SD-WAN FEATURED ARTICLE

How SD-WAN Can Streamline the Enterprise

June 16, 2016

By Susan J. Campbell, SD-WAN Contributing Editor

While it seems like Internet technology is transforming all the time, the reality is that virtualization and software driven architectures (SD-WAN) continue to have an impact on the industry. What once was a proprietary-driven arena where tying into one vendor was the accepted norm, IT is now running on integrated platforms where directors have choice and applications come from a variety of vendors.




As highlighted in a recent SD-WAN Resource white paper, the days of deploying proprietary devices that demand grueling manual configuration are over. Now, IT infrastructure is increasingly running on x86 platforms and controlled through the use of application programming interface (API). Plus, the complexity and expense typical to the traditional WAN is no longer a reality.

Agility and responsiveness are now a reality in large enterprise data centers thanks to the advancements made in SDN-based private clouds. The challenge in SD-WAN is that the traditional WAN model relies on the dedicated connection and hardware that is both costly and inefficient. Seamless connectivity is both flexible and dynamic across all domains and makes sense moving into this next area of transformation.

SD-WAN is designed to address the challenges companies face as they try and move away from the proprietary model and take advantage of the benefits offered in cloud technology. When SD-WAN solutions are put in place, braches are connected to the corporate office through the transformation of the networking in one that leverages an open and programmable cloud infrastructure. Enterprises no longer have to be tied to the hub and spoke model and can instead deploy an architecture that is partially or fully meshed that transports traffic along a path identified as most efficient.

This approach lends considerable value for the enterprise as the SD-WAN offers more control over the network infrastructure while reducing overall operational and capital expenses at the same time. At the same time, the enterprise gains more agility and the necessary responsiveness it needs to take full advantage of access to the cloud.

As the typical WAN environment has the tendency to be somewhat complex, the SD in SD-WAN provides enterprises with the opportunity to create and push out policies to manage various parts of the network. When grouped together into templates, policies are then deployed automatically whenever a new branch integrates or an application changes. This effectively streamlines the enterprise. 



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