Wide area networks: The power of SD-WAN and SASE

For many companies, their own or rented wide area networks have become indispensable because they ensure secure communication between their offices and remote employees. However, classic MPLS WANs are increasingly being replaced by software-based wide area networks or even SASE. In this post, we investigate the benefits of these methods.

For most companies, wide area networks play a crucial role in securely connecting distributed locations, remote employees and data centers. They enable not only controlled and reliable communication, but also the exchange of confidential data, protected from cyber attackers. In recent years, wide area networks have seen a great deal of development and SD-WAN and SASE have become particularly important topics. What spurred these developments and why does it make sense to use these new concepts and technologies?

Classic wide area networks

Traditionally, wide area networks are based on MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) network technology, leased lines and other often extremely expensive and hardware-based technologies. On the one hand, MPLS networks generally offer high reliability and security. On the other hand, they cost more and in practice also prove to be relatively inflexible and slow in adapting to the changing requirements of today (such as remote work models or the increasing use of cloud solutions). 

SD WAN in the fast lane 

Software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WANs) have fundamentally transformed how companies create and manage their wide-area networks. In an SD-WAN, the resources and infrastructure are software-based, although they still rely on hardware components. These hardware elements are essential for establishing connections to the central SD-WAN controller and for enabling various types of connection media, such as MPLS, fiber optics, broadband, or mobile connections using 4G/5G technology.

The network is managed centrally through a software-based controller and no longer requires physical intervention. In an SD-WAN, classic network functions that previously used special hardware, such as gateways or firewalls, are virtualized and mapped to software components, giving customers much greater flexibility and scalability than in classic wide-area networks.

Modern SD-WANs are often closely integrated with cloud solutions to manage network traffic and analyze and enforce the necessary security policies. Software is also used to monitor network performance and optimize network utilization dynamically. By utilizing more affordable broadband connections and largely eliminating costly MPLS lines, companies can significantly lower their network operating costs.

Evolution of SD-WAN

The next stage in the WAN evolution is a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) model, which the market research company Gartner presented in 2019. SASE combines the network and security functions in an SD-WAN into a single cloud service. It is built on software-based wide area networks but goes even further, as it includes additional, increasingly important security functions in view of increasing cyber threats.

For example, SASE solutions integrate new security features such as Secure Web Gateways (SWGs) and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and increasingly widespread technologies such as Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) or FWaaS (Firewall-as-a-Service) into a powerful package. SASE solutions are always based in the cloud, which delivers all products and services. 

Another advantage of SASE is that users, regardless of their current location, have secure access to company resources, whether in the cloud or in the company’s own data center. The Zero Trust model plays a central role here, which states that no user or device may gain access to company resources without authentication and authorization on every access attempt.

Benefits of software-based wide area networks

Both SD-WAN and SASE allow organizations to securely and efficiently connect remote employees to the company network and the required cloud applications. These new concepts and technologies are of great importance, considering the significant increase remote work.

However, SD-WAN and SASE also outperform classic WAN models in terms of flexibility, scalability, and cost. Companies that initially find switching to SASE too time-consuming should consider Security Service Edge (SSE). 

SASE and SSE ARE closely related. While SASE is a complete solution that combines both network and security services, SSE focuses purely on security. SSE includes the most important cloud-based security services without including the network functions of SD-WAN. This makes SSE suitable for companies that focus on security aspects or already have an existing network infrastructure such as SD-WAN or MPLS that they want to extend with additional security services.

Organizations need to modernize their wide area networks to meet the growing demands for flexibility and security. NCP assists them in achieving these objectives. Discover more about this topic here:

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