SD-WAN is a software overlay of a wide area network (WAN) that helps connect a headquarter location and remote branches. The typical WAN setup was a point-to-point architecture that created a hub-and-spoke layout with the headquarter at the center. Although this model is straightforward and expandable, it has many vulnerabilities, including delays in communication between branches and cloud services. The growth of cloud services and introduction of new applications has been the driving force of a new kind of SD-WAN architecture with an SD-WAN gateway at the center of it.

Traditional networks with conventional routers were not designed for the age of cloud computing. They tend to rely on routing traffic from branch offices to the data center. This approach causes applications to lag, resulting in poor performance. The SD-WAN model was designed to support applications and data flows hosted on-premises, public or private clouds, and other SaaS services.

At the heart of EnGenius' SD-WAN solution is the SD-WAN gateway that acts as a central hub to help manage and route network traffic. Organizations using many different cloud services can use an SD-WAN gateway to reduce traffic and latency.

The SD-WAN gateway has a number of key features. One of the most important features is the ability to select the best path for network traffic dynamically. Dynamic path selection provides more efficient and reliable network performance by avoiding congested or unreliable routes. Gateways also balance traffic load and eliminate bottlenecks by directing traffic from an overloaded port to a free one. It can also prioritize certain traffic or business-critical applications.

The gateway also provides a central management point for an organization's network, making it easy to manage, monitor, deploy, and update network policies. With cloud management, you can get a more detailed view of the network architecture, including access points, switches, and gateways.

The solution includes security features such as firewalls, VPNs, and encryption to help protect sensitive data as it travels over the network. These features protect data from attacks that exploit protocol vulnerabilities, and keep information secure and on its way to its destination.

An SD-WAN gateway with high-speed WAN and LAN ports improves overall throughput by bundling multiple connections. The increased bandwidth ensures faster and more reliable network performance.

In addition to increasing overall throughput, the gateway can also have redundant links to automatically fail over to the backup WAN in the event of an uplink failure.

The SD-WAN Gateway provides organizations with a secure, efficient, and cost-effective way to manage network traffic. EnGenius offers a variety of gateways for various business needs (https://www.engeniustech.com/sd-wan-gateway.html) and is focused on providing a simplified solution to securely manage the SD-WAN architecture and overall network environment.

For more information on purchasing SD-WAN gateways, as well as other EnGenius solutions, please contact engenius@muk.group.