What Is an SD-WAN?
Wide Area Networks (WANs) have been around in one form or another since the beginning of the digital age. While the technology has improved immeasurably, WANs still rely on layers of physical hardware to function.
Enter the Software Defined-WAN (SD-WAN). Although physical hardware will never be eliminated, with SD-WANs, network control is software-defined. Let’s look closer at how SD-WANs are redefining how devices network.
What Is a WAN?
To fully understand the concept of an SD-WAN, we should describe the workings of a WAN briefly.
There are two main types of networks—Local Area Networks (LANs) and WANs. There are severaldifferences between LANs and WANs, but the name gives away the main difference.
you may think of a WAN as a highway system for data that acts as the conduit to connect different locations. The traditional WAN relies heavily on physical hardware to achieve this connectivity. Routers are a central component;routers are the devices that control this traffic flow.
While this works perfectly, it is an inflexible approach to networking that involves a lot of manual configuration. It is this inflexibility that SD-WANs are designed to address.
How Does an SD-WAN Differ From a WAN?
The easiest way to explain this is to consider the highway analogy again. In this analogy, routers could be compared to traffic lights. Traffic lights can start or stop traffic flow, filter it into different lanes, and control traffic movement.
Before the advent of smart traffic lights, this was an inflexible system without much customization. Regardless of traffic conditions, these continued to control traffic based on their initial configuration.
Similarly, in a traditional WAN, the routers are inflexible. They largely make decisions based on predetermined rules. Changes to the network will require manual configuration of these routers, which is time-consuming and limits the network’s agility.
Flexibility Is at the Core of SD-WANs
Let’s take the analogy a step further and consider the role of smart traffic lights in the same scenario. These can adjust how they control traffic based on real-time conditions. For example, they can allocate more green lights to the side with heavier traffic during rush hour, ensuring smoother flow.
Similarly, if an accident occurs in one lane, smart traffic lights can redirect traffic to alternate routes to avoid congestion and delays.
In the context of an SD-WAN, it operates similarly to those smart traffic lights. Instead of relying on fixed rules, an SD-WAN utilizes intelligent software that constantly monitors network conditions.
It can analyze factors such as performance, latency, and bandwidth. Based on these factors, it dynamically determines the best path for data traffic. This adaptability ensures that data takes the most efficient and reliable route at any given time.
The Defining Features and Benefits of SD-WANs
The features that define an SD-WAN also define the benefits of this technology. Ultimately, an SD-WAN aims to provide a more cost-effective, agile, and secure version of network topology.
The mechanisms that allow this include:
Overall, in the age of smart devices and AI, SD-WANs could be considered a “smartening” of network technology.
SD-WANs: Agile Networks for the Age of Cloud Computing
SD-WANs fit neatly into the rapidly evolving technological age we are experiencing. They are representative of the move to cloud computing, the soaring use of smart devices, and autonomous control all rolled into one.
SD-WANs are the agile networks that bridge the gap between traditional WANs and the cloud-driven future. With AI technology making giant leaps on an almost daily basis, SD-WANs are only going to get smarter.
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