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SD-WAN is now SD-WAN TM

SD-WAN is evolving to SD-WAN TM

Many SD-WAN solutions promise adopters a software/hardware solution that will ultimately solve their traffic routing issues and improve network performance. But research has shown that this is not the case. Over 60% of SD-WAN installs are retooled or worse, uninstalled, simply because they just do not meet the needs of today’s modern wide area network.

Let’s be honest, SD-WAN has got a rap, not necessarily “bad” but perhaps has been touted, incorrectly, as a panacea to solve a multitude of issues faced by today’s WAN administrators.

So why the confusion and lack of understanding? Perhaps it is marketing hype, where vendors in this market claim to have solutions that meet most customer’s needs, only to find far more is required than what is advertised. Perhaps customers are too quick to jump on the bandwagon, with administrators installing “SD-WAN” simply to appease management that they now have the latest and greatest, or to try something and see if and how it works.

SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN) is cool, and can be a very effective, cost saving solution for almost ANY WAN of any size or configuration. After research with well over 100 SD-WAN users, both large and small, the clear differentiator in this discussion is undoubtedly, the “S”. The Software. It is well known that the hardware is no longer the focus for a successful, high speed WAN, it is how the software manages the traffic.

It is all about network traffic management

Perhaps SD-WAN should be changed to SD-WAN-TM – WAN Traffic Management, because at the end of the day, it really is about traffic management, knowing what the traffic type is, where it originates, the destination and of course, how it gets there.

Modern WANs are becoming more and more complex, especially with the adoption of cloud and hybrid cloud services and solutions, better bandwidth offerings, faster cell networks (5G is blisteringly quick) and of course, the need to access information and data from anywhere at any time, using a multitude of devices.

Users are driving the change. Instant access is imperative, demanded, and critical to the success of today’s fast paced on line business to consumer economy. Businesses are adapting to this change requiring more connectivity to aligned organizations, such as healthcare institutions connecting to insurance companies, financial institutions connecting to regulatory bodies, mortgage and insurance companies, and large on line retailers managing inventory, deliveries, and billing. We are becoming more and more connected, and with that brings the number 1 fear for any network administrator, the security of their data.

Security is undoubtedly the one issue keeping the WAN administrator awake at night. With the massive increase in network traffic on multiple and different link types, especially broadband, from multiple devices, the question must now be, how do you manage this traffic effectively, efficiently and most importantly, easily?

In order to have a reliable, secure and effective WAN, it is imperative that administrators take control of traffic across the network. Knowing how traffic is being routed and most importantly, being able to control it, is without question the most important factor affecting the modern WAN. Managing this traffic across multiple links using multiple formats is key. This is the promise of SD-WAN.

5 Necessities for a cost effective SD-WAN solution

To get the best “S” for your SD-WAN needs, there are a few easy steps any business should take. Here are 5 key questions you MUST ask your SD-WAN vendor:

Will your SD-WAN solution work with existing routers and network protocols?
Will your SD-WAN solution work with multiple links in one device, even if those links are different types and speeds, including copper, fiber, 3G,4G,5G LTE, broadband and satellite?
Will your Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) solution securely load balance and failover BOTH inbound and outbound traffic, even if this is VoIP or Video resulting in zero dropped calls?
Does your SD-WAN solution allow setting of thresholds for any traffic type, including application specific, protocol specific, line specific, or interface specific?
Will your SD-WAN solution be capable of managing traffic securely to and from any cloud or hybrid cloud application or service and can you do this all from a single screen view of the entire network?

If you answered yes to ALL of these questions, you have a very good SD-WAN solution, or even better, best of breed WAN traffic management.

Traffic management is already the most important factor affecting networks today. It will become even more important and critical as more and more devices connect. Multiple research predicts up to 50 Billion devices connected to the Internet by 2025.

To be sure you have the right “S” to manage your traffic, check to see how your network is designed, the links you have in place, the firewalls, routers, the current traffic management system, and ask yourself what is possible and what will be required to ensure reliability, security, redundancy, efficiency and, perhaps often overlooked, how simple will it be to configure and manage?

FatPipe Networks have been designing and developing best of breed SD-WAN solutions for over 17 years, are the holder of 12 seminal patents and are FIPS 140-2 certified. With the capability of managing up to 16 different links, with multiple speeds, sub second failover, stateful firewall, inbound redundancy and security, best WAN Optimization options, and scalable up to 40Gb, FatPipe can meet all of the customer SD-WAN requirements. FatPipe’s traffic management is second to none. Offering both capex and managed service solutions, FatPipe is unique in the market. Can you afford not to check out FatPipe’s WAN traffic management capabilities?

Call FatPipe today at 801-683-5656 x 1224. www.fatpipeinc.com

What’s in an SD-WAN?

What’s in an SD-WAN?

By R. Scott Raynovich, Principal Analyst Futuriom

Software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) technology combines many desired enterprise networking features – including security, bandwidth optimization, and application acceleration – and delivers them with a cloud-managed networking architecture.

One of the primary benefits of SD-WAN technology is that it implements new network services and features in software, without requiring hardware upgrades. Enterprise and service-provider buyers are interested in the multiple benefits of SD-WAN, including improving and managing broadband Internet, reducing network costs for both connectivity and operating expense (opex), and improved management and automation. Service providers are aware of this trend and are scrambling to put together managed services offerings, as their MPLS offerings will clearly be replaced by SD-WAN services in the long term.

The Network’s Cloud Evolution

One of the big trends with information technology is the move to the cloud. Enterprises now expect to buy IT services, on-demand, from the cloud. The network is moving to the cloud as well. Enterprise network managers seek the agility and flexibility of managing their network from the cloud, while at the same time getting locked into proprietary equipment on expensive private lines. Gains in Internet availability and bandwidth optimization technology, such as WAN optimization, de-duplication, load-balancing, and link balancing, have become more sophisticated, enabling enterprises to leverage Internet broadband for business applications. This is driving the rapid expansion of the SD-WAN market, which provides all of this functionality in a cloud-delivered model

The Network’s Cloud Evolution

Futuriom’s ongoing interviews with enterprise end users as well as service providers delivering SD-WAN reveals the following goals in connecting the WAN in these new cloud environments:

Optimize and accelerate WAN traffic to the cloud
Improve overall network security
Reduce costs related to WAN bandwidth
Leverage multiple access technologies such as fiber, DSL, and wireless
Increased flexibility in CPE so that management can be outsourced or updated with software-only upgrades
Improve capability to purchase, provision, and manage network services via the cloud, using software

Customers can solve all of these problems with a single SD-WAN offering that addresses these challenges with specific features. Take a look at the features that can now be typically included in an SD-WAN package:

Let’s highlight why all of these SD-WAN features are important.

Router replacement and Open CPE: Managing proprietary hardware and customer premises equipment (CPE), including branch-office routers, can be expensive and time consuming. SD-WAN can be used to simplify the deployment and management of CPE – especially if you are a retail company that has to manage hundreds or thousands of branches. SD-WAN functionality can be delivered on open, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and managed from the cloud, helping to streamline and automate management.

Enhanced Security and Cloud VPN: One of the allures of SD-WAN technology is that it can be used to deploy a virtual private network (VPN) as a software overlay using end-to-end encryption. This helps meet security requirements for businesses that may want to connect branch offices or retail outlets but also have high security requirements. But SD-WAN platforms can also be used to deliver value-added security services such as stronger encryption, malware detection, and intrusion detection services (IDS). Security is becoming an important checklist item for SD-WAN.

WAN Optimization: SD-WAN can be used to improve the performance of applications on the network. WAN optimization, once a discrete function delivered with a hardware or software appliances, is being integrated into SD-WAN functionality. Many SD-WAN technologies include WAN optimization functionality and we expect this to be a checklist item in SD-WAN deployments.

Application Performance Enhancement: Cloud WAN solutions can be built that optimize access to cloud applications by monitoring traffic and routing higher-priority business applications ahead of leisure services such as Netflix and YouTube. Additionally, many WAN services can peer directly with cloud services to offer a “fast lane” to the business applications. These techniques can be used to “offload” enterprise WAN backhaul, routing cloud traffic directly to the source using a combination of broadband technologies. This will also have the effect of challenging the traditional ADC model of providing these services as part of a discrete hardware device. In addition, some SD-WAN vendors are working with cloud vendors to set up specialized cloud gateways and POPs in cloud datacenters to provide more direct access to cloud applications.

Cloud Management: As we have outlined, SD-WAN functionality can be deployed using COTS hardware and then managed from the cloud. This means that new network features, functionality, and updates can be managed with software over the network, rather than forklift upgrades, yielding a network-as-a-service model.

The SD-WAN market is now rapidly moving to customer deployments and accelerating because it delivers a more flexible, agile, and feature-rich platform to manage the enterprise WAN. Futuriom believes that in 2019 the market will continue to accelerate and drive into the billions of dollars, as it replaces some legacy technologies for VPN, ADC, edge routers, and firewalls. The market is consolidating around software-delivered and adaptive WAN services that can connect either through thin customer clients or industry-standard CPE.

FatPipe Networks have been selling software defined networking solutions for over 20 years and have specialized in providing customers with best of breed security, (one of the only SD-WAN providers with FIPS 140-2 government certification) reliability, flexibility (can support up to 15 interfaces in one device) and is easy to manage, providing a single pane interface view of the entire network.

FatPipe Networks www.fatpipeinc.com