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TECH TALK
The growing need for a modern
connectivity option What is SD-WAN and how can it
offer a solution?
Relying on traditional enterprise connectivity
presents several fundamental challenges
in today’s digital business world, because
each location might have multiple devices,
different device configurations and a
wide range of security requirements for
individual devices or applications. Adding
a new location to a VPN also requires
knowledgeable (and expensive) IT staff for
deployment, management, troubleshooting
and ongoing support. SD-WAN, or software-defined wide area
network, is a software-based technology
for connecting remote locations to
distributed enterprise networks. SD-WANs
operate as a network overlay, enabling
remote sites to consolidate multiple
Traditional connectivity infrastructures are
also rigid and require labour-intensive efforts
to support dynamic network conditions,
especially when it comes to remote
locations. For example, adapting to changing
network needs, adding new applications,
or responding to new security threats must
be done quickly (often in real time) to
ensure business continuity. Legacy networks
are often too bulky to adapt to changing
circumstances in a timely manner.
Moreover, traditional security approaches
are falling short of the needs of today’s
highly distributed enterprises. For example,
multiple touchpoints for manual security
configurations leave networks prone
to misconfigurations or inconsistent
configurations – exposing them to security
risks. And then there is the rising cost factor.
The capital expenditure for various point-
product hardware, public IP addresses and
software continues to rise, as do the costs of
qualified IT staff to support remote locations.
That’s why distributed enterprises need a
modern approach and many are quickly
adopting software-defined networking to gain
better control over the performance, cost and
management of their networks to support their
Digital Transformation strategies.
“
Hubert da Costa, SVP and GM EMEA, Cybera
network functions and applications over
low-cost broadband connections.
Because they are software-based, SD-WANs
reduce the number of network devices
and connections needed at each site,
significantly lowering network complexity
and costs – especially at the network edge.
Here, agility is key, as enterprises can
remotely customise and reconfigure
SD-WANs to support quickly changing
SD-WANS REDUCE THE
NUMBER OF NETWORK DEVICES AND
CONNECTIONS NEEDED AT EACH SITE,
SIGNIFICANTLY LOWERING NETWORK
COMPLEXITY AND COSTS.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
requirements and make system updates.
In particular, secure SD-WAN solutions greatly
simplify enterprise networks and dramatically
reduce both the capital and operating
expenses associated with managing
enterprise WANs. SD-WANs also easily extend
the multi-layer security defences used in data
centres to remote locations.
Most importantly, they can segment
various types of applications into their own
dedicated logical networks, preventing
them from interacting with other
application traffic on the network.
www.intelligentcio.com