SD-WAN Serves Up Added Flexibility and QoS Control

Traditional wide area network (WAN) technology no longer cuts it. With increasing use of both public and private clouds in a hybrid model, and mission-critical data transmission that must coexist with lesser network traffic, the WANs of old just aren’t built for the job.

Companies like Cisco (News - Alert) and CloudGenix are betting that software-defined WANs will come to the rescue.

The value of software-defined networking, popularly known as SDN, is clear. As the need for network velocity increases, physical networking hardware cannot keep up. There’s the need for network adjustments in real-time, new functionality as technology evolves, and smooth integration of things like public and private cloud traffic.

SDN, on the other hand, moves networking to the software level instead of relying on purpose-built networking hardware. This brings greater flexibility and the ability for networks to adjust in real-time to changing network conditions.

Firms like CloudGenix have taken the SDN concept and applied it to WAN technology.

In the case of hybrid cloud architectures, for instance, CloudGenix’s SD-WAN enables businesses to combine disparate WAN networks such as MPLS, LTE (News - Alert) and he public cloud into a hybrid WAN fabric.

The SD-WAN solution not only brings together separate networks, it also monitors performance in real-time using dynamic path selection and WAN bandwidth allocation prioritization. Mission-critical WAN traffic gets priority, and less immediate traffic flows around this important traffic. The level of network quality of service control that businesses get from SD-WAN should not be understated.

The use of SD-WAN helps bring greater efficiency and lowers WAN costs without compromising on performance. It also enhances agility, boosts application performance and potentially gives businesses better WAN security.

There’s a reason why SDN is a buzzword in the networking world right now. It is more than just a passing technology; it represents the future of networking. This is immediately evident when looking at SD-WAN compared with its traditional counterparts.