Cisco SD-WAN: The Ultimate Dashboard

Technology is evolving at an alarming rate. In response to this, Cisco has a new software-defined (SD) approach to managing a wide-area network (WAN). Modern systems consist of numerous users working on a variety of apps on not just one cloud, but multiple clouds. The new SD-WAN serves to keep this kind of sprawling system manageable, scalable, efficient, and secure.

How WAN has Changed

In bygone days, WAN’s were a simpler affair. Cables and circuitry were all they needed to connect to the data centers. With the advent of the cloud, this is no longer the case. The old WAN’s can’t sustain the intense demands of modern cloud servers, and thus lead to an unsatisfactory user experience. Worse yet, this kind of system can leave the server vulnerable, as a diverse number of users with different roles and goals will need access to the data center.

SD-WAN is made perfectly in the cloud, helping lower operational costs and increase performance without compromising security. It’s scalable over a thousand different end points, making it ideal for a centralized cloud solution. With its efficient methods of circumventing connection problems, it can reduce operational expenditure by allowing businesses to offload expensive MPLS services. Furthermore, it improves security by preventing threats at every location, removing the need for data to travel to the headquarters in order to be secure.

iWAN

This isn’t the only WAN solution Cisco has to offer. Intelligent WAN, or iWAN, was built from existing Cisco products, and offers traffic control and security features to help with quality of service and VPN tunneling. Currently, many high-profile customers have iWAN deployed as their SD-WAN solution. With intelligent path control, this system can also help lower operational costs.

Built from Viptela Fabric, a renowned cloud network service, Cisco’s SD-WAN comes with plenty of new tech worth getting excited about. The new Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP) system allows administrators to roll out changes quickly. Scaling across thousands of data points takes only a moment and is easy to do. The WAN is also easier to segment, even in far-flung locations. While in the past this would have required complicated multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), intuitive segmentation comes built into the SD-WAN, protecting data with VPN tags as it passes from remote sites to bigger data centers.

Umbrella, On-ramp, and More with Cisco SD-WAN

To take full advantage of the cloud, Cisco SD-WAN has carried over a function from Viptela, the cloud on-ramp. This feature automatically gathers data on quality of experience for every SaaS, ranking and comparing them each against each other. It then uses intelligent decision making to select the best pathway for internet traffic to take. It provides cloud access from remote areas, through the most optimal data centers, and through Secure Web Gateways.

Security is one of the most important things that Cisco SD-WAN will take care of. In fact, Cisco has since made sure that its WAN solution comes equipped with all the best security features imaginable, such as enterprise firewalls, intrusion prevention, and URL filtering. Along with these, SD-WAN makes ample use of the threat-blocking power of Cisco Umbrella.

Keeping your SIP protected and running at the utmost efficiency, Cisco SD-WAN will save your business time and money. For those fretting over budgets and security, you couldn’t ask for a better option.