How to Evaluate a SD-WAN Solution for Mutli-Cloud

An increasing number of enterprises are embracing hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud environments. Much of the growth in the cloud technology sector is driven by the needs born out of restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The trend for increased use of cloud technologies is expected to continue for the year 2021. This has increased the need for organizations to have a good SD-WAN security solution. Download this white paper by Fortinet to learn about how you should evaluate an SD-WAN solution for your business.

See also: 5 Key Areas Where Architects Must Augment Cloud-native Security Tools

What is a SD-WAN

WAN is an acronym for a Wide Area Network. A WAN is a computer network that is spread over a large geographic area. Typically with a radius of over 1 mile. It is a collection of LANs. In enterprises, a WAN is generally connected via leased lines or satellite links. The Internet is the world's largest WAN. SD-WAN is an acronym that stands for Software Defined-Wide Area Network. In an SD-WAN the networking hardware is separated from the control mechanism. In this type of networking software-based controllers and APIs are used to communicate with the network's hardware and to direct traffic. It is a more efficient way to direct traffic on a network and delivers a better end-user experience. In traditional WAN, all traffic would be redirected to a central hub or data center where security services can be applied. An SD-WAN works better with cloud solutions because traffic does not need to be directed from a central hub. Conventionally users would access business applications from Central data centers. Today, most enterprises are using multi-cloud or hybrid could environments. In such situations. directing traffic from a central hub would require backhauling traffic, increase response time and deliver a poor user experience. SD-WANs are better suited for cloud environments.

Weaknesses and risks associated with an SD-WAN

SD-WAN architecture is complex. There are multiple carriers and vendors involved in such architecture. Increased complexity means that it is much more difficult to manage and secure SD-WAN networks. The multi-cloud environment also requires security experts who understand different public clouds and on-premise implementations. Often security teams lack these experts. This means that organizations will need to hire additional experts or invest in training existing staff. The lack of expertise increases security risks. Organizations using multi-cloud environments will need to choose between centralized management by backhauling traffic from each cloud to a central data center or implement fragmented security policies for each public cloud. Backhauling increases response time while decentralizing management reduces visibility and increases security risk. Fortunately, there is another option. To get the most out of the flexibility of a multi-cloud environment businesses need to implement a unified management and security solution.

Read this whitepaper to learn more about this type of solution and what you need to evaluate when selecting a SD-WAN security solution. Subscribe to whitepapers.online for the latest resources on network and data security.