What is SD-WAN in the first place?
The word "SD-WAN" has been making a lot of noise lately, but is there a strict definition? There are many terms in the IT industry these days that we don't know whether it's a technical architecture, such as hybrid cloud, digital transformation, or DevOps, or a general solution to a certain problem. .. SD-WAN is an abbreviation for "Software Defined-WAN". The term "Software Defined – Data Center (SDDC)" has long been advocated by software vendors such as VMware and server vendors, but it is centrally managed by virtualizing the data center. , It was a solution to realize portability. Similarly, if you think that SD-WAN is to centrally manage and realize portability by virtualizing the WAN, it may be easier for those who understand server virtualization.
But what does it mean to "virtualize a WAN"? Is it SD-WAN if the router that accommodates the WAN line is operated by a virtual machine? The Open Network User Group (ONUG), a community that promotes open networks to dispel such doubts about SD-WAN, has published 10 elements required for SD-WAN (Fig. 1).
To summarize the contents briefly, in terms of operation management, the connection between all bases can be centrally managed, the administrator can install it without touching the device (Zero Touch Deploy), it can be controlled from the API, and physical devices and virtualization Any of the environments is available.
In terms of functionality, multiple lines can be used in Active-Active, and visualization, priority control, and line control can be managed on a policy-based basis for each application.
The definition of SD-WAN meets these requirements. What do you think. If all this is really possible, why not consider replacing the VPN solution that makes up your existing point-to-site connection?