Six ways SD-WAN simplifies network management

For software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN), there is a big difference between using it and using it well. As an emerging enterprise networking solution, SD-WAN can not only achieve wide area network acceleration, save bandwidth investment costs, and be flexible in application, but also has 6 functions to simplify network management, including centralized management, Web interface management and control, intelligent automatic routing, performance-based policy routing, full-cycle report generation, and ultra-fast secure link settings. You need to "get" it well.

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The Origin of Software-Defined WAN

When talking about software-defined wide area network, we have to mention software-defined network (SDN). SDN is a network programmable technology specifically designed to achieve dynamic, flexible and scalable connections, which can support the ever-changing needs of data centers and core networks. By defining the network software, SDN can separate the network control plane from the data forwarding plane, so that enterprises can use SDN to help themselves optimize traffic, reduce remote connection costs, and improve performance.

However, SDN technology is obviously more focused on internal networks and core service provider networks, while SD-WAN is entirely based on the optimization of the wide area network (WAN) to achieve connections between networks, devices and users. This provides a more flexible networking solution for wide area network connections from branch office sites to retail stores and then to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

6 Ways SD-WAN Simplifies Network Management

In networking practice, SD-WAN architecture is particularly suitable for enterprises with multiple branches or remote offices, because SD-WAN can not only greatly improve network utilization, enhance network controllability and visibility, but also make network management easy. The six main ways in this regard are as follows:

1. Centralized Management

SD-WAN allows for fully centralized network management. Through a centralized control platform, network administrators can abstract and virtualize devices and links in the network to form a unified network resource pool to achieve global management and control and optimize traffic distribution. Often, you can quickly change the settings of multiple sites with just a click of the mouse. On the SD-WAN platform, templates can be created for sites with the same SD-WAN routing policy for easy sharing. By issuing policy templates to multiple sites, network administrators can apply changes to multiple sites simultaneously in near real time.

2. Web interface perspective

SD-WAN can achieve network automation and configuration through web interface management and control, which can help network administrators detect any network changes and coordinate any necessary new or modified network configurations. It can also provide bandwidth connections required by applications on demand. For example, when a unified communications (UC) user starts a voice session and then wants to add a video, the allocation of WAN resources needs to be dynamically adjusted to meet the requirements for increased bandwidth. But it cannot be at the expense of service quality.

Through a centralized web-based interface, network administrators can also quickly configure and deploy hybrid WAN links regardless of the underlying connection type. This means that active and failover solutions can be configured more easily for sites than in traditional networks where each router needs to be configured individually.

3. Intelligent and automated routing

SD-WAN also has intelligent automatic routing capabilities, which allows network administrators to create and preconfigure dynamic responses based on different network traffic conditions. In addition to traditional failover solutions, it also allows applications to automatically switch from one link to another based on congestion or path conditions. And the above operations can be completed quickly and deployed from a single user site to the entire enterprise network.

4. Performance-based policy routing

With SD-WAN, users can create policy routes based on application performance to simplify their network management. For example, if a traditional static WAN connection experiences a temporary outage or temporary performance issue, network administrators will expect to receive complaints or fault reports from customer sites. However, SD-WAN's dynamic routing capabilities do not need to do that, and can resolve performance issues until the connection is restored or performance stabilizes. In most cases, client sites will experience better application performance than static WANs and will not even realize that there is a problem.

While SD-WAN typically operates according to set policies, it can also make effective decisions on the fly to ensure network reliability by handling low-priority packets differently. A resilient infrastructure with a managed SD-WAN service monitors the bandwidth status of each ISP service provider and allocates the required bandwidth accordingly. When a link fails to respond, it is removed from the available list while continuously testing until it is ready. This way, the diversity of ISPs can be fully utilized.

5. Full-cycle report generation

For network administrators, SD-WAN can also provide detailed application and WAN performance reports, giving them a high level of network visibility. This network visibility even allows network administrators to see how applications are used and how they operate. Some SD-WAN platforms also provide monitoring tools to improve the end-user experience through mechanisms such as end-to-end QoS and prioritization. These tools can help network administrators see all applications on the SD-WAN to combat shadow IT scenarios, not just the applications they deploy themselves.

6. Quick setup of secure links

SD-WAN can also reduce the time required to set up secure communication link services. After authenticating through the network and the application, the employee's voice, messaging, video collaboration, file sharing, etc. are managed with the help of policies, so that employees can have continuous office capabilities, such as using them on desktops or mobile devices, while reducing operating costs and improving network security and availability. It is reported that SD-WAN can now create a secure connection for corporate employees in minutes, instead of days or even weeks.

Conclusion

The SD-WAN management platform not only provides automation and centralized orchestration capabilities, but also provides a comprehensive and intuitive performance interface, allowing network administrators to fully understand the operation of applications on the network, thereby simplifying the network management of the enterprise. Obviously, the above 6 tricks must be used well.