SD-WAN
Sign in to saveA Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is a wide area network that uses software-defined networking technology, such as communicating over the Internet using overlay tunnels which are encrypted when destined for internal organization locations.
~17 min read
Article
27 sectionsContents
- History
- Overview
- Components
- SD-WAN edge
- SD-WAN gateway
- SD-WAN orchestrator
- SD-WAN controller
- Required characteristics
- Features
- Resilience
- Quality of service
- Security
- Application optimization
- Self-healing networks
- Deployment options
- Administration and troubleshooting
- Online traffic engineering
- Secure access service edge (SASE)
- Complementary technology
- SD-WAN versus WAN optimization
- WAN edge routers
- SD-WAN versus hybrid WAN
- SD-WAN versus MPLS
- Testing and validation
- Marketplace
- Open source
- References
A Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is a wide area network that uses software-defined networking technology, such as communicating over the Internet using overlay tunnels which are encrypted when destined for internal organization locations.
If standard tunnel setup and configuration messages are supported by all of the network hardware vendors, SD-WAN simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling the networking hardware from its control mechanism. This concept is similar to how software-defined networking implements virtualization technology to improve data center management and operation. In practice, proprietary protocols are used to set up and manage an SD-WAN, meaning there is no decoupling of the hardware and its control mechanism.