The SD-WAN Controller provides physical or virtual device management for all the SD-Wan edges associated with the controller on the network. This includes configuration and activation, IP address management, and pushing down policies onto SD-WAN Edges. Although, it is not limited to such features only. The sd wan controller maintains connections to all SD-WAN Edges to identify the operational state of SD-WAN tunnels across different WANs and retrieve QoS performance metrics for each SD-WAN tunnel.
Benefits and Applications of a SD-WAN controller
One of the key applications of SD-WAN is to allow companies to build higher-performance WANs using lower-cost and commercially available Internet access, enabling businesses to replace more expensive private WAN connection technologies such as MPLS. Some of the benefits of an sd wan controller have been listed below:
- The most crucial benefit of SD-WAN is the higher capacity bandwidth offered with such a network, even with a heavy network.
- It allows centralized management on the network, which is essential and very efficient in big firms where centralized authorization or management is required.
- It is known to provide better network visibility and multiple connection types.
- SD-WAN technology allows organizations to use cheaper connection types than Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS).
- An organization can change the type of WAN connections used as traffic volumes change.
- A considerable initial investment is required when deploying a new end-to-end SD-WAN, but it is an overall beneficial solution.
Overlaying the SD-WAN technology
Another advantage of SD-WAN is that it abstracts intelligence into an easy-to-implement overlay that provides a virtual implementation over the network. Abstraction permits centralized control of the network and traffic management and network automation. The overlay provided monitors the real-time performance characteristics of the underlying networks. It also selects the optimum network for each application based on configuration policies. Businesses are then free to design and deploy their network from a central location, implement changes and push updates out quickly to network hardware such as routers and switches.
Conclusion
SD-WAN technology allows businesses to make their networks more efficient and dynamic when consuming the provided network resources. This type of network is best suited to businesses that boast multiple locations and heavy traffic. A significant initial investment in new deployments is necessary, but the long-term savings potential inherent in the investment is also considerable.
