How Does Cloud WAN Work?

Amazon announced Cloud WAN, a new network solution that unifies connectivity, security, and automation into a single, converged cloud-based service. Cloud WAN promises to simplify the complexity of managing distributed WAN deployments while providing an intuitive user experience with one console to manage everything.

This article will explore how Cloud WAN works and how it can benefit your network.

What is Cloud WAN?

Cloud WAN stands for Wide Area Network, an increasingly popular way of connecting multiple business sites. As the name implies, a Cloud WAN enables efficient information transfer across a wide area, while eliminating expensive and complicated hardware infrastructures.

The main purpose of having a Cloud WAN solution is to increase the speed and flexibility of your network by utilising cloud-based services instead of dedicated physical hardware. A Cloud WAN is usually composed of multiple individual connections across the public internet or leased lines, creating a virtual single connection between two sites. By simulating hundreds or thousands of actual links in this manner, traffic can be routed faster and more securely than conventional techniques – allowing you to build an affordable network that scales easily with your business requirements. Additionally, since it’s hosted in the cloud you can access it from anywhere – enabling remote workers or on-the-go employees to be part of this valuable network just as easily as those in the same office building.

Additionally, many modern Cloud WAN solutions come with various security benefits such as encryption, malware detection and intrusion prevention to keep information secure during transit over public internet or leased lines – further increasing reliability and reducing risk associated with sensitive data transfers over long distances. With all these benefits rolled up into one package, it’s no wonder why so many businesses are taking advantage of Cloud WAN technology today!

Benefits of Cloud WAN

Cloud WAN (Wide Area Network) provides the ability to combine the advantages of private and public networks in a secure, scalable, and easy-to-manage way to connect users with data applications and resources. With Cloud WAN, businesses can leverage their existing IT infrastructure and add dynamic global connectivity capabilities at any time. As a result, organisations can accelerate their digital transformation initiatives while reducing operating, capital and maintenance expenses associated with traditional networks.

Using Cloud WAN technology, businesses of any size can benefit from dynamic global connectivity that enables access to mission-critical applications spread across multiple locations with increased reliability, better performance and improved security features. There are several benefits associated with this type of architecture:

• Increased flexibility & scalability – Cloud WAN offers greater flexibility than traditional hardware-based WANs which can be difficult or costly to scale or change as business needs evolve. With a cloud solution, businesses only need to pay for what they utilise during peak traffic hours.
• Cost efficiency – A cloud-based solution is more cost-effective than a hardware-based one because it eliminates the need for expensive hardware maintenance contracts. Organisations also pay only for what they use when accessing applications from around the world so there is no need for upfront investments or additional staff required for network management.
• Advanced security capabilities – A secure connection is provided through point-to-point encryption that ensures data privacy between endpoints even if transmitted over public networks like the internet. Cloud WAN uses stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewalls at each site and secure tunnels into private networks through VPNs to protect against threats such as DoS (Denial of Service).

Cloud WAN Architecture

Cloud WAN is a network architecture that allows customers to connect their branch offices and physical locations to their virtual machines, applications, and services running on public clouds, such as Amazon AWS.

Following the announcement of Amazon AWS’ Cloud WAN service, customers should be able to manage their entire enterprise network from one console, one interface, and one set of tools.

This article will dive deeper into how Cloud WAN works, its components, and how it differs from a traditional WAN.

Components of Cloud WAN

Cloud WAN is a combination of networks, technologies and services that securely connect enterprise locations over the public internet. Cloud WAN is used by businesses to optimise branch office connections and achieve high levels of uptime, quality of service (QoS), and performance.

Cloud WAN architectures are composed of three main components:

• Cloud connectivity: This component provides access to fast, reliable cloud applications–such as Office 365, SaaS applications, or data storage–based on public clouds and private data centres.
• Network management: This component is an abstraction layer that allows organisations to manage the control plane functions such as traffic routing, security policies and application performance rules in one place. It can also provide real-time insights into performance characteristics such as latency or bitrate.
• Edge compute resources: This component consists of secure edge nodes located within enterprise branch offices that are used to create a secure gateway between the cloud infrastructure and enterprise sites to provide failover redundancy, secure connection paths with no single point of failure, scalability options and ensure mission critical workloads perform optimally at all times.

By using these three core components and automated cloud orchestration capabilities enabled by tools such as software-defined networking (SDN), enterprises can quickly design optimised WAN architectures to achieve optimal performance from their networks regardless of their scale or complexity.

