This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.
Cost reduction and enhanced network performance are just two of the many benefits promised by SD-WAN technology.IDCbelieves the SD-WAN market will be a $6 billion industry by 2020, so it’s no surprise that solutions are popping up everywhere you turn.
At a high level, SD-WANs promise a more cost-effective and simpler way to operate secure, virtualized WAN connections between enterprise branches, data centers and the internet. Traditional MPLS links from the branch to the data center are reliable and secure, but typically offer lower performance for users accessing cloud-based services, and are considerably more expensive than widely available broadband access links. The Internet provides global access to cloud applications, but is limited by poor reliability, unpredictable performance and weak security.
The benefit of SD-WAN is that it provides a software controlled and programmable environment that allows you to augment or replace your existing WAN, lower costs by leveraging cheaper broadband access links and dynamically scale bandwidth capacity to the cloud when needed.
But how do you know if SD-WAN is right for your business? Consider the following questions before you make the leap:
* Do you actually need an SD-WAN?This is the rather obvious question, but with most new technologies, the hype can distract from the actual need. SD-WAN is no different. To get started, ask yourself the following:
- 我是依赖于MPLS或运营商以太网服务？
- Am I seeing more internet connectivity requests? For example, are my sales guys using salesforce.com or social media for sales and enhanced customer support? Or, do customers in my retail outlet want to browse the internet while they wait for service?
- Am I migrating in-house IT systems to the cloud?
Enterprise network traffic has exploded with organizations incrementally adding bandwidth to reduce service latency and avoid network failures. And, because many of today’s applications are moving out of the enterprise and into third-party cloud and SaaS environments, traffic flows within the network have drastically changed and become inefficient. Adding direct internet connections and broadband circuits can provide the needed bandwidth, but it also requires purchasing, deploying and managing daisy-chains of on-premises devices for different circuits and network functions, including routing, WAN optimization and firewalls at multiple locations.
如果你的回答是上述任何的疑问，SD-WAN可以提供新的选择。随着SD-WAN，你可以优先考虑应用和交通流量，减少内部部署设备的数量，以及更动态地管理部署在一个给定的分支机构服务。总之，这意味着更低的资本支出和整体运营费用。这些解决方案还可以提供可视化应用程序的性能，因此您可以优化您的最终用户体验。
* What are the pitfalls?一个与SD-WAN的主要卖点是可以通过购买和部署内部的组件或与多个服务提供商合作，避免锁服务提供商。然而，无论你购买或租赁您的WAN，它要求网络的深刻理解。你需要了解什么业务类型遍历网络;你需要知道哪些应用程序预成型良好，需要改变或优化什么。
现在有一些经销商和产品在市场上，所以你应该考虑将需要研究和选择产品的时候，如果你有需要构建的工程专业知识和监控SD-WAN。此外，你需要确定你要保持你现有的网络和要发送到互联网上的哪些流量。你应该如何配置流量管理策略？哪些安全措施需要实施？回答这些问题需要的应用性能，网络安全和网络工程的深刻理解。
另一个缺陷是考虑SD-WAN作为一个完整的解决方案，而不是在工具箱中的另一个工具。因此，虽然SD-WAN可以访问允许的选择，它不会给你完全连接到云中。换句话说，从远程站点到云服务的连接，它是云计算的编排组合，广域网和完成解决方案SD-WAN接入。业务流程可以让你协调和不同的作品在网络的自动化。SD-WAN是企业如何访问广域网的重要组成部分。结合SD-WAN和协作为企业提供整合到广域网和到云是全面的解决方案。
*不要我建立它还是我买它呢？如果您决定SD-WAN是要走的路，你必须决定是否要建立它自己或使用SD-WAN作为管理服务。每个选项都有其优点和缺点。关键的问题是，网络是多么关键的是你的公司吗？如果你在金融服务的时候，你会比你的IT零售行业的同行回答不同。当网络对您的业务绝对至关重要，你可能想要更多的定制。如果你的需求更加灵活，你可以用不同的“现成的”选项的作用。
When you take the “buy” route and get your SD-WAN as a managed service, someone else is owning and managing the solution, saving your operations staff valuable training and support time.A buy option also may allow you to take advantage of other resources that your service provider offers, such as NFV-based firewalls or cloud connectivity, giving you a more robust catalog of managed services that might be hard to develop internally.
Building it out yourself, on the other hand, offers the ultimate in customization. You can develop the services that work for your business and can be infinitely flexible.