We Were SD-WAN Before SD-WAN Was Cool
December 26th, 2017 by Kent Lemley
Software defined networks, or SD-WAN, is the latest network infrastructure buzz-word. This is the latest in a long line of marketing terms, such as "Cloud". Can you define "Cloud", really? But, we all know what it means. We also know it's the shiny new object in today's communications industry."
The fact is that SD-WAN is a term that is all encompassing, just as “Cloud”. SD-WAN in general indicates intelligence in Wide Area Network routing decisions. The simple fact is that Van Ausdall & Farrar and our partners have been quietly delivering sound SD-WAN solutions to our customers for years. If only we’d thought of the cool name!
Our WAN Designs Have Included Technologies Such As
- Load Balancing
- Traffic Shaping
- Quality of Service
- Dial on Demand Routing
- Application Control
- Virtual Private Networking
We have leveraged these technologies with various Broadband, MPLS, and Cellular Data carriers to provide robust solutions that meet our customer’s needs. In the past, these various functionalities have required a combination of different hardware and services. This is where the game has changed, because of a simple buzzword, “SD-WAN”.
By looking at SD-WAN as a holistic offering, the technology has begun to explode in growth and capabilities. In the past, we would design custom combinations of equipment and services to meet customer needs. Now, we can deliver a single hardware device that bundles this suite of technology into a single fabric, allowing customers to control their own SD-WAN networks, and not be forced to subscribe to the latest carrier-offered “SD-WAN” solutions. These are effective, but suffer from the same restrictions that customers always had with older carrier technologies, including:
- Delay in Provisioning
- Delay in Service/Support
- Lack of Control of Customer Premise Equipment
- Contract Lock-In
- De-centralized Management
Today, we can work with our customers to secure inexpensive high-bandwidth broadband, highly deliverable 3/4G Data, and reliable SLA driven MPLS connections and use them as they are required with these SD-WAN devices. This allows us to lower Total Cost of Ownership, provide redundancy, accelerate SaaS applications, improve security, and manage the entire SD-WAN from a single pane of glass. This is the realization of SD-WAN.
“Simplicity in Management, Infinity in Capability”.
To learn more about SD-WAN and how it can simplify your life, please contact the author, Kent Lemley at 317-974-7232, or klemley@vanausdall.com.
Posted in: Insights from VAF Blog
