Cloud computing has become an indispensable component of modern business operations, with 94 percent of organizations reporting that they have migrated a substantial portion of their IT infrastructure and applications to remote data centers. However, outdated wide-area network (WAN) architectures often prevent organizations from realizing all the benefits of the cloud.<\/p>\n
Accessing cloud applications and services with traditional hardware-centric WANs creates several challenges. Bandwidth limitations hamper the real-time responsiveness required by data-intensive cloud applications. Additionally, backhauling traffic through central data centers introduces inefficiencies that nullify most of the benefits of direct cloud connectivity.<\/p>\n
As a result, more organizations are adopting software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) platforms to enhance cloud connectivity and address the limitations of traditional WANs. According to a recent study from TeleGeography, 47 percent of companies have already installed SD-WAN, while 86 percent are in the process of adopting the technology.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the many SD-WAN features that significantly improve cloud connectivity:<\/p>\n
Application Awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n SD-WAN solutions are application-aware, meaning they can identify and prioritize traffic based on the specific needs of each application. For example, the SD-WAN controller can determine if enough bandwidth is available for latency-sensitive voice and video applications. If not, the solution can throttle less-sensitive apps to conserve bandwidth for higher-priority workloads.<\/p>\n Optimized Routing<\/strong><\/p>\n SD-WAN solutions use intelligent routing algorithms to dynamically select the best path for data traffic based on real-time conditions. This optimization ensures that cloud-bound traffic takes the most efficient route, reducing latency and improving overall performance.<\/p>\n Bandwidth Utilization<\/strong><\/p>\n SD-WAN allows for better utilization of available bandwidth by load balancing traffic across multiple paths. This is particularly beneficial for organizations with multiple Internet connections or a combination of Internet and private connections such as MPLS. By distributing traffic intelligently, SD-WAN helps avoid bottlenecks and congestion, improving cloud application performance.<\/p>\n Dynamic Path Selection<\/strong><\/p>\n SD-WAN can dynamically select the best path for traffic based on the real-time performance of the network. If a particular path experiences degradation or becomes unavailable, SD-WAN can automatically reroute traffic to ensure continuity and performance.<\/p>\n Direct Integration<\/strong><\/p>\n Cloud on-ramp solutions enable direct connectivity between branch offices and cloud services, eliminating the need to backhaul traffic through a central data center. Because direct connectivity allows you to bypass the public Internet for direct cloud access, it averts many of the threats that come with a public pathway. Direct connectivity solutions are often used in multi-cloud environments, allowing organizations to connect efficiently to multiple providers.<\/p>\n Integrated Security<\/strong><\/p>\n SD-WAN integrates numerous security features such as encryption, firewalls and secure connectivity protocols. The integrated security features help mitigate the risks associated with Internet access, providing a balance between accessibility and data protection.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n Cloud computing offers the agility and flexibility necessary to support today\u2019s distributed operations, but outdated network architectures can present significant challenges and limitations. Shifting to an SD-WAN platform addresses those challenges and drives quantifiable improvements in efficiency, productivity and resilience. Contact us to learn more about enhancing cloud connectivity with SD-WAN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many SD-WAN features significantly improve cloud connectivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":8992,"template":"","tags":[],"insight_category":[182],"class_list":["post-8991","insights","type-insights","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","insight_category-blog","practice-area-sageconnect","industry-area-restaurant","industry-area-c-store"],"acf":[],"ase":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insights\/8991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insights"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insights"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insights\/8991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8991"},{"taxonomy":"insight_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sagenet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight_category?post=8991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}