12 Attributes of a Best of Breed SD-WAN
12 Attributes of a Best of Breed SD-WAN Solution & Why You Need One for Secure Traffic Management
SD-WAN is really about traffic management. Sure, zero touch deployment is not necessarily a traffic management solution, but the reason software is driving WAN deployments and configurations is simply that it is capable of managing your data links and traffic across these links.
Extensive research has established that security is the number one issue faced by WAN administrators. Hosting your data in the cloud, hybrid cloud or on premise has created the need for highly secure traffic management between users and your data. There are a lot of SD-WAN solutions out there that claim to have the capabilities to manage this traffic securely, but not all SD-WAN is the same.
If you think security, firewalls are part of the conversation. Firewalls are designed to detect and prevent intrusion, but are not WAN traffic management devices. Traditional Routers are designed to route traffic over multiple links, but have been complicated to install and definitely complicated to manage.
SD-WAN has certainly disrupted the traditional networking industry and today, software managing your data traffic is becoming much more commonplace. For SD-WAN to be successful in today’s complicated networks, it must be simple to install and, above all, simple to use and administrate. It must be able to run on popular hypervisors, be compatible with cloud infrastructures and understand multiple link types, including legacy systems, such as BGP networks, as well as the less expensive and ubiquitous broadband networks.
So how does the WAN administrator find the best SD-WAN solution when there is so much choice and marketing hype? Understanding the features and functions of pure SD-WAN is important, especially when it comes to security of your data.
Best of breed SD-WAN solutions will come with the following features:
- Easy to install
- Support ALL link types (existing legacy systems (BGP) as well as Internet, satellite, 3G,4G,5G, LTE, cable)
- Support multiple links in one device (up to 12 interfaces is not uncommon)
- Support bandwidth ranges from 10Mb up to 40 Gig.
- Provide secure management of BOTH inbound and outbound traffic.
- Allow customization and assignment of application traffic on certain links with instant failover
- Ability to determine healthy links instantly, which allows for instant failover, of BOTH inbound and outbound traffic. This usually means the methodology used to test the links is very important. Ask what algorithms the software uses to test the links.
- Cloud support with emphasis on secure traffic transmission and instant failover capabilities to multiple link types.
- Zero touch branch deployment
- Options to host or outsource to MSP
- Opex or Capex offerings
- Most important! Easy to use management tool! It must provide a simple to use traffic management tool that allows for quick, easy and intuitive changes to any link or application traffic not matter where that application or link is located on the WAN. You should NOT have to retrain your IT staff or pay for certified staff to manage your SD-WAN implementation.
Of course, this is not a comprehensive list, but if you are looking for an SD-WAN solution to sustain your systems for some time to come, you need to consider each of the features above and map them to your long-term plan. Remember, security is the number one issue, so do not look at any SD-WAN solution that cannot provide selective encrypted data flow across the network, and preferably choose solutions that incorporate stateful firewall IDS/IPS features. SD-WAN will definitely benefit the efficiency of your network, but do not settle for limited capabilities, knowing that your user count will increase and your network will expand.
FatPipe Networks has been developing and selling SD-WAN solutions for over 17 years, and are widely known as the “inventors” of SD-WAN. The software suite is extremely comprehensive, but what is most talked about is the easy to use interface, EnterpriseView™ – which is a single pane view of the network allowing administrators easy access and with simple to understand menus, administrators can make changes to traffic management, no matter the destination, starting point or route taken.
FatPipe Networks encryption is FIPS 140-2 certified, making it the only SD-WAN vendor with an encryption module approved by government agencies. To add to the security capabilities, FatPipe recently announced firewall support next generation firewall IPS/IDS features allowing users the luxury of having a highly secure traffic management solution with integrated firewalling.
FatPipe’s comprehensive SD-WAN suite is unique in the industry especially its patented SmartDNS™ which provides customers with INBOUND fail-over capabilities, not seen in other SD-WAN offerings. FatPipe also provides industry leading policy-based routing, giving administrators the ability to set thresholds based on common network issues, such as latency, jitter, and packet loss that will trigger if certain user defined conditions are met, ensuring data is not lost or compromised due to congestion or other link issues.
FatPipe is certainly a top contender if you are seriously considering SD-WAN or are upgrading your current network solution. Call FatPipe today at 1-801-683-5656 x 1224.
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