Network Topology

In a cloud WAN architecture, the network topology consists of cloud-hosted applications, on-premise data centres and/or private clouds and multiple access types or technologies. Cloud WANs offer an efficient way to integrate multiple networks and provide secure, convenient access to cloud applications from any location.

In a typical Cloud WAN setup, an enterprise leverages one of a variety of connectivity options – such as dedicated private links, managed Internet circuits, or public Internet access – to connect among locations. Each unique connection option will have its characteristics which can affect application performance; for example, transit latency to connect between two locations on the public Internet could vary significantly if various providers use different routes.

By leveraging purpose-built software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) technology deployed at each network edge point – such as Offices or Remote Sites – traffic can be intelligently steered across the multiple connections available to achieve optimal performance where it matters most. Examples include utilising dedicated private links for mission critical traffic like video conferencing and voice calls; managing oversubscribed links by instructing the SD-WAN solution on which application traffic should take precedence over others; plus having visibility into bandwidth consumption patterns that help IT departments make informed decisions about how to best optimise their networks for maximum performance.

Amazon AWS announces Cloud WAN, ‘one console to manage everything’

Amazon AWS recently announced Cloud WAN, a new WAN solution that provides an integrated and powerful way for customers to manage their network infrastructure.

It simplifies connecting multiple sites to a single, unified platform with a single console to manage everything. Let’s take a closer look at how Cloud WAN works.

Overview of Amazon AWS Cloud WAN

Amazon AWS Cloud WAN provides a secure, resilient way to extend your on-premise networks with cloud access. Your business applications can scale with Cloud WAN as cloud resources are added and removed. This helps you to reduce costs and better manage your network’s traffic flows for optimal performance.

Cloud WAN is implemented with an Amazon Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection providing connectivity from on-premises sites to an Amazon Virtual Private Gateway (VGW), which extends the LAN perimeter of an on-premise site into the cloud infrastructure. In addition, the Amazon VGW acts as a secure tunnel between the network segments, encrypting any traffic that needs to be securely transferred in transit over the public Internet between sites.

The VPC powered by AWS provides access mechanisms that enable you to send private IP traffic between two or more remote locations, either via Internet or through direct connections such as leased lines or AWS Direct Connect connections. This combined with Amazon’s globally distributed edge locations provide low latency and extensible compute options for customers deploying over multiple locations or those trying to optimise their application workloads cost effectively in the cloud across multiple regions worldwide.

With Cloud WAN, even users who are geographically separated at multiple sites can use applications just like users connected to a local area network in one location—without additional complexity for network administrators regarding security or configuring complex routing paths for traffic optimization and service delivery requirements. Administrators also have more control over bandwidth allocation with increased visibility of all motion within their datasets instead of relying solely on public peering solutions from carriers who may not always guide how they prioritise traffic routing paths and speeds. AWS also monitors patterns in customer deployments across its regions enabling automatic failover without manual intervention allowing customers predictable performance when enabled correctly over multiple PhoenixNAP locations worldwide using leveraging our Network Access Points (NAPs).

Features of Amazon AWS Cloud WAN

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud WAN is a secure, scalable, and cost-effective way to enable remote connectivity from any device over the public Internet. Cloud WAN harmoniously integrates software-defined networking (SDN) technologies and services such as software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) services with layers of encryption and authentication to build an end-to-end solution that simplifies the deployment of large-scale enterprise networks.

Cloud WAN offers a range of features, including:

-Scalable Connectivity: AWS Cloud WAN enables some or all devices to connect over the public Internet with first class reliability while avoiding costly MPLS.

-Route Optimization: Cloud WAN’s intelligent algorithms continuously select the highest performing paths for optimal utilisation of available bandwidth.

-Advanced Security: AWS Cloud WAN provides authenticated access control through cryptographic mechanisms that provide data privacy and integrity enforcement for all communications within its network boundaries. Additionally, key management allows encrypting data in transit using keys uploaded from customer endpoints.

-Global Redundancy: AWS Cloud WAN ensures no single point of failure in its architecture by allowing customers to create redundant architectures rapidly through built in high availability features such as on demand auto scaling and cloud bursting capabilities across multiple edges for optimal performance around the world at any scale much faster than traditional methods.

Overall, Amazon AWS Cloud WAN enables customers to confidently deploy their applications on a reliable, highly available and secure network across multiple regions or global reach with ease. This allows them to quickly scale up their business needs without worrying about recurring costs associated with leased MPLS lines or expensive hardware procurement cycles needed for traditional routing setups. It also helps reduce operational complexities while providing consistent quality experience world wide at an attractive price point compared to other solutions in the market today.

How Does Cloud WAN Work?

Cloud WAN, a new offering from Amazon AWS, enables customers to easily and securely connect their networks and applications to their cloud-hosted data centres. Powered by AWS Direct Connect and AWS Transit Gateway, Cloud WAN offers a secure, cost-effective, and reliable way to manage multiple, distributed sites using one unified console.

In this article, we explain how Cloud WAN works.

Establishing Connectivity

Cloud WAN (wide area network) technology is a connectivity solution that utilises hybrid connections of multiple internet links to ensure maximum performance and reliability. It’s ideal for businesses that require data transmission over large distances to extend their digital presence in more areas. Cloud WAN is designed to make establishment of new links ultra-fast, while providing flexibility and high availability of dedicated internet services at affordable prices.

The key components to establishing connectivity with Cloud WAN are the following:

• High-speed links: Establishing the required number of simultaneous connections needs dependable access technologies like DSL, Ethernet, fibre, or wireless link solutions.
• Application delivery controllers (ADC): These provide an efficient way for applications and services to connect within a distributed environment with unified service level agreement validation of each link for optimum performance.
• SD-WAN router: Software defined wide area network controllers offer centralised control over many links allowing business applications to be easily deployed without costly manual configuration or any downtime associated with changes made to existing infrastructure. The controller also integrates security policies into the routing algorithm enabling traffic control through the business policy layer.
• The cloud hub acts as a gateway between public clouds and private networks, providing secure real-time communication links between locations spread across multiple geographical regions.

Ultimately, the goal is for both IT managers and end users to leverage cloud WAN services for improved scalability, agility and cost savings benefits in handling mission critical data transmissions efficiently and reliably – making it easier than ever before for organisations of all sizes from all locations across the world to stay connected without fail!

Managing Connectivity

Regarding managing connectivity, Cloud WAN provides several benefits for businesses. Most notably, Cloud WAN simplifies the management and deployment of wide-area networks by taking advantage of advancements in cloud computing. By leveraging both physical and software-defined infrastructures, IT administrators can dynamically manage the performance and reliability of their various corporate sites. Furthermore, cloud WAN solutions can provide cost-savings through easy scalability by their on-demand virtualization capabilities.

A key component of a Cloud WAN solution is its ability to effectively manage traffic between sites using technologies such as traffic shaping and quality of service (QoS). Traffic shaping allows network administrators to set priority levels for different types of data, ensuring that important applications receive priority over other less important tasks. Similarly, QoS helps ensure packets receive the most efficient pathway for timely delivery by allocating bandwidth where necessary or reducing bandwidth where unnecessary. This ensures users have access to less latency and have a better experience regardless of which application they are using or from where they are connecting from.

Cloud WAN solutions also minimise the manual configuration required to establish end-to-end connections between remote sites due to their automated connectivity capabilities. Other features such as secure VPNs can provide added levels of security while allowing network managers monitor connections across multiple locations with ease. With automated failover configurations combined with adaptive load balancing algorithms, it’s easy for organisations who utilise Cloud WANs to keep up with ever changing customer demands without worrying about underlying infrastructure issues or potential downtime.

Security and Reliability

Cloud WAN offers both security and reliability in internet exchange. All information being passed through the Cloud WAN is scrambled making it much harder to intercept or tamper with. This encryption helps ensure that the data is kept safe from malicious intruders. Additionally, its distributed architecture allows for fast reconnection in case of connection disruption.

Cloud WAN uses multiple big fibre pipes placed in different geographic locations. This ensures service availability even if a backbone has gone down in one location due to a natural disaster or other issue. By using multiple backbones, Cloud WAN networks can also offer routing optimization keeping outbound latency low even when dealing with large amounts of traffic.

Finally, Network as a Service (NaaS) offerings from Cloud WAN providers such as Azure and AWS provide users access to their respective cloud networks easily, enabling them to A/B test configurations and take full control of their secured networks remotely without manual intervention or physical hardware configurations on-site.

In short, Cloud WAN provides secure and reliable network exchanges by utilising multiple encryption zones and diverse backbone locations along with NaaS offerings, enabling users to configure their own highly secure cloud networks.

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