FEATURE
FEATURE
THIS IS WHERE
DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
IS REALLY
HAPPENING –
RIGHT OUT AT
THE PERIMETER
OF THE
NETWORK.
T
he way enterprises manage
and control their most essential
applications is changing and
approaches to connectivity must
adapt to meet this change. The static
destination-based routing that has to date
been at the heart of wide area networking
is no longer good enough in a cloud-
centric era when the experience of the
application’s user, wherever they may be
located, is paramount.
Digital Transformation –
at the Edge
Connectivity today is increasingly about
the Edge of the network, not the centre,
and about the software-defining of the
network right up to the Edge. This is
where Digital Transformation is really
happening – right out at the perimeter of
the network.
If you want to turn your organisation into
a digital enterprise, you need to transform
the Edge, because that’s where all the
applications are delivered closest to the
user and where the traffic load is likely
to congest. To make this happen takes
a whole new approach from the single-
transport MPLS-based one that has
dominated for decades.
Cloud-native SD-WANS for
connectivity at the Edge
Network managers are starting to
face up to this change through the
deployment of cloud-native SD-WANs,
thus bringing greater levels of application
intelligence to business connectivity
www.intelligentdatacentres.com
where it matters. So-called application-
aware routing understands the paths
applications need to take and provides
greater management and control
to deliver the adaptive, high-quality
experience that users want and expect.
With this model, the balance is altered.
Rather than focus on just the network
destination and the complexities
thereof, the emphasis is placed upon the
application experience. Application-aware
routing is all about supporting the intent
of the user and of the enterprise, and
prioritising support for how applications
actually need to be used and served,
based on the business policies the
enterprise has prescribed.
SD-WAN is all about using active and
passive monitoring of the fabric to
dynamically track path and network
characteristics, quality factors like packet
loss, latency, jitter, load, bandwidth
capacity and circuit cost. It offers a way
to leverage the information it collects
between Edge and branch locations, and
deterministically directs application flows
along the most optimal network paths
that meets the business intent.
Application-aware routing directs
traffic based upon an application’s
predetermined SLA and user-
defined application profiles. Traffic is
automatically sent to WAN links that
have the required network characteristics
and path conditions to support these
applications in real-time.
Advantages of application-
aware routing
There are multiple advantages from
application-aware routing. These
include lower bandwidth costs, because
traffic is more efficiently balanced
among the diverse circuits. Application
performance is increased, without having
to upgrade bandwidth. IT management
and monitoring are simplified through
the automation of dynamic traffic
steering. And application reliability and
consistency are achieved by dynamically
routing traffic among diversity of circuits,
including broadband and wireless, to
ensure application experience parameters
are met.
Issue 11
45