The benefits of using an SD-WAN Controller can be seen below:
- An sd wan controller is more cost-effective as it is more economical than a hardware switch.
- Less power consumption as it does not generate heat.
- It provides more flexibility as it has an open architecture2which allows different third-party tools.
- Centralized control of branches: SD-WANs provides centralized control over all remote sites and branches, making it easier to manage the remote sites and branches. This also reduces complexity for IT departments.
- It has flexible routing. Software-defined WAN is flexible because it offers a wide variety of routing options that can be adjusted based on business needs or capacity demands.
- It’s easier to configure and manage and cheaper to procure because it does not need an expensive software license.
- It’s easy to install and maintenance-free because there is no software to update or patches to apply.
- The control plane and data plane are separated, so there is no need for bridging or routing protocols on the data plane, which helps in eliminating complexity and network downtime.
A software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) controller is a piece of software that manages the routing and connectivity for your company’s network. It can be used to manage any WAN, such as MPLS VPNs, Internet connections over DSL or cable, and more.
An SD wan controller is a hardware device that provides the centralized management of a WSAN. It has a much simpler setup and a much lower cost than SDN. The SD wan controller is installed on the customer premises, and it operates as an overlay.
What are the major characteristics of an SD-WAN Controller?
An sd wan controller is a computer that connects two or more remote offices to the same network. It can help provide network redundancy and load balancing across multiple WAN connections.
To do this, the controller manages connections over IP, MPLS, and private lines to reduce bandwidth costs and increase efficiency. It also reduces latency by monitoring various metrics, including packet loss rate, jitter, latency, and bandwidth utilization. The controllers are usually placed in data centers because they have high bandwidth capacity and availability.
SD-WAN controllers have three major characteristics. The first characteristic is an IPsec VPN connection with configuration for encryption, authentication, and key generation. The second characteristic is that it implements load balancing, bandwidth management, traffic shaping, application prioritization, and QoS policy control. The third characteristic is that it integrates with other WAN optimization products to provide a single point of management for WAN links within an enterprise network for both private deployments and public internet links.
SD-WAN controllers are the central management devices in SD-WAN networks. They maintain the connection of an organization with its remote sites and customers, and they’re responsible for making sure that applications like voice and video continue to work. SD-WAN controllers manage the communication between branch offices and headquarters by balancing traffic across all available links.
