Dynamic Path Selection & Multi-Transport

SD-WANs use dynamic path selection to steer or route network traffic to one or multiple WAN links based on priority, network conditions, or traffic patterns. Data packets are automatically steered to specific WAN links based on link availability to balance network traffic or to save costs. The data packets are identified by the SD-WAN and then categorized by application, source, user, and destination. This packet identification is used to route the data packets down the most optimal path, which results in enhanced performance of applications. The dynamic path selection and data routing is configured to utilize your existing underlay connectivity, such as Broadband, LTE, MPLS, or WAN. The SD-WAN uses the underlay connectivity’s characteristics, such as cost (flat, usage-based, etc.), bandwidth, latency, and jitter, to make decisions on application steering to the appropriate path(s).

Building on this foundation, SD-WAN solutions employ advanced analytics and monitoring tools to dynamically assess the performance of available WAN links. These tools enable real-time detection of network issues, such as increased latency or link failures, allowing the system to automatically reroute traffic to maintain uninterrupted connectivity. This ensures consistent application performance, even during periods of network instability, and helps to minimize downtime, which is critical for maintaining business operations.

Another significant advantage of SD-WAN is its ability to reduce costs by optimizing the use of available connectivity options. By enabling organizations to supplement or replace traditional MPLS circuits with more cost-effective broadband or LTE connections, SD-WAN provides a flexible and scalable approach to networking. The solution’s policy-driven architecture allows IT teams to create traffic-routing rules that align with business priorities. For example, high-priority applications, such as VoIP and video conferencing, can be directed to low-latency, high-performance links, while less critical tasks, like file transfers, are routed through lower-cost connections.

These capabilities make SD-WAN an essential solution for modern businesses that require agility, scalability, and cost efficiency in their network infrastructure. By leveraging dynamic path selection and intelligent traffic steering, organizations can deliver better application performance, support remote workforces, and adapt to the demands of cloud-first strategies—all while keeping costs under control.

Centralized Management

SD-WAN allows network administrators to centrally manage their entire network fabric by pushing out policies to all the branches with ease. This also allows for quicker integration of new branches. Administrators can also have a full view of the network, leading to the possibility of easily pinpointing any network issues and then taking immediate action to resolve those issues. This insight can also be used to figure out where optimizations can be implemented to improve the overall usage of the network.

This centralized management capability simplifies network operations by enabling administrators to configure, deploy, and monitor network policies from a single dashboard. Instead of manually adjusting settings at each branch, policies can be uniformly applied across all locations, reducing the potential for errors and saving significant time. The rapid deployment of new branches ensures businesses can expand their operations efficiently without being hindered by long setup times or complex configurations.

Additionally, the ability to gain real-time visibility into network performance is a game changer. Administrators can identify bottlenecks, latency issues, or underperforming links as they arise, allowing for immediate troubleshooting and minimal disruption to business-critical applications. This proactive approach to network management enhances uptime and ensures a consistently high-quality user experience across all sites.

Beyond issue resolution, the comprehensive view of network performance provided by SD-WAN enables administrators to identify patterns and trends. These insights can inform strategic decisions about bandwidth allocation, application prioritization, and cost optimization. For example, an administrator might notice that certain applications consume excessive bandwidth during peak hours and can then implement Quality of Service (QoS) policies to ensure mission-critical traffic is prioritized.

By providing centralized control, full network visibility, and actionable insights, SD-WAN equips organizations with the tools needed to maintain a robust, efficient, and scalable network infrastructure. These capabilities are particularly valuable in today’s dynamic business environments, where adaptability and responsiveness are key to success.

Network Security

SD-WAN, at its core, supplies an organization’s network with a secure fabric to trusted devices while leveraging insecure connectivity, such as the Internet. SD-WAN has in-built security features as well, such as Layer 7 stateful firewalls, IPS/IDS (Intrusion Prevention System/Intrusion Detection System), DNS filtering, MAC Address filtering, Geo-fencing, and much more. All these features are provided at the DC/Concentrator level.

These built-in security capabilities provide significant advantages in terms of scalability and operational efficiency. By enabling security processing directly at the DC/Concentrator level, SD-WAN minimizes latency and eliminates the need to backhaul traffic from trusted applications. This architecture not only enhances performance but also reduces the load on corporate data centers, allowing them to focus on other critical tasks.

The integration of IPS/IDS and DNS filtering into the SD-WAN solution ensures that threats are identified and mitigated at the network edge, providing a robust defense against common cyber threats. These features are particularly effective in safeguarding against Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, malware, and unauthorized access attempts, making SD-WAN a vital tool for securing modern, distributed networks.

Additional zWAN security features include, FQDN filtering and MAC filtering. Our Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) filtering ensures that only authorized domains are accessed, blocking harmful and unproductive sites to safeguard your digital environment. Paired with MAC filtering, which restricts network access to only trusted devices based on their unique hardware addresses, you gain unprecedented control over who and what connects to your network. Together, these advanced technologies provide comprehensive protection, optimize bandwidth usage, and enhance user experience. Trust our cutting-edge solution to fortify your defenses, streamline network management, and keep your business running smoothly and securely.

By combining built-in security features, SD-WAN offers a hybrid approach to network security that is both robust and adaptable. This makes it an ideal choice for organizations looking to protect their networks while leveraging cost-effective, high-speed internet connections for their WAN infrastructure.

Enhanced Security

SD-WAN solutions offer built-in security features to enhance an organization’s network security to help combat typical cybersecurity concerns. These features arm a network with the tools necessary to minimize the security attack surface across the network, applications, devices, and users to ensure all aspects of the fabric are secure. One of the integral ways an SD-WAN solution achieves higher levels of security involves encryption of all packets traversing the fabric utilizing industry-standard SSL/TLS techniques. Another key feature prevents unneeded data from reaching the network. This means that all packets use the shortest path available to destinations, without compromising security – SaaS traffic to well-known and reputable sites can be sent directly to the destination without having to be sent through the data center, avoiding hairpinning of network traffic. At the same time, general internet traffic is inspected in real-time and automatically responded to if a threat is identified.

By leveraging encryption protocols like SSL/TLS, SD-WAN ensures that sensitive data is protected from interception or tampering during transit, providing end-to-end security for all network communications. This is particularly crucial for businesses that rely on remote access or cloud-based applications, as encrypted data streams mitigate the risks associated with unsecured connections or public internet usage.

SaaS Breakout with zWAN eliminates unnecessary network traffic at the corporate data center that not only improves performance but also strengthens security by reducing the exposure of the network to potential threats. The ability to directly route trusted SaaS traffic to trusted destinations bypasses traditional bottlenecks like centralized data centers, ensuring faster application performance while maintaining stringent security protocols. This intelligent traffic routing also frees up data center resources, enabling them to focus on processing critical internal tasks.

Real-time inspection of general internet traffic adds another critical layer of defense. Advanced threat detection systems integrated into SD-WAN solutions can identify and neutralize malicious traffic before it impacts the network. This proactive approach enables organizations to respond instantly to evolving threats, including phishing attempts, malware, and zero-day exploits, ensuring continuous protection for both users and data.

In summary, SD-WAN solutions provide a comprehensive security framework that not only safeguards data and applications but also enhances network performance and efficiency. With built-in encryption, intelligent traffic routing, and real-time threat mitigation, SD-WAN equips organizations with the tools necessary to address modern cybersecurity challenges while supporting the demands of a dynamic, cloud-first business environment.

Direct Connectivity

SD-WAN empowers organizations with the freedom to connect branches directly to a corporate data center and directly to cloud services such as SaaS applications. Connecting to cloud services has the added benefit of not requiring the traffic to route through the corporate data center.

