The shifting landscape of SD-WAN requirements

In today’s dynamic digital environment, the rise of remote work, sophisticated cyber threats, and increasing bandwidth demands have driven the evolution of SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) technologies. However, many of the current SD-WAN offerings fall short of addressing the full spectrum of these challenges.

Challenges in Current SD-WAN Solutions

Issues like scalability limitations, lack of automation, and inadequate cloud and SaaS integrations can lead to poor user experiences and diminish the benefits of SD-WAN implementations. As SD-WAN enables direct internet access, bypassing traditional data center security controls, a comprehensive set of networking and security tools is essential to keep pace with the rapid changes in modern networks.

Essential Features for Effective SD-WAN

Effective SD-WAN solutions must support seamless cloud integration, global deployment scalability, branch expansions, and remote workforce needs. SD-WAN equips businesses with the ability to optimise WAN services, leading to more efficient and cost-effective network management. This enables distributed enterprises to better engage with customers, streamline business operations, and drive innovation.

By incorporating additional carrier links, SD-WAN can provide redundancy, load balancing, and optimised application traffic, making it indispensable for businesses looking to enhance their network infrastructure. However, the success of an SD-WAN deployment hinges on its ability to deliver essential features such as robust security, excellent application performance, seamless cloud integration, and simplified, scalable management.

Performance and Application Optimisation

In SD-WAN deployments, performance is a critical factor. A high-performing solution must offer advanced application routing and identification without sacrificing speed or security. This includes comprehensive SSL/TLS inspection to ensure traffic is routed securely and accurately. SD-WAN solutions achieve optimal application performance by directing traffic over the most efficient available WAN connections, including LTE/5G options.

Automated Path Selection and SLAs

Automated path selection is essential for prioritising application traffic based on specific business needs. SD-WAN solutions should enable organisations to set service-level agreements (SLAs) that dynamically choose the best WAN connection—whether traditional wired links or LTE/5G wireless options—based on real-time network performance. For critical business applications, strict SLAs can be enforced using metrics such as jitter, packet loss, and latency.

Additionally, multi-path technology ensures automatic failover in sub-seconds, improving network reliability and the overall user experience. WAN path remediation techniques, including forward error correction (FEC) and packet duplication, further enhance performance by overcoming poor network conditions, and ensuring reliable delivery of real-time applications like voice and video.

Deployment and Management

Deploying SD-WAN across multiple remote sites can be complex and costly. The challenges of sending technical teams for installation, coupled with security concerns around pre-configured device shipping often add to the complexity. Secure SD-WAN solutions address these challenges with zero-touch deployment, allowing unconfigured devices to be shipped to remote locations and automatically configured upon connection. This approach significantly reduces deployment costs and complexity. Additionally, centralised management through a single interface, or “single-pane-of-glass,” provides comprehensive visibility and control over all deployed SD-WAN devices, simplifying policy management and updates across the network. This integration also enables the automatic creation and management of full mesh overlay links, including LTE/5G connections, ensuring secure and efficient connectivity between sites.

Integrating LTE/5G wireless WAN capabilities into SD-WAN solutions enhances network performance and reliability by providing additional high-quality internet connections. This integration is especially beneficial for maintaining operations during wired outages through cellular failover or active-active load balancing. In remote locations where traditional wired options like cable/DSL are unavailable, LTE/5G can serve as the primary connection, delivering consistent performance and reliability akin to any other branch in the network.

Conclusion

SD-WAN is indispensable for businesses looking to enhance their network infrastructure. The success of an SD-WAN deployment hinges on its ability to deliver essential features such as robust security, excellent application performance, seamless cloud integration, and simplified, scalable management. By addressing these needs, SD-WAN can significantly improve network reliability and the overall user experience.