What is SD-WAN service for operators

In recent months, we have seen communications from the main operators in Spain, explaining that they are using SD-WAN technologies to manage their networks. Many users have no idea what it is, what it is for, or what benefits SD-WAN operators are implementing in their networks can offer. Today in RedesZone we are going to explain what SD-WAN is and its improvements over typical network management.

What is SD-WAN

The first thing we need to know is what SD-WAN is. SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide Area Network, or also known as Software-Defined Wide Area Network, therefore, it will allow us to centrally manage and control all hardware components through software, and all this d 'a really simple way. . One of the keys to SD-WAN is allowing businesses to create their own personalized WAN, paying for what they really need.

Advantages of SD-WAN

The main advantages of using SD-WAN, in addition to improving application performance, are that it allows bandwidth to be better managed, adapting it to business needs and priorities in a completely personalized way. All this control and management is carried out from a single centralized platform, which allows, thanks to this, that any change is implemented almost immediately.

Other benefits it offers are communications security, as data is end-to-end encrypted and all communications are overseen by a fully manageable firewall. Reduced costs for both the telecommunications provider and the company, since the ISP needs less specific equipment to be able to offer the customer its contractual needs, and for the customer this translates into a reduction in the cost to be paid on a monthly basis .

The speed of any necessary change in business communication is almost instantaneous, because since everything is managed by software, everything is controlled from one place.

Safety

Over the years and the evolution of telecommunications and the move of all physical systems to the cloud, companies have come to realize that today's WAN systems are not designed for the new age we are in, and in which they are. get closer to the traffic generated. by diverting everything to the cloud. The increase in traffic over the past decade has led to the complexity of data management and poor application performance, as well as the vulnerability of data. This has been further exacerbated as more businesses rely on the internet and the cloud for all of their day-to-day operations. It has become extremely difficult to protect the various resources of a company due to the amount of data and the different accesses required at all levels.

In the systems used by companies, normally a firewall or an antivirus managed from a central server was responsible for managing all the traffic, controlling it from one place, in contrast with the SD- system. WAN, data does not have to return to the central security server where it is located, since every location is secure without having to depend on a primary server.

Advanced performance and security

The WAN architecture that we have been using so far in different sites or companies in the same group is limited in terms of functionality or configuration. Due to the increased number of cloud application deployments, the WAN architecture has experienced an increase in traffic which is negatively impacting application performance or information transfer. In addition, due to the poor performance or collapse that can occur due to increased traffic, the expenditure derived from WAN services has increased exponentially due to the lack of proper management of the bandwidth used.

The only technology that currently enables enterprises to deal with all of these issues is SD-WAN, as it enables efficient bandwidth management, along with better routing, threat protection, and simplified network administration.

But the benefits don't end there, in addition to the above add the following benefits:

• It has high availability, with a predictable SLA, across all the applications the business uses, so it knows when more bandwidth is needed and for which application it is.
• It has dynamic routing of application traffic to adapt the bandwidth required for each application.
• Dispone de seguridad integrada, sin tener that depend on a solo servidor that gestione todo el tráfico y seguridad, optimizando así, los costes y rendimiento de la red.
• Dispone de políticas de reconocimiento de aplicaciones en tiempo real, para detectar posibles problems en la red y poder actuar antes de que suceda cualquier problema
• Todo el tráfico es seguro through Internet debido al uso from SD-WAN.
• The applications that use the nube están optimized for a major return.
• Puedes realizar cualquier ampliación de la WAN sin Contratiempos, y que los cambios de apliquen en tiempo real.
• Un único panel de administración centralizado para realizar toda the configuración y administración, para poder gestionar todo de manera sencilla, rápida y eficaz.

Which operators ofrecen SD-WAN

Telstra

The ultimate operator in offering the service for SD-WAN companies Telstra desde el pasado mes de octubre de 2019, Yoigo está ofreciendo dos tarifas para sus clients llamadas “Basic y Plus”, ambas con un ancho de banda de 300 Mbps, including the única diferencia que la tarifa “Plus” tiene backup por conexión 4G . In the case of Yoigo, the precio of the tariffs is 99,96 € al mes sin IVA for the “Basic” tariff and 119,96 € al mes sin IVA for the “Plus” tariff.

Vodafone

Vodafone también ofrece el servicio SD-WAN para sedes, incorporated in a package más completo llamado “conectividad aumentada”, that allowed adaptar el ancho de banda por usuarios, aplicaciones o priorizar el tráfico de la red VPN. Vodafone asserts that cualquier cambio de las políticas que modifiquemos, will apply in tiempo real sin ningún tipo de espera. In el ámbito de seguridad incorporated a firewall, to define el acceso o bloqueo de cualquier aplicación o páginas web, como redes sociales o mensajería instantánea.

Desde el portal cliente se puede visualizar en tiempo real el tráfico de la sede, usuarios activos, y problemas detected in la red, between otras muchas cosas. Por último, el servicio incluye una red VPN para trabajar desde cualquier lugar como si estuvieran los trabajadores en la oficina. Este servicio tan completo maintains a cost in Vodafone después de promociones of 121 € at my IVA incluido y viene asociado at a permanence of 24 meses.

Movistar

Movistar también ofrece el service SD-WAN denominado por ellos FlexWAN, de manera independiente sin necesidad de Contratar otros servicios si no lo deseamos. Movistar nos permite varias opciones interesantes con Flex WAN, como gestionar las políticas del tráfico y adaptarlas a nuestras necesidades, create a red y configuración especifica por cada aplicación, monitorización y dual uplink.

Without specifying the prices publicly, Movistar offers four speed modes in the form of clothing sizes for this service, the first is the S which allows up to 100 Mbps, the second is the M which allows up to 400 Mbps, the third is the L which allows up to 600 Mbps and the last is X which allows up to 1300 Mbps. Each mode we choose, carries associated standard or advanced maintenance, depending on the speed chosen. You can get more information about this in the following pdf .

Orange

The operator Orange recently launched SD-WAN, which is aimed at large and medium-sized companies. This Orange service will allow companies to optimize traffic management thanks to available connections, whether MPLS, Internet or mobile, to improve security since all traffic is encrypted and authenticated, and even to access the Internet. overall network status at all times. Some of the features of SD-WAN that Orange offers are the centralization of management and configuration , in order to be fast and agile, it is also flexible , because it allows us to optimize the routing of packets at the application level, to select the best routes at a certain time to a certain destination.

If large companies already have a Cloud, Orange's SD-WAN is ready to natively integrate the customer's clouds into the network as if it were another headquarters, in order to take advantage of all functionality, and to be as versatile as possible.

Conclusion

The SD-WAN service is a big step forward for companies, thanks to the fact that it allows them to have full control over the speed of their network and their communications, to be able to adapt it at any time, and to know what is happening in real time at all sites. Without a doubt, one aspect that catches our attention is that Vodafone and Yoigo use Cisco services to provide the service, so we can be sure of the right provider behind the support.