There is no such a thing as a perfect marriage? Or is there ......Prosimo Full-Stack Cloud Transit & SD-WAN

                                        Cloud Networking Challenges

 

If you think about cloud networking challenges these groupings can start making sense to you:

 

• Operating at Cloud Speed - the biggest reason enterprises move to the cloud is the ability to deploy applications with greater speed and agility. 

• Increasing MTTR - Here we are defining Day-1 Operations as the work involved for managing the lifecycle of the infrastructure carrying the apps, and the troubleshooting efforts needed to lower the MTTR and meet SLAs.

• Increasing Cloud Costs - As an Enterprise increases its cloud footprint, the operational costs add up. With an ever-growing gap in cloud skills, taking a DIY approach to add more headcount exacerbates the problem.

• Poor Reliability of Network & Apps - Enterprises are increasingly looking to modernize their applications by leveraging the Kubernetes container orchestration system. 

 

 

 

These are four key architectural limitation that are inhibiting many companies from realizing their cloud potential: Efficiency, Resilience, Agility and Cost Control.

  

 

SD-WAN vs MCN

 

 

The convergence is coming.

SD-WAN technology has risen to prominence by leveraging SDN solutions together with economical, commercially available hardware, making the deployment, networking, and management of branch-office connections and endpoints significantly more cost-effective for enterprises. What we have seen is also SD-WAN blending with cloud-based security capabilities, a trend that's especially notable in the growing Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) sector.

 

These guiding principles are poised to thrust software-centric network automation into the domain of Multi-Cloud Networking (MCN), a more encompassing and inclusