Secure SD-WAN
zWAN – SOFTWARE DEFINED WIDE AREA NETWORK
Secure SD-WAN
zWAN is a powerful SD-WAN solution designed to optimize and secure network traffic across diverse environments. With components like the Director for centralized management, Gateway Routers (GR) for secure branch connectivity, and Virtual Gateway Routers (vEC) for home users, zWAN ensures seamless routing and risk assessment. Its real-time Reporting capabilities provide insights into network performance and application usage, while the zWAN sGR scales effortlessly to support expanding networks. Together, these components deliver unparalleled control, efficiency, and security for modern deployments.
Components of SD-WAN
Gateway Router
Gateway Router (GR) appliances offer multi-WAN support, including Broadband, MPLS, and Wireless (4G LTE and 5G) connectivity options. With both ARM and x86 architecture models available, AmZetta provides a variety of appliance options tailored to meet your specific performance, data, and user requirements.
Director
Director is a robust and adaptable centralized management software designed to oversee your zWAN deployment. It offers real-time network analytics, advanced reporting, and performance monitoring, while also providing comprehensive enterprise management and maintenance functions.
Gateway Router Options:
If physical hardware is not required, the Gateway Router comes in three other forms: Software (sGR), Virtual (vGR), and for Windows devices (vEC).
zWAN sGR
The zWAN sGR (software gateway router) comes preinstalled on the Gateway Router appliances, enabling smooth Zero-Touch deployment. This enterprise-class SD-WAN software suite ensures secure connectivity and provides intelligent network traffic management.
zWAN vGR
The zWAN vGR (virtual gateway router) can be deployed on any virtual machine (VM) or cloud instance. This enterprise-class SD-WAN software suite is designed for installation in data centers, cloud environments, or branch/remote offices, offering flexibility within virtual environments.
zWAN vEC
The zWAN vEC (virtual edge controller) is installed on Windows 10/11 Pro devices, including laptops, notebooks, desktops, tablets, or any x86 user endpoint. It offers end users a secure connection to their SaaS applications and corporate network, eliminating the need for expensive VPN licenses.
What is SD-WAN?
SD-WAN stands for Software Defined Wide Area Network. SD-WAN is a virtual network architecture that allows organizations to leverage multiple transport services such as Broadband, MPLS and LTE (5G/Wi-Fi) to securely connect data centers to branch offices and users to applications and services. The Software Defined (SDN) network separates the control plane from the data plane allowing for enhanced agility, manageability and complete visibility of the network. SD-WAN provides enhanced security, optimized performance, lower costs, and ease of deployment and management. An SD-WAN solution will enhance application performance, user productivity, reduce network expenses, unify network connectivity, and enable orchestration of application delivery across your network.
How Does SD-WAN Work?
SD-WAN utilizes a centralized controller that incorporates user defined application and routing policies to provide highly secure, dynamic, application-aware network traffic management. The SD-WAN utilizes the existing network underlay connectivity such as Broadband, MPLS and LTE and routes the data within the network using highly secure overlay tunnels that are encrypted. SD-WAN monitors the performance of the network and dynamically routes network traffic based on the QoS and SLA objectives for optimum connectivity of users to applications and services. This level of control allows for optimal delivery paths across any combination of network transport types. SD-WAN improves your TCO and makes the WAN much easier to deploy and manage.
SD-WAN Architecture
Top Features of an SD-WAN Solution
Dynamic Path Selection & 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…
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…
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 stateful firewalls, IPS/IDS Intrusion Prevention System/Intrusion Detection…
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…
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 polices are configured with a priority setting in which the SDWAN utilizes to prioritize the data packets and how they are dynamically…
Zero-Touch Provisioning
Enterprise SD-WANs supports 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
SD-WAN Director Deployment Options
Managed SD-WAN
AmZetta partners with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) for Customers that prefer to hand off the implementation, configuration and management of the SD-WAN network. AmZetta Partners can quickly and securely implement the SD-WAN solution using a team of highly skilled engineers. Managed Services avoids upfront investments and allows the network to be fully managed by a team of experts.
On-Prem SD-WAN
Customers running applications and services on-premise or in local data centers prefer to host the SD-WAN solution within their infrastructure. AmZetta provides an On-Prem SD-WAN solution that allows 100% total control and management to be performed by the in-house IT staff. AmZetta Solutions Engineering will remotely assist Customers in setup, configuration and management of the On-Prem SD-WAN.
Co-Managed SD-WAN
Not everyone is comfortable managing their SD-WAN network. AmZetta offers a Co-Managed SD-WAN solution where you retain 100% control over the SD-WAN while it is hosted within the AmZetta Cloud. AmZetta will configure and train your IT team on the SD-WAN Director to handle the day-to-day network operations. AmZetta will provide backend support and maintenance of the SD-WAN network.
Product Links
Ready for an online demo of the zWAN SD-WAN?
Just click this link for live access to the zWAN SD-WAN Director and Gateway Router. The interactive demo allows you to get a feel for the SD-WAN solution. AmZetta offers quick intro interactive demos (under 5 minutes) and deep technical interactive demos (30 minutes). Pick the demo you want to see and go!