This direct connection to cloud services significantly reduces latency, ensuring faster and more reliable access to critical SaaS applications. Traditional network architectures often require traffic to be backhauled through the corporate data center for inspection and routing, which can create bottlenecks and degrade application performance. By eliminating this unnecessary detour, SD-WAN optimizes the user experience and supports real-time applications like video conferencing, VoIP, and collaborative tools.

Moreover, this flexibility enables organizations to scale their operations seamlessly. New branch locations can be brought online quickly with direct cloud access, eliminating the need for complex configurations at the corporate network level. This is particularly advantageous for organizations with distributed workforces or those that rely heavily on cloud-based workflows.

In addition to improved performance, the ability to connect directly to cloud services enhances network security. SD-WAN solutions typically incorporate advanced traffic inspection and threat detection capabilities at the branch level, ensuring that even direct-to-cloud traffic is safeguarded against cyber threats. This localized security model reduces the risk of exposing the corporate network to vulnerabilities associated with centralized traffic management.

By offering the dual ability to connect directly to corporate data centers and cloud services, SD-WAN provides organizations with a hybrid approach to network connectivity. This ensures both legacy applications hosted on-premises and modern cloud-based services can be accessed efficiently, empowering businesses to operate with agility and confidence in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

SD-WAN solutions deliver a comprehensive security framework that protects networks, data, and applications while enhancing performance and efficiency. By leveraging industry-standard encryption protocols like SSL/TLS, SD-WAN ensures secure data transmission across the network, mitigating risks associated with interception or tampering. Intelligent traffic routing directs SaaS traffic to trusted destinations without unnecessary detours, improving application performance and reducing security exposure. Simultaneously, real-time traffic inspection identifies and neutralizes threats such as phishing, malware, and zero-day exploits before they impact operations. These integrated features enable organizations to address modern cybersecurity challenges while optimizing their networks for the demands of a cloud-driven business landscape.

Policy Based Management

The SD-WAN steers data based on policies (Quality of Service) configured specifically for your applications, devices, users, groups, locations and more. These policies are configured with a priority setting in which the SD-WAN utilizes to prioritize the data packets and how they are dynamically routed. The policies can be configured to meet the specific business and QoS requirements. The policies enable the SD-WAN the ability to steer traffic over specific networks, based on costs, as well as prioritization of traffic based on application, such as videoconferencing or business-critical SaaS applications.

This granular level of control ensures that the network can adapt dynamically to the needs of the organization. For instance, video conferencing traffic, which requires low latency and minimal packet loss for optimal performance, can be prioritized over less critical applications such as email or file downloads. Similarly, traffic associated with business-critical SaaS applications, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, can be given the highest priority to ensure seamless and uninterrupted access.

The ability to steer traffic based on costs is another critical advantage of SD-WAN policies. Organizations can define cost-efficient routing rules, ensuring that non-essential traffic is sent over less expensive broadband links while reserving premium connections, such as MPLS, for mission-critical applications. This intelligent traffic routing helps reduce overall WAN costs while maintaining high performance for key business processes.

Moreover, SD-WAN policies can be dynamically adjusted to accommodate changing network conditions, such as link degradation, congestion, or outages. The SD-WAN continuously monitors network performance metrics like latency, jitter, and packet loss, enabling it to reroute traffic in real-time to the most optimal path. This ensures high availability and consistent performance even during network disruptions.

By providing policy-based traffic management, SD-WAN empowers organizations to align network performance with business priorities. This not only enhances the user experience but also optimizes resource allocation, making it a strategic solution for organizations looking to maximize the efficiency and reliability of their network infrastructure.

Zero-Touch Provisioning

Enterprise SD-WANs support a secure true zero-touch provisioning of edge controllers. In order to onboard a device in a remote location, the only required steps are to unbox the edge controller, plug it in, and connect it to the internet. The edge controllers are automatically provisioned and configured to operational status. The network administrator can set up rules and policies that will be automatically applied when a matching edge controller is onboarded.

This streamlined deployment process ensures that even non-technical staff can efficiently install edge controllers without requiring specialized training or on-site IT support. Once connected to the network, the edge controllers communicate with a centralized management platform, which securely pushes pre-configured settings, such as routing protocols, security policies, and application prioritization parameters. This approach minimizes the risk of human error and drastically reduces the time needed to bring devices online.

Additionally, the automation of provisioning enables enterprises to scale their networks quickly and efficiently. Organizations with multiple remote offices, branch locations, or field deployments benefit from a unified management system that ensures consistency across all devices. The centralized control also allows administrators to update rules and policies dynamically, ensuring that any changes are propagated across the network instantly, without requiring manual reconfiguration of individual devices.

By leveraging secure zero-touch provisioning, Enterprise SD-WANs enhance operational agility and network reliability. This capability not only reduces operational overhead but also ensures that the network adheres to stringent security standards. Each edge controller is verified during onboarding to prevent unauthorized devices from being added, thus maintaining the integrity and security of the overall network infrastructure.

Improved Network Performance

SD-WAN brings awareness of traffic types that traverse through your network. An IT manager can prioritize traffic from business-critical applications as well as other services such as VoIP and web-conferencing and help steer the traffic via the most efficient route, automatically. This prioritization and steering work together to allow the IT Manager to get the best out of the available network, even minimize when network links experience packet loss and latency.

This intelligent traffic management capability ensures that critical applications consistently receive the bandwidth and reliability they require, even during periods of network congestion. By analyzing the performance of all available network paths in real-time, SD-WAN dynamically adjusts routing to mitigate issues like jitter, latency, and packet loss. As a result, users experience seamless performance for essential applications, improving productivity and reducing downtime.

Moreover, SD-WAN’s traffic prioritization extends beyond individual applications. It can differentiate between types of traffic based on business needs, allocating resources to high-priority tasks while relegating less critical data to secondary network paths. This granular control not only optimizes network performance but also enhances the overall user experience by ensuring that key business services are always accessible and responsive.

The ability to automatically steer traffic through optimal routes also empowers IT managers to utilize diverse connectivity options, such as MPLS, broadband, or LTE, effectively. This flexibility reduces dependency on costly traditional infrastructure while maintaining robust network performance, even in scenarios involving complex or distributed environments.

Cost Reduction

SD-WAN reduces overall costs by allowing the use of low-cost alternatives to expensive MPLS such as the public internet, broadband, and LTE networks, allowing direct cloud access for the increasing use of SaaS applications, getting better results from available public networks by use of traffic shaping, prioritization of network traffic.

By leveraging cost-effective connectivity options, organizations can significantly reduce their dependency on expensive legacy infrastructure without compromising performance. SD-WAN ensures that even these affordable connections deliver reliable and efficient service through advanced optimization techniques such as dynamic path selection and intelligent load balancing. This approach maximizes the value of available bandwidth and ensures that critical applications maintain optimal performance.

Direct cloud access is another key cost-saving advantage provided by SD-WAN. Instead of routing cloud traffic back through a central data center—a practice that increases latency and operational expenses—SD-WAN enables local internet breakouts. This reduces latency, improves the performance of SaaS applications like Microsoft 365 and Salesforce, and minimizes the need for expensive backhaul solutions.

In addition to cost savings, SD-WAN empowers IT managers with enhanced control over network traffic. Traffic shaping and prioritization ensure that high-priority applications, such as video conferencing or VoIP, receive the necessary resources, while less critical traffic is allocated to secondary paths. This intelligent management enables businesses to achieve higher efficiency from their existing network investments, ensuring seamless operations at a reduced cost.

Cloud Adaptation

The use of SaaS applications and other cloud services are on the rise. SD-WAN facilitates cloud access throughout the network fabric, including branch offices and remote workers, which in turn removes the need to route cloud and remote traffic back through the corporate data center, thus reducing latency.

This direct cloud access ensures a more efficient and streamlined user experience, especially for latency-sensitive applications like video conferencing, collaboration tools, and real-time analytics. By eliminating the traditional backhaul approach, SD-WAN allows users to connect directly to the cloud from their location, ensuring faster data transmission and improved application responsiveness.

For remote workers and branch offices, this capability is particularly critical. SD-WAN ensures secure and optimized connections to cloud resources regardless of geographic location, enabling consistent performance across the entire organization. This is achieved through advanced traffic routing, which selects the best available path to the cloud, dynamically adapting to network conditions to maintain optimal performance.

Moreover, SD-WAN’s ability to integrate with cloud service providers further enhances its efficiency. It can establish direct connections to popular SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and AWS, reducing both the latency and the load on central infrastructure. This not only improves end-user productivity but also reduces the burden on IT teams by simplifying network management and reducing operational complexities.

High Availability

High Availability (HA) ensures that the zWAN Edge Controllers provide continuous uptime by automatically failing over to backup connections or devices in the event of a failure. By implementing multiple layers of redundancy, such as active-active or active-passive configurations, HA prevents network downtime and guarantees that critical business applications remain accessible even during unexpected disruptions. This feature is crucial for enterprises that rely on uninterrupted access to cloud services, corporate data centers, or essential applications.

The active-active configuration ensures that all available resources are utilized simultaneously, offering both increased throughput and instantaneous failover capabilities. In contrast, the active-passive setup keeps backup resources on standby, ready to take over in case of primary connection failure. Both approaches are designed to mitigate risks and provide seamless continuity, ensuring minimal impact on business operations during outages.

In addition to connection redundancy, HA in zWAN Edge Controllers often incorporates hardware failover. This means that if a primary device encounters an issue, a standby unit can automatically take over without disrupting the network. Such fail-safes are especially important for enterprises with mission-critical applications, where even a few minutes of downtime could lead to significant financial or operational losses.

Furthermore, the HA functionality within SD-WAN extends to proactive monitoring and self-healing capabilities. The system continuously monitors the health and performance of network connections and devices, enabling it to identify and resolve issues before they escalate. This proactive approach not only enhances network reliability but also provides IT administrators with the confidence that their infrastructure is resilient and always operational.

Path Affinity

Path Affinity ensures that traffic associated with a specific application or user flows through the same path consistently, optimizing performance and reliability. This feature is particularly useful in maintaining session persistence for applications that are sensitive to changes in network conditions, such as video conferencing, VoIP, or real-time communication tools. Path Affinity allows for seamless user experiences by reducing packet loss, latency, and jitter while improving overall application performance.

By ensuring that traffic remains on a predefined path, Path Affinity avoids disruptions caused by route changes or network reconfigurations. For example, in VoIP and video conferencing, even a momentary interruption can lead to dropped calls, poor audio quality, or video freezing. With Path Affinity, these applications are granted a stable connection that guarantees consistent performance, regardless of other network fluctuations.

This capability also supports optimized resource utilization. By dedicating specific paths for high-priority traffic, Path Affinity allows IT managers to enforce policies that balance load distribution across the network while maintaining the necessary quality of service (QoS) for critical applications. This ensures that bandwidth-intensive tasks are not adversely affected by less critical traffic.

In addition, Path Affinity works in tandem with other SD-WAN features like dynamic path selection and real-time monitoring. Together, they ensure that traffic can seamlessly switch to a secondary path if the primary path encounters degradation, without compromising the session persistence or user experience. This resilience further enhances the reliability of the network, especially for enterprises operating across multiple locations or relying on diverse connectivity options.

Load Balancing (Flow & Packet)

zWAN Edge Controllers support both Flow-Based and Packet-Based Load Balancing, allowing efficient distribution of network traffic across multiple WAN links. Flow-Based Load Balancing directs entire sessions to a specific link, ideal for applications requiring consistent paths. Packet-Based Load Balancing, on the other hand, splits individual data packets across multiple links, optimizing bandwidth usage and ensuring maximum throughput. These features work together to prevent link saturation, ensuring network performance remains high, even during peak usage times.

In addition to load balancing, zWAN Edge Controllers incorporate advanced monitoring and analytics tools that provide real-time visibility into network performance. Administrators can easily identify bottlenecks, adjust traffic distribution policies, and troubleshoot issues with minimal downtime. This level of control enables proactive management, ensuring the network adapts to changing demands seamlessly.

zWAN Edge Controllers prioritize traffic based on application or user-defined policies. This Quality of Service (QoS) functionality ensures critical applications, such as video conferencing or VoIP, receive priority over less time-sensitive data. Combined with intelligent load balancing, these capabilities create a robust and reliable network infrastructure that enhances productivity and user experience.

The controllers also support integration with cloud platforms, making them ideal for businesses leveraging hybrid or multi-cloud environments. This flexibility allows organizations to extend their network capabilities while maintaining optimal performance and security, regardless of where their applications and data reside. By offering a comprehensive suite of features, zWAN Edge Controllers empower businesses to meet the demands of modern, distributed networks effectively.

Wireless Support (LTE/5G)

zWAN Edge Controllers offer full support for LTE and 5G wireless networks, giving organizations the flexibility to use wireless connectivity as a primary or backup WAN option. This feature is especially useful in remote locations where wired connections may be unavailable or costly. With built-in LTE and 5G support, zWAN Edge Controllers can ensure business continuity by providing failover connectivity when primary WAN links experience outages or disruptions, ensuring constant uptime and network resilience.

In addition to supporting wireless networks, zWAN Edge Controllers are designed to adapt to dynamic network conditions through intelligent link aggregation and failover mechanisms. These capabilities ensure that traffic is seamlessly rerouted to the most reliable connection without compromising performance. This proactive approach enhances the reliability and stability of network operations, making them suitable for mission-critical environments.

To complement their connectivity options, zWAN Edge Controllers include robust security features, such as end-to-end encryption, firewall integration, and secure tunneling protocols. These measures protect sensitive data and safeguard network integrity, providing peace of mind for organizations handling confidential information. By combining connectivity, performance, and security, zWAN Edge Controllers deliver an all-encompassing solution tailored to the needs of modern businesses.

Quality of Service (QoS)

Quality of Service (QoS) allows network administrators to prioritize critical business applications over less important traffic, ensuring that time-sensitive applications like VoIP, video conferencing, and cloud services always receive the necessary bandwidth and low latency. QoS policies can be tailored to the needs of the organization, improving user experiences and maintaining consistent performance for the most important applications, even during times of network congestion.

In addition to prioritizing traffic, QoS settings on zWAN Edge Controllers can dynamically adjust to changing network conditions. This adaptability ensures that bandwidth allocation remains optimal, even as usage patterns fluctuate. By fine-tuning QoS policies, administrators can maintain a high quality of service across all critical applications, regardless of network load.

zWAN Edge Controllers also enable granular control over traffic flows by allowing administrators to define QoS policies at the application, user, or device level. This flexibility ensures that specific business needs are addressed, such as guaranteeing uninterrupted performance for executive video calls or ensuring smooth data synchronization for cloud-based services. With these advanced QoS capabilities, organizations can optimize their network for maximum efficiency and reliability.

Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)

Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) analyzes the contents of each packet passing through the network to identify specific applications, users, and potential threats. By providing granular visibility into network traffic, DPI enhances security and allows for more precise policy enforcement. Administrators can use DPI to detect and block malicious content, manage bandwidth by application, and ensure compliance with organizational policies, all while improving overall network performance.

In addition to threat detection, DPI enables detailed traffic categorization, helping organizations gain deeper insights into their network usage patterns. This visibility allows for informed decision-making, such as optimizing bandwidth allocation or identifying trends in application usage. By leveraging DPI, administrators can proactively address potential issues before they impact productivity.

DPI also integrates seamlessly with other network management tools, enabling real-time alerts and automated responses to detected anomalies. This integration enhances the overall security posture of the organization, reducing the likelihood of data breaches or service disruptions. With its ability to balance security, performance, and control, DPI is an essential component of a robust network management strategy.