SD-WAN vs. VPN

SD-WAN vs VPN: choosing the best networking technology for your enterprise.

As enterprises look for ways to manage the wide area network (WAN) for greater performance, lower costs and increased bandwidth, many IT teams are evaluating the benefits of SD-WAN vs VPN for secure internet-based site-to-site networking.

An internet-based virtual private network, or VPN, provides a simple and cost-effective technology for protecting data as it travels over the unsecured public Internet. At a high level, a VPN encrypts traffic to ensure end points are trusted and the data sent between them are encapsulated and unreadable in the event the data is intercepted. But network performance can suffer, since a VPN can’t easily prioritize traffic unless end point routers are manipulated appropriately and even then the data is subject to the performance of the internet data route that was chosen. Relying on an internet-VPN to support latency-sensitive connections, like voice and video transmissions, presents challenges as the VPN is usually unaware of network performance or cannot easily take restorative measures on poor connections.

A software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN is deployed as an overlay on an existing internet network. An SD-WAN uses cloud-based intelligence to optimize traffic flows that help increase performance and reduce costs by effectively prioritizing and routing traffic over the most appropriate transport technology. SD-WAN are always aware of the performance of the internet connection and can redirect traffic over the best connection in the event of undesirable performance. SD-WAN benefits include greater control and visibility into network performance, universal security, and better latency management for traffic directed to cloud applications.

The challenge for organizations interested in SD-WAN vs VPN are in the design, implementation and management of an SD-WAN solution. Fortunately, Spectrum Enterprise provides a managed services solution that can simplify migration while reducing expense.

Spectrum Enterprise makes the SD-WAN vs VPN choice easy.

Spectrum Enterprise Managed SD-WAN provides a turnkey solution for adopting SD-WAN vs VPN technology. This completely managed solution streamlines implementation by managing every aspect of an SD-WAN deployment: solution design, installation, monitoring, management and ongoing support. Rather than a one-size-fits-all cutover, Spectrum Enterprise enables organizations to reap the benefits of SD-WAN vs VPN through a managed activation to create a new network that eliminates the need to allocate capital to new equipment, address support contracts or network performance or burden your existing staff resources with additional responsibilities.

Managed SD-WAN is part of a suite of managed services that also includes Managed Router, Managed Switch, and Managed Wi-Fi along with SASE and Managed Security that increases security of the network while improving the remote work experience. 

Benefits of Managed SD-WAN vs VPN

With Spectrum Enterprise’ managed services solution, you can easily take advantage of the benefits of SD-WAN vs VPN, including:

• Improved performance. Application awareness is one of the greatest features of SD-WAN vs VPN, enabling traffic to be intelligently routed and prioritized to maximize network performance and adapt to different workloads.
• Greater insight and control. A centralized approach to management and an easy-to-use portal provide greater control and insight into performance, traffic and utilization.
• Simpler deployment and management. Offering a complete end-to-end solution, Spectrum Enterprise eliminates the complexity of multivendor, multi-technology legacy networks.

Learn more about SD-WAN vs VPN, as well as the benefits of SD-WAN vs MPLS.