SD-WAN Architecture for enterprises

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN), provides the benefits of modern software-defined networking (SDN) technology to traditionally hardware-based networking. It is an overlay architecture providing a networking infrastructure that is much higher security and more easier to manage than legacy WANs, essentially moving the control layer (SDWAN controller or SDWAN gateway) to the internet — and in the process, centralizing and simplifying network management. This overlay design abstracts software from hardware, enabling network virtualization and making the network more elastic.

SD-WAN benefits for enterprises

Retail companies – whether they're rapidly undergoing digital transformation, or retrenching and restabilizing their business around cost-cutting measures, or somewhere in between while they search for their path forward – are unified by at least one thing: the need to refresh their networks, more secure, better performance, easy manage, un-hackable

On the forward edge of the digital transformation wave, they're seeking networks that can serve the needs of cutting edge retail models, applications, and services: for example, having pop-up locations, or creating virtual fitting rooms in a clothing shop, or virtual furniture placement for a home furnishings store.

On the trailing edge, they're seeking ways to reduce both the capital and operating costs of their networks: for example, shifting small stores to broadband-only connectivity to reduce overhead.

Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN),software-defined networking (SDN), and network functions virtualizations (NFV) will make the WAN what retailers need it to be for the future: secure, flexible, responsive, efficient, and agile.

Cutting-edge retail

From virtual fitting rooms for “trying on” mass-customized clothing to be finished while the customer waits, to the ability to virtually place a new piece of furniture in an image of the customer’s living room, myriad new retail services will depend on some form of Augmented Reality (AR). 

Delivering responsive, smooth, engaging AR requires both sufficient capacity on the WAN and the ability to manage traffic so as to protect the AR traffic from jitter and packet loss.

Retail revamped: the consultative sale

Other retailers, like high-end audio or video stores or hardware stores, may need to supplement on-site staff with “video experts.”

Instead of having to try to have all sorts of specialist knowledge right in the store, staff on-premises can reach out to expert centers so customers can do face-to-face consultation with real experts. Advice on fitting AV gear to the room it will be in, or on how to rewire a ground-fault outlet can be a video chat away – as long as the WAN can deliver the video and audio with clarity, consistency, and quality.

Retail revamped: pop-up stores

A retailer may want to reinvent their business model, focusing on getting physically closer to potential customers by adopting a flexible and dynamic store siting strategy. With the goal of opening many more locations than in the past, they want most to be far smaller than under their old model, with some to be mobile, and some to be seasonal or otherwise temporary (e.g. centered on an event like a concert or holiday).

To support this, they’ll need WANs that can add and move locations with low lead times, easily, quickly, and without disruptions.

Retail for less

Reducing overhead is always a goal, but as resources need to be freed up to pursue new and transformative business initiatives, it becomes even more critical and urgent. Specifically, retailers want to stop spending on unneeded capacity and functionality that they get because they might need it three years from now, or “just in case.” They want to stop having their WAN choices dictated by the whims of specialty hardware vendors with respect to the capacity and feature set available in a location.

To wring every last bit of unnecessary overhead from a location, and from operation of the WAN overall, retailers need a WAN that can leverage SDN and NFV to run on generic hardware, and embrace flexible, just-in-time deployment of capacity and functionality.

(by AT&T)

SDWAN is a Software-Defined the virtual Wide-Area Network (= virtual dedicated data line) from Broadband, Lease line, MPLS or 4G/5G ... between Hong Kong, Asia and China.

SDWAN Optimizer reduce bandwidth cost and Accelerate Internet application, build on top of SDWAN

20%~200% speeds up internet after SDWAN Optimizer.

by using real time Packet Compression, Packet Correction, Packets Deduplication, Packet cache, Software Define WAN (SDWAN, as similar as MPLS line or lease line).

Gain Bandwidth from the SDWAN protocol via hardware level Intel AES-NI (Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions) instruction set.

We are providing the most simple [SDWAN] and [Optimizer] solutions to gain bandwidth acceleration :

• Step 1 : just need TWO units of OSIgate 6000i SDWAN Optimizer (Acceleration) Routers.
• Step 2 : pre-define a pair of internal IP and WAN IP on each OSIgate 6000i unit, (set some static routing).
• Step 3 : Plug the device behind the firewall and allow SDWAN TCP/UDP port : 4050

Result : HQ/IDC and Branch(es) connected with virtual Internal network but WITHOUT establish VPN, become more stable, faster, more secure, cross border ...

* Internal network = Private IP network, i.e. 10.0.0.0, 172.16.0.0, 192.168.0.0

  

SDWAN Key advantages include:

• Reducing costs fixed point to point circuit facility. i.e. MPLS, lease line, 4G/5G ... etc.
• Improving internet application bandwidth performance and increasing agility.
• Simplifying operations with automation and virtual cloud-based management.
• Highly improve internet security between branches/HQ/Cloud
• Highly improve Bandwidth performance between branches/HQ/Cloud if enable SDWAN optimizer

SDWAN Optimizer : Acceleration is the Key advantages, include

Packet Loss Recovery

Packet Loss Recovery and Forward Error Correction recover from loss early which ensures data is delivered reliably, improves link quality, improves application performance and accelerates TCP.

Universal Deduplication

Cross flow deduplication removes deduplicate byte patterns, irrespective of source protocol, application or session that originated the initial data. Byte patterns are saved persistently on disk for future network matches.

TCP Acceleration (multi-packet compression)

The full transparent TCP Acceleration Performance Enhancing Proxy (PEP) can significantly enhance TCP performance with High Speed TCP

Quality of Service

Deep packet inspection Classification, Marking and Traffic Shaping ensures business priority and bandwidth-intensive traffic receive the most optimal quality of service

Packet Order Correction

Correcting packet order on the fly helps avoid the negative performance impacts and retransmissions due to out of order packets.

Stream Compression

Real time stream compression of network data on the fly for higher compression ratios, acceleration & bandwidth savings.

Path Selection

Load balance traffic over multiple WAN gateways by setting link metric thresholds and Layer7 traffic policies.

Bridge Appliance

The Wan Optimizer is by default a bridge appliance, which enables quick and simple deployment, is non-intrusive and preserves the natural traffic flow.

NetFlow Analytics

The Web Interface powered by Open Source Linux, provides Visibility into Wan Optimizer performance, Protocol statistics, System Health information and configuration options

Tunnel Mode

Tunnel mode compliments bridge mode as an alternative and flexible deployment option to route traffic through the Wan Optimizer.

Network Transparency

Source and Destination addresses are preserved for network visibility. The Wan Optimizer does not translate addresses or proxy traffic.

use TWO [SDWAN] and [SDWAN Optimizer] devices to connect two offices,  built a SDWAN virtual lease line, with TCP/IP acceleration via SDWAN protocol...

* [SDWAN] a new technology to replace VPN

* [SDWAN Optimizer] a new technology to compress packet, QOS and do TCP/IP acceleration, increase bandwidth performance