Posts about SD-WAN (3)

To function effectively, businesses require appropriate connectivity and storage solutions. Whether you’re managing a network or planning data storage, having the right equipment and software is vital.

Many businesses have relied on MPLS, or Multiprotocol Label Switching, as a routing method for their networks.

At the moment, there are between 60 and 70 companies that claim they do SD-WAN. This can be confusing for a lot of users, as it leads us to assume that all SD-WAN providers are equal. However, SD-WAN is not the same. The supplier you use makes a difference.

Free eBook! Use Case & Common Challenges. Digital transformation continues to have a big impact on organisations and especially on IT.

SD-WAN has been making the news for quite some time now and it looks like it’s here to stay. According to a recent IDC report, SD-WAN adoption is growing and fast. With 70% of surveyed organisations planning to adopt SD-WAN in the next 18 months. This shift to SD-WAN is of little surprise with so many benefits including cost savings, consistent security and reduced complexity, according to IDC. However, there seem to be many unanswered questions still out there about SD-WAN and it is high time the record is set straight. Fortunately for you, we have answered the six most common questions asked by enterprises: 1) What is SD-WAN? “What is it?” is the most common question asked by organisations we speak to even today, so let’s start with the basics and define exactly what SD-WAN is. Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) is an alternative approach to the traditional WAN connections. Instead of hardware, SD-WAN uses software and virtual network overlays to take advantage of available WAN connections to connect enterprise networks over multiple sites in different locations. SD-WAN offers compelling advantages including reduction of both hardware and software costs, network operating expenses, increased reliability, availability and flexibility, faster provisioning and improved application performance. 2) Can we really use internet bandwidth for an enterprise network? The answer is quite simply absolutely! The rapid development of technology and especially the growth of optical fibre communication has enabled the rapid improvement of bandwidth speed and performance in the past few years. Business-class high-speed Internet bandwidths with speed at even 1Gbps are available and can be used for enterprise networks. 3) How does SD-WAN save you money? SD-WAN reduces a company’s dependency on MPLS so effectively lowers the operating costs by relying less on expensive private links and using inexpensive public connections instead. The cost of MPLS per Mbps can be up to 100 times the cost of bandwidth, depending on geography; and even with MPLS costs dropping down, the price of broadband Internet is still much cheaper with the price gap between MPLS and enterprise-class Internet being as high as 30%, Gartner estimates. Additionally, Gartner predicts that enterprises will need 28% additional bandwidth in order to meet the demands of modern application usage (compounded annual growth rate); so on top of the cost-savings described above, companies will be able to afford more bandwidth than they currently can relying on MPLS. Furthermore, the increased flexibility, visibility and control with SD-WAN mean that the network becomes easier to manage, operate and maintain. SD-WAN helps mitigate costs in provisioning remote sites, lowers the expenses associated with scaling or adapting network resources and also cuts time spent on ongoing network management. 4) Can we fully replace our MPLS network with SD-WAN? Yes, you can, this comes down to choice and what you think is best for your business. SD-WAN can fully or partially replace the existing MPLS connections. The MPLS replacement doesn’t need to be done all at once, a phased transitional approach is often the way most organisations go. Since SD-WAN is a disruptive technology and with many stakeholders relying on MPLS for decades, some IT Managers prefer to create a hybrid architecture by keeping some of their MPLS connections, replacing 50% to 80% of them in order to validate SD-WAN’s performance and reliability. There are Enterprises which are more familiar with the technology and are happy to completely replace all of their existing MPLS connections with SD-WAN to maximise the benefits. If you are interested to hear more about these organisations and exactly how we helped them with this transition please contact us for further insight. 5) How easy is it to test the platform in your environment? At RDC we understand that it is essential to rigorously test an SD-WAN solution in your own environment before committing to it. A POC (Proof of Concept) is not a complicated exercise and is the best approach. With a large number of successful global POCs and installations of our recommended solution Silver Peak, we can help you execute a successful POC so you can fully grasp the benefits of SD-WAN adoption. If you are interested or need more convincing, please contact us by clicking here. 6) Do I need to wait for my network contract to end before looking at SD-WAN? There is no need to wait. As SD-WAN acts as a virtual overlay on top of your existing MPLS network you don’t need to wait until the end of your contract to deploy it. SD-WAN can be adopted without uprooting your entire network or ripping out the old MPLS connections. In this situation, SD-WAN is simply going to improve and enhance your MPLS infrastructure until the contract expires. We hope this article has been of interest, if you are considering SD-WAN adoption or there are any questions you often hear about SD-WAN that are not in our top 5 please do get in touch.

Today, the majority of Enterprise WAN’s are based on MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) connections. However, with the growing number of applications being delivered from the cloud combined with the need to enable direct-to-cloud communications, MPLS is no longer sufficiently performant or cost-effective. The need to increase streamline WAN infrastructure, combined with the interest for cheaper and simpler WAN, is driving SD-WAN adoption. The SD-WAN market is set to at least double in the next 3 years with 70% of companies interviewed planning to adopt SD-WAN in some form in the next 18 months, IDC reports. SD-WAN over DIA (Direct Internet Access) can fully replace existing MPLS, or a hybrid of MPLS and DIA can be leveraged. The leading motives cited driving the adoption for enterprises are price, security, visibility and reduced complexity. Couple these advantages with the other benefits SD-WAN can bring to your business and it becomes clear why MPLS networks are in decline year on year. Here are the top 4 reasons why SD-WAN will replace legacy MPLS connections: SD-WAN improves application and network performance Before the advent of the cloud, organisations needed only to be concerned with the performance of the applications hosted on their private networks and centralised data centres. Now that applications are moving to the cloud and are relying on the Internet to carry them to offices, MPLS can no longer deliver, which is turning businesses away. The Internet is a much better scaled network than it was a decade or even 5 years ago. Business-class high-speed Internet bandwidth with speeds up to and beyond 1Gbps are available and can be used for enterprise networks. Leveraging broadband Internet as an alternative to MPLS ensures network-wide predictable performance regardless of where the applications are hosted. SD-WAN ensures high availability with minimum downtime. When running over pure Internet bandwidth, the best way to maintain 99.99% availability is to utilise 2 links from 2 different providers in case of link failure. Additionally, SD-WAN enables you to measure jitter, latency and packet loss, routeing traffic to the best path available with the least amount of loss. If loss is still present on both links, solutions such as Silver Peak’s Path Conditioning will address the problem, ensuring exceptional performance, reliability and private-line-like performance over the public Internet. MPLS has a complex infrastructure It’s the management and orchestration of SD-WAN which gives it its competitive edge and differentiates it from other solutions. Legacy MPLS has a multitude of single-function devices and appliances connecting via different WAN links. This complex infrastructure proved to be prohibitively expensive and complex, both to implement and maintain. In contrast, broadband internet links are much quicker to provision and deploy. The plug-n-play concept and point-and-click provisioning of SD-WAN are its biggest unique selling points. Additionally, everything is GUI based which means that large and complex WAN’s can be managed more simply the ever before. Savings are substantial One of the biggest drivers of SD-WAN adoption, which accounts for 35% of all deployments, is the cost savings that can be derived. MPLS circuits are not only expensive to install and scale, but the cost of MPLS per Mbps can be up to 100 times the cost of Internet bandwidth. MPLS is priced anywhere between £30 and £60 per megabit per month compared to as little as £2 for broadband Internet. Companies surveyed in a recent IDC survey reported an estimate of at least 20% cost savings with SD-WAN. Security is improved Another motive accounting for a big part of SD-WAN deployments is the network security it provides. Historically MPLS has been considered a secure form of network connectivity as it uses private links and does not require encryption. However, the data travelling through the node is exposed and if anyone gains access to the wire outside the building, the data can be tapped. Similarly, recent events have called MPLS security into question and revealed that governments can easily tap and monitor these networks. On the other hand, SD-WAN predominantly uses DIA and since the Internet is a public and shared medium it represents an opportunity for attackers. However, security across the Internet can be ensured by utilising encryption and firewall level packet inspection used for security, reporting, and traffic prioritisation. Conclusion Substantial cost savings, improved performance, full network visibility, simplified management and consistent security are the top drivers for enterprises considering SD-WAN. Aside from these advantages there are other smaller benefits that SD-WAN has over MPLS including wider geographic availability, unmatched QoS as well as the fact that it is not datacentre-dependent. Due to the myriad of benefits it provides to businesses, SD-WAN has started to replace legacy MPLS networks and the trend is set to scale dramatically over the next few years. We hope this article has been of interest. If your company is considering ripping out and replacing your current MPLS network architecture, contact Solar Communications to find out more about how SD-WAN can support your needs.