How does SD-WAN provide redundancy?

AT&T SD-WAN solutions can improve your network's agility
 

AT&T SD-WAN provides cost-efficient network redundancy for enabling business continuity

Windmills located in an open areaWindmills located in an open area
Business continuity is critical in today’s always-on 24x7 world. Branch offices, remote employees, and work sites are spread across the globe, and they need ubiquitous connectivity to the apps and data that keep operations running. This is especially true for organizations undergoing digital transformation and have a heavy reliance on data.

Modern businesses need a robust and flexible network architecture that enables uptime and business continuity cost-efficiently. Redundancy can provide reliability, but deploying standby circuits on traditional MPLS infrastructure - just in case the network goes down - can be expensive for any sized organization. And cost prohibitive when a company manages hundreds of globally-distributed business locations.

Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is key to unlocking an agile and cost-effective network while giving organizations a clear path to digital transformation. It’s also key to redundancy, providing agile organizations with a highly-intelligent network traffic management solution that provides highly-secure access to mission-critical business applications. No matter the day, time, existing traffic load, or planned or unplanned outages, SD-WAN doesn’t just find a path—it finds the optimal path.

This guide will discuss:

 

What is SD-WAN?

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AT&T SD-WAN from AT&T Business is a software-defined networking solution that moves network traffic management away from on-premise hardware to next-generation software in the cloud.

AT&T SD-WAN uses path selection, WAN aggregation, near real-time performance monitoring, and dynamic routing to improve network performance to dozens or even hundreds of business locations.

Organizations can define policies based on business needs and apply them across traffic types, locations, or users from a central management console in the cloud. This level of control allows for optimal delivery paths across any combination of network transport type—providing flexible deployment options and improved total cost of ownership without compromising security. In effect, AT&T SD-WAN from AT&T Business defends against “worst case scenarios” in data performance and security.

How does SD-WAN provide redundancy?

AT&T SD-WAN enables redundancy by automatically rerouting network traffic around disruptions caused by heavy traffic loads and planned or unplanned downtime—enabling distributed users to utilize highly-secure access for applications from the closest available link. This is especially critical as digital transformation and cloud transformation have increased bandwidth and data resiliency needs for nearly every business and user around the world. SD-WAN does this automatically through software, making it inherently more flexible, scalable, and cost-effective.

Why is SD-WAN more flexible and more scalable than traditional network architecture?

Computer motherboard in 3d resembling the city building structureComputer motherboard in 3d resembling the city building structure
AT&T SD-WAN is a software-based approach to network traffic management, allowing organizations to deploy internet-based connectivity easily and quickly at scale. Disconnecting traffic from proprietary hardware provides deployment flexibility and is the first step in a pragmatic migration blueprint for eventually moving to a full Network Function Virtualization (NFV) solution. SD-WAN helps ensure that network traffic flows across the shortest or fastest path regardless of network transport type—including MPLS, internet broadband, or even LTE.

How does SD-WAN lower networking costs?

Maintaining business continuity is dependent on last-mile connectivity which is where most unplanned outages occur. However, last-mile connectivity through traditional MPLS circuits is expensive—making it cost prohibitive to deploy redundant circuits. AT&T SD-WAN makes last-mile redundancy more affordable because it is transport agnostic and routes traffic across any network transport type without sacrificing security or reliability. This includes internet connections—the most ubiquitous and cost efficient network transport type.

How does SD-WAN optimize network resources?

Keeping standby circuits offline in case the network goes down negatively impacts resource utilization. Why not put all available circuits to work at all times? SD-WAN does just that, using intelligent routing to find the optimal path for every traffic load at any time. If a circuit is unavailable or taken offline, preset policies powered by rules-based automation will reroute traffic to the next available circuit to maintain business continuity.

The bottom line

  • SD-WAN provides redundancy by automatically rerouting network traffic around disruptions caused by heavy traffic loads and downtime.
  • SD-WAN is a software-based approach to network traffic management, making it more flexible and scalable than traditional architecture.
  • SD-WAN lowers last-mile networking costs by routing traffic across any network transport type—including the ubiquitous and cost-efficient internet.