Different hybrid WAN and SD-WAN in cloud computing networks, hybrid wansd-wan

Different hybrid WAN and SD-WAN in cloud computing networks, hybrid wansd-wan

The term hybrid WAN (WAN) and software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) are often incorrectly considered interchangeable. Hybrid Wan is a practice of routing traffic on multiple connection paths, while software-defined Wan (SD-WAN) Simplifies the management of hybrid Wan by centrally managing and providing business policy processes and security. These two methods have evolved to support the ever-changing network needs of the cloud computing era.

Networks in the cloud computing age

Most applications are hosted in the private data center until recently, and the network uses Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). All traffic is sent to the data center of the application security protocol.

Today, most of the traffic is distributed across the global Internet. The global public cloud service revenue is expected to increase by 2017 in 18.5%, reaching $260.2 billion, higher than $2016 in 219.6 billion. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and software as a service (SaaS) applications (such as Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce.com, ServiceNow, and Box) are now part of critical business infrastructure.

Different hybrid WAN and SD-WAN in cloud computing networks

In the era of cloud computing, enterprises require higher network elasticity, flexibility, and cost efficiency. According to Gartner, the Research Institute, "from the perspective of price and performance, public cloud computing makes the traditional enterprise Wan architecture unsatisfactory ."

For cloud computing applications, the traditional Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) backhaul technology will bring about unacceptable performance degradation and network congestion. With the increase in consumption, as a solution, the cost of hosting service providers (MPLS) is also increasing, and some enterprises have already made some settings on the firewall, some vulnerabilities allow direct access to the global Internet. This method can improve performance, but may bring unacceptable security risks.

Other changes also affect network applications. For example, the new over-the-top (OTT) applications of video streams increase network congestion. Encrypted applications determine the business priority of applications. Therefore, no matter how critical the data is, all data is the same. Finally, with the continuous adoption of IOT, a large amount of data is collected and stored, and often analyzed at the edge.

Emergence of hybrid Wan

Hybrid Wan routes traffic across multiple connection paths, taking into account their respective strengths and weaknesses. Using path selection, you can use path selection, hybrid wan to establish and/or redirect options with business policies and service quality to deliver traffic and applications along alternative routes. When performance is degraded or interrupted, traffic can be routed along the backup path.

Hybrid Wan uses Internet broadband and traditional Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) for path selection ., Internet broadband and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) both have their inherent advantages and disadvantages. Internet broadband is an ideal choice for direct access to cloud computing traffic and additional capacity. Unlike Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), it can obtain additional capacity without several months of delay. However, Internet broadband has poor security and quality. Therefore, it may not be suitable for internal financial applications and applications that require high-quality services, such as WebEx.

"The future of Wan is actually hybrid," said Shamus McGillicuddy of the Enterprise Management Association. Most enterprises will use public and private connection networks, and application traffic will promote these connection options ."

SD-WAN simplifies hybrid WAN Management

Managing a hybrid Wan is not trivial. The CLI is manual, time-consuming, and error-prone. Each device needs to be configured separately, or the administrator can write a custom script to configure and update complex network policies.

For example, if a retailer with 500 Remote stores wants to deploy a new video application, each vro requires 10 new command line codes (5,000 command lines in total ). On average, it takes 30 seconds to execute each command, and a total of one week to execute changes and launch new applications. If an error occurs, the administrator needs to check each line in the 5000 line of code to identify the error. The script can help, but it also brings more complexity and increases the error rate.

Instead of using the CLI, The SD-WAN provides administrators with a central management portal to implement business-defined rules throughout the organization. According to a Forrester survey, most network administrators want to centrally monitor and manage traffic and remotely configure the WAN.

SD-WAN abstracts network device management from devices. Network administrators can create business and security policies and deploy them in Wan, wireless/wired LAN, and cloud computing environments. This level of control improves IT and business efficiency and reduces operation management costs by about 20%. In addition to reducing operating costs, enterprises also use SD-WAN to improve application performance, directly optimize cloud connections, and improve network security.

The right SD-WAN solution helps ensure that application performance meets service levels and user expectations. The integrated WAN optimization feature reduces network congestion and latency, accelerating the performance of business-critical applications. Integrated user, device, and infrastructure Monitoring helps IT administrators quickly diagnose and solve complex performance problems in local deployment, cloud computing, and mobile applications.

With SD-WAN, enterprises can connect directly and securely to SaaS and cloud platforms. The Administrator defines policies to directly connect to SaaS applications through broadband, so as to optimize performance and avoid higher costs related to Protocol Label Switching (MPLS. Applications built on AWS, Azure, or Google cloud public cloud platforms can be connected through internet broadband VPN to ensure secure access.

Many SD-WAN solutions are embedded with firewall, user identity control, network segmentation, and other security features. Through Traffic subdivision, the network administrator can limit the attack surface and appropriately include visitor traffic.

Australian payment provider Simple Pay uses SD-WAN in its AWS environment, which automates cloud connections to provide consistent and secure connections globally. "No traffic, no need for people. It is actually one of the simplest deployments I have ever participated in ." Rob Gillan, chief technology officer of Simple Pay, said.

Network modernization

By providing traffic routing options based on business needs, hybrid WAN can improve congestion, reduce costs, and improve performance. However, without the SD-WAN technology, it can be very troublesome to manage. SD-WAN solutions provide centralized management and coordination for hybrid WAN, further reducing operating costs and increasing flexibility. For these reasons, IDC, an industry analyst, expects the SD-WAN market to grow to $8 billion as technology becomes mainstream by 2021.