SMOAD Networks

5G SD-WAN
December 7, 2022

Evolution of SD-WAN

SD-WAN is the acronym for Software-defined wide area network.

SD-WAN has become the foundation for supporting present-day applications. It has completely altered WAN infrastructure. Organizations used leased lines from reputed service providers to connect remote locations to the main data hubs. To reach the application services in such an ecosystem, it was important for the traffic to flow from remote places to the central hub. However, as cloud-based systems developed, more applications were available outside centralized hubs. The present application models could not meet their optimum performances with the traditional WAN architecture, so SD-WAN was created.

The growth of cloud-based applications and the difficulties presented by the conventional WAN architecture in managing such applications sparked the development of SD-WAN. The user experience on cloud-based systems was getting worse with old WAN architecture, as it could not handle the difficulties. The introduction of cloud-based applications resulted in a massive increase in traffic, which caused problems with traffic control, the possibility of data breaches, and unpredictable application performance. SD-WAN has become the perfect solution to counter all such issues.

In addition to addressing the shortcomings of the conventional WAN architecture, SD-WAN helped reduce operational costs. With SD-WAN, it has become possible to utilize the bandwidth more effectively and attain maximum performance levels without difficulties. SD-WAN has also resolved the data security issues posed by erstwhile traditional WAN. Greater application experiences, better security, optimal cloud connectivity, and greatly simplified traffic management have all been made possible by SD-WAN.

Creation of SD-WAN
SD-WAN was created to resolve 4 problem areas that the traditional WAN architecture posed.

• Visibility of Applications
SD-WAN help with the visibility of applications, an advantage that was not previously available. SD-WAN solutions offer integrated monitoring tools to help with application identification capabilities. SD-WAN also aids in checking the applications commuting through the WAN.

• Independence of Transport
Thanks to SD-WAN, any service provider connection can now have a virtual network or overlay created on top of it. This makes it possible to obtain broadband services in remote regions with tremendous flexibility.

• Path Intelligence
Overlay technology offers the foundation for path intelligence. Since the path can be monitored using SD-WAN, it helps to route the business-critical apps across connections that adhere to the policy criteria. Apart from that, an organization can distribute the load amongst several connections.

• Centralized management
The development of common templates is made possible with the help of SD-WAN’s centralized management. With WAN, deploying different configurations becomes crucial; this is not necessary with SD-WAN. These common templates are based on the site types. With SD-WAN configuring multiple routers via a CLI interface is not required, which was a necessity earlier.

SD-WAN is the Next-Gen WAN architecture, but a few factors must be understood before selecting a particular SD-WAN solution.

  • It should be able to replace the existing infrastructure
  • It should offer complete functionality as per the business requirements
  • It should offer integration possibilities with the current enterprise architecture
  • The SD-WAN vendor should be able to offer complete support

Why Switching To SD-WAN So Very Important?
For modern businesses, migrating to SD-WAN is the need of the hour. But it is essential to thoroughly evaluate the current problems arising out of the existing WAN and the solutions they expect to be resolved when migrating to an SD-WAN system. SD-WAN solutions should essentially be able to fill in the gaps created by the existing WAN architecture. That is why it is crucial to conduct a careful study and a pilot test before entirely switching to an SD-WAN solution. It will only be possible for organizations using SD-WAN to gain from the migration if they properly comprehend its advantages and capabilities.

Cloud-based applications are here to stay and grow. Currently, migrating to SD-WAN has become the best option for organizations to speed up their business growth. Every growing organization will have to switch to SD-WAN sooner or later.

SMOAD SD-WAN is your ticket to resolving high bandwidth requests. With SMOAD SD-WAN, there is no worry about QoS, jitter, latency, and packet loss. SMOAD SD-WAN offers over-the-counter components as network devices. It enables easy setup, management, and upgrades at branch offices, thanks to the network overlay defined at the software level. SMOAD SD-WAN offers seamless traffic at a higher bandwidth and redundancy.