Managing the connectivity of multiple cloud platforms and applications is an ongoing challenge for IT teams. Fortunately, SD-WAN technology can simplify this process.
A key aspect of delivering this multi-cloud connectivity is application recognition and steering. Ideally, this function should happen on the SD-WAN device itself. That way, it can be done closer to the user and improve performance and user experience.
Streamlined Deployment
SD-WAN is an architecture that can be deployed rapidly to connect your multi-cloud network. It combines a hardware-based network model with a software-defined virtual network overlay that runs over standard network transport services like the public internet, 4G, and 5G (acting as a ‘transport agnostic’ layer).
Using an intelligent application-aware routing algorithm, SD-WAN can determine what routes your traffic needs to take to deliver optimal performance and resiliency. It also monitors the interpretation of these routes and selects the best path based on how well it performs for your specific applications.
Another critical element of SD-WAN is that it can support direct connections to cloud resources from branch locations, avoiding the need to backhaul VPN traffic to a central data center. This can reduce network latency affecting voice and video quality, and improve the security of a cloud environment.
For these reasons, choosing the right SD-WAN platform like Ngena.net for your organization is essential. It should have a strong partnership with SD-WAN and SASE leaders and offer a range of additional features to level up your network and provide a secure cloud connectivity experience.
The best platform will allow you to use multiple network means of transport to optimize your multi-cloud environment and ensure your applications stay up and running during any network disruption. It will also include intelligent application awareness capabilities that identify bandwidth and performance issues and prioritize network traffic based on your application’s real-time requirements.
Improved Security
Many organizations face network security challenges as their cloud apps and data move across multiple environments. This means a need for a multi-cloud architecture that can support application security and provide business continuity when one environment is compromised.
SD-WAN is the ideal solution for multi-cloud networking that can support application security, data integration, and workload mobility. By integrating all the networks and applications, businesses can have a consistent user experience while ensuring each location has access to its needed resources.
A key benefit of using an SD-WAN is that it helps to protect your network from malware attacks and other types of cyberattacks. It uses a variety of security tools, including next-generation firewalls and VPN tunnels, to ensure the protection of your data.
In addition, SD-WAN helps to improve cloud performance by connecting remote sites directly to cloud services without backhauling them to a central data center. This allows applications to take the most efficient path from origin to the cloud, avoiding unnecessary bandwidth and latency costs.
In addition, it enables cloud-native secure web gateway protection to inspect and filter SD-WAN traffic for malware and botnets. This helps protect your business from cyberattacks and prevent employees from leaking sensitive data from their devices.
Better Application Performance
With SD-WAN, applications run seamlessly and securely across all your networks, regardless of their connection. This includes private and public cloud-based applications and onsite or offsite SaaS or IaaS offerings.
Using an SD-WAN, you can also optimize bandwidth for apps that require high latency or packet loss. This improves application performance, allowing employees to work from anywhere without experiencing slowness or dropouts.
Better application performance is a massive benefit to businesses that use multi-cloud environments. These organizations constantly deploy new applications, expand existing ones, and adopt various technologies to increase productivity.
As a result, their network is often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data and applications passing through it. This isn’t an ideal situation for IT teams to deal with, as it adds additional complexity and can cause a decrease in overall performance.
For this reason, many IT teams have turned to artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) tools to help automate routine tasks. These solutions can also perform anomaly detection and root cause analysis, enabling IT administrators to pinpoint issues quickly and resolve them before they become more serious.
With an SD-WAN, your business will enjoy an unmatched level of visibility into the health of your networks. This is achieved by collecting and analyzing information from the edge devices that connect each endpoint to the central network. This allows IT managers to identify problems before they become costly and time-consuming.
Flexibility
You can connect branch offices to public cloud services without specialized hardware with SD-WAN. Instead, it uses software to create tunnels that can be used for various applications and protocols. This flexibility allows you to scale your network as your business needs change quickly.
For example, if you have many employees working from home, you can easily add additional PoPs and increase the capacity of your SD-WAN without adding more hardware. This scalability can also help you save money and avoid unnecessary costs for installing new devices at each location.
Another advantage of using SD-WAN is that it helps you manage your WAN connection from a single console. This eliminates the need to manage multiple vendor interfaces, reducing operational costs and increasing efficiency.
In addition, you can use SD-WAN to optimize application performance by prioritizing bandwidth for high-priority traffic and routing it over higher-performing connections. This can improve productivity and staff morale while reducing bandwidth usage and network outages caused by packet loss or latency.
As more businesses embrace multi-cloud architecture, they must ensure their WAN connections are secure and optimized. This means layered security and WAN visibility are essential. While many SD-WAN solutions offer built-in firewall and VPN functions, more is needed to protect enterprises.
