on TCP/IP addresses and ACLs.