What is SD-WAN Routing?
A wide-area network (WAN) connects a collection of local-area networks (LANs). Routers connect LANs together using different links such as MPLS and broadband. They also connect users to cloud applications, compute clouds, and the internet.
The challenge is that networks are becoming increasingly complex and dynamic. Even the best dual wan routers need to do more than support multiple ports. They need to be as dynamic and intelligent as the networks they service.
Challenges with Routing in a
Hybrid Distributed World
- A remote healthcare radiology clinic decides to upgrade their scanners to the latest 3D technology, increasing WAN traffic by 30x.
- A data center administrator starts to replicate 1TB of data to another site, not realizing that it will take over two days at line speed on a T3/DS3.
- The sales department deploys a new application to over a thousand representatives and overwhelms the T1/DS1 connection with tens of thousands of messages and attachments.
- Traffic classification (application packet classification to enforce policies)
- Traffic shaping (prioritization of traffic based on header information and application category)
- Traffic policing (limiting the amount of traffic allowed on a link)
Manual Router Configuration is Cumbersome
Manually configuring and managing a router using a long list of steps or a CLI isn’t practical. You can’t drop everything to add or reconfigure a router every time there is a surge in traffic, or a new application is added to the data center, remote site, or cloud. Network traffic also continues 24 x 7, but networks administrator don’t. If a surge occurs during off-hours, administrators would have difficulty reacting to the unplanned spike.
Another challenge is caused by users, site managers, and department heads. They rarely understand the loads their applications are placing on the WAN. As an example,
Each one of these use cases can saturate existing WAN links and have network administrators urgently searching for additional bandwidth. Unfortunately, adding WAN links often involves long-term and expensive contracts. Without the ability to balance and optimize traffic across all links, IT professionals will have little choice. They must purchase more expensive bandwidth where needed while unused bandwidth is wasted.
Routers Need to Be Agile
Modern WAN routers are more sophisticated when compared to those used in the 80’d. They can perform more advanced functions such as,
Although they are more sophisticated, routers don’t often communicate with one another. They don’t work together to determine which path is best suited for a specific traffic load. It’s also difficult to split or balance loads across different routers or migrate easily between MPLS and broadband to optimize all available bandwidth. Even if routers could work together as one, they are only a layer three network device. They don’t have any visibility or intelligence to cope with upper layer activities such as shifts or increases in network traffic, configuration changes to the infrastructure, or QoS (Quality of Service) requirements for applications and users.
Routers don’t self-manage and don’t communicate to ensure all links through all routers are operating at maximum efficiency. Network administrators are left with the task of monitoring applications, sites, clouds, and configuring all the routers to ensure links are optimized and costs are contained. This challenge is compounded when you have a combination of MPLS and broadband links. Adding to the complexity is the use of cloud-based applications, compute clouds, and rising internet use with difficult to predict traffic loads. All of these issues require more network visibility, intricate equipment orchestration, and continuous and autonomous configuration of network resources, such as routers.
Manually configuring and managing a router using a long list of steps or a CLI isn’t practical. You can’t drop everything to add or reconfigure a router every time there is a surge in traffic, or a new application is added to the data center, remote site, or cloud. Network traffic also continues 24 x 7, but networks administrator don’t. If a surge occurs during off-hours, administrators would have difficulty reacting to the unplanned spike.
Another challenge is caused by users, site managers, and department heads. They rarely understand the loads their applications are placing on the WAN. As an example,
- A remote healthcare radiology clinic decides to upgrade their scanners to the latest 3D technology, increasing WAN traffic by 30x.
- A data center administrator starts to replicate 1TB of data to another site, not realizing that it will take over two days at line speed on a T3/DS3.
- The sales department deploys a new application to over a thousand representatives and overwhelms the T1/DS1 connection with tens of thousands of messages and attachments.
Each one of these use cases can saturate existing WAN links and have network administrators urgently searching for additional bandwidth. Unfortunately, adding WAN links often involves long-term and expensive contracts. Without the ability to balance and optimize traffic across all links, IT professionals will have little choice. They must purchase more expensive bandwidth where needed while unused bandwidth is wasted.
Modern WAN routers are more sophisticated when compared to those used in the 80’d. They can perform more advanced functions such as,
- Traffic classification (application packet classification to enforce policies)
- Traffic shaping (prioritization of traffic based on header information and application category)
- Traffic policing (limiting the amount of traffic allowed on a link)
Although they are more sophisticated, routers don’t often communicate with one another. They don’t work together to determine which path is best suited for a specific traffic load. It’s also difficult to split or balance loads across different routers or migrate easily between MPLS and broadband to optimize all available bandwidth. Even if routers could work together as one, they are only a layer three network device. They don’t have any visibility or intelligence to cope with upper layer activities such as shifts or increases in network traffic, configuration changes to the infrastructure, or QoS (Quality of Service) requirements for applications and users.
Routers don’t self-manage and don’t communicate to ensure all links through all routers are operating at maximum efficiency. Network administrators are left with the task of monitoring applications, sites, clouds, and configuring all the routers to ensure links are optimized and costs are contained. This challenge is compounded when you have a combination of MPLS and broadband links. Adding to the complexity is the use of cloud-based applications, compute clouds, and rising internet use with difficult to predict traffic loads. All of these issues require more network visibility, intricate equipment orchestration, and continuous and autonomous configuration of network resources, such as routers.
One challenge IT professionals have is to ensure that their networks are keeping pace with the unprecedented growth of remote users, cloud applications, and internet traffic. Traffic loads and patterns are becoming difficult to predict and manage. Optimizing WAN routing to ensure network performance and reliability is becoming more important.
Intelligent and Autonomous Orchestration of Network Resources – Including Routers
Network Orchestration and Optimization
Network orchestration and optimization are two of the main benefits of migrating to an SD-WAN. SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN) is a service that overlays the hybrid network infrastructure, including SD-WAN routing. An intelligent software layer manages both MPLS WAN and other connections, such as broadband. SD-WANs remove the burden of manually configuring routers from network administrators. SD-WAN router configuration is adjusted automatically and continually to ensure WAN links, MPLS and broadband, work as one layer and are fully utilized.
Routing Traffic
The SD-WAN monitors application performance and hybrid network traffic. The performance data is collected in real-time and used to intelligently determine and dynamically configure the best routes to meet or exceed service level requirements. Routing traffic is policy-driven and automatic. Traffic is no longer directed along a predetermined path but along the path that will ensure the prescribed quality of service. SD-WANs deliver the intelligence and agility needed to optimize network performance.
Network orchestration and optimization are two of the main benefits of migrating to an SD-WAN. SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN) is a service that overlays the hybrid network infrastructure, including SD-WAN routing. An intelligent software layer manages both MPLS WAN and other connections, such as broadband. SD-WANs remove the burden of manually configuring routers from network administrators. SD-WAN router configuration is adjusted automatically and continually to ensure WAN links, MPLS and broadband, work as one layer and are fully utilized.
The SD-WAN monitors application performance and hybrid network traffic. The performance data is collected in real-time and used to intelligently determine and dynamically configure the best routes to meet or exceed service level requirements. Routing traffic is policy-driven and automatic. Traffic is no longer directed along a predetermined path but along the path that will ensure the prescribed quality of service. SD-WANs deliver the intelligence and agility needed to optimize network performance.
Leading SD-WAN vendors, such as Open Systems, provide a complete end-to-end solution. The unified management console includes comprehensive network performance monitoring, control, optimization, and management across the entire network stack, from the core – to cloud – to edge.
SD-WAN is offered as a service, and users can manage the SD-WAN to whichever level they require – from minimal to very hands-on. It’s simple for users to add additional bandwidth or extended coverage to encompass more users or sites. Network expansion can be implemented in a fraction of the time as opposed to traditional network expansion. Since it’s a service, costs are elastic and based partly on usage.
Open Systems SD-WANs remove the tedious configuration and guesswork out of network management. It adds an intelligent and autonomous layer that manages network configuration to ensure QoS levels are met and costs are contained.
Contact our customer advocates to learn how a managed SD-WAN can optimize performance while reducing management complexity and costs.
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