Categories: Technology

A Quick Explanation And The Advantages Of Using SD-WAN

For a while now, SD-WAN has gained a large following from all types of businesses for its many benefits. You might be unfamiliar with this networking model, and that is why we have put together a quick explanation and a few of the reasons why people go for SD-WAN over other networking models.

If you want a full and complete overview of what SD-WAN is, have a look at this Wikipedia page which explains exactly what we are talking about. A short version of the page would be a short explanation put together by Juniper that reads like this:

“A software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) is an automated, programmatic approach to managing enterprise network connectivity and circuit costs. It extends software-defined networking (SDN) into an application that businesses can use to quickly create a smart “hybrid WAN” – a WAN that comprises business-grade IP VPN, broadband Internet, and wireless services. Traffic is automatically and dynamically forwarded across the most appropriate WAN path based on network conditions, the security and quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of the application traffic at hand, and cost of the circuit. Routing policies are set by the enterprise customer.” – Juniper

Already, you might see the reasons why your business should adopt this networking model and how it can benefit and increase communications in your business. But we thought, why stop there when there is so much more to this great technology.

Furthermore, let’s have a closer look at the various reasons why choosing SD-WAN will most likely benefit your business and your network model.

1. Cost – SD-WAN costs way less than any other type of networking model on the market. This is mainly due to the lack of changing the existing infrastructure when adopting SD-WAN. As a matter of fact, a business needs to change very little about itself when adopting this network.

2. Flexibility – With SD-WAN, one can choose any model of communication they deem necessary. For example, having the SD-WAN can help you increase, decrease or change the type of traffic you have on your network. In fact, it is the most changeable networking model on the market at the moment, and many customers recognize this fact.

3. Ease of Implementation – Already, we have dealt with the issue of not needing to change from one network structure to the other when adopting this networking model. It is a smooth transition when one decides to use SD-WAN as there are no complex procedures employed with this network.

4. Security – The last major advantage of using SD-WAN is that of staying secure. Given the fragmentation of the network, it is easy to find any system vulnerabilities and dealing with them.
These advantages make the use of SD-WAN the wisest choir for any firm bent on improving its communications across the board.

There are, of course, a whole lot more reasons and heaps more positive things to say about using this networking model, however, the above are the most immediate reasons and should you want to point out any other reasons, feel free to let us know in the comment section below. We are always interested in hearing what you, our readers, think so feel free to let us know in the comment section below.