SD-WAN FEATURED ARTICLE

2019 SD-WAN Group Test Results Revealed

June 20, 2019

By Maurice Nagle, Web Editor

The WAN is at the core – err edge – of your operations, delivering application performance, driving productivity and facilitating results in businesses large and small. Offering a gateway to the cloud and enabling all the digital age affords.




NSS Labs unveiled the results of the 2019 Software Defined Area Network (SD-WAN) Group Test. The test put eight robust SD-WAN solutions through their paces to offer enterprises a comprehensive view of each solution with insight into security effectiveness, TCO, performance as well as quality of experience (QoE).

“Interest and demand for SD-WAN continues to accelerate as enterprises gain significant cost and operational benefits,” said Jason Brvenik, Chief Executive Officer at NSS Labs. “All of the products tested in the 2019 SD-WAN Group Test offer a notable return on investment. Products offering integrated threat protections demonstrate further return on investment and operational efficiency. We encourage enterprises exploring SD-WAN technologies to read the results from this year’s test.”

The products they tested:

  • Barracuda Networks Barracuda CloudGen Firewall F82 v7.2.3
  • Citrix Systems (News - Alert) Citrix SD-WAN 2100-1000-SE v10.0.0.6
  • Forcepoint NGFW 1101 SMC 6.5.3 and Engine 6.5.2
  • Fortinet FortiGate 61E v6.0.4 GA Build 0231
  • Oracle Talari SD-WAN E1000 v7.3
  • Silver Peak (News - Alert) Unity EdgeConnect EC-M VXOA 8.1.7
  • Versa Networks FlexVNF V220 v16.1R2-S6
  • VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud Edge 2000 v3.2.1

As this maturing technology moves the fore, NSS defines SD-WAN as the union of software-defined networking (SDN) and WAN technology joining router, WAN optimization and firewall enabling organizations the ability to take advantage of high-bandwidth, consumer-grade links at a lower cost to deliver business-class services.

This year’s test examined the manageability and cost, performance and security in a number of use cases. The results were, well, illuminating. All of the products tested passed NSS Labs’ minimum QoE requirements. Security is evolving, in recent years security vendors are entering the space with threat protection – firewall/IPS protection with SD-WAN. The key differentiators: protection against network-delivered exploitation and TCO per Mbps.

A point of note is that two of the solutions put through the paces offered built-in protection and functioned admirably with the security function enabled, but the report notes fully assessing a solution before purchase and deployment. In addition, the solutions containing network-delivered exploitation protection offered a lower TCO per Mbps than those without on average.

Also, NSS Labs notes a performance-to-cost ratio better than that of MPLS – driving adoption. And, each vendor solution tested delivers user-friendly deployment and configuration for branch offices, touting deployment times of 10 minutes or less per device.

SD-WAN makes a strong case, undeniable even.  What’s in your WAN?

These are only some of the topics that will be addressed at SD-WAN Expo 2020, February 12-14, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  The conference will discuss not only the why and how of SD-WAN, but will explore live use cases explained by practitioners who have experienced the benefits firsthand.  If you’re interested in joining the conversation and sharing your SD-WAN experiences, the call for papers for SD-WAN Expo is currently open for submissions.  




Edited by Maurice Nagle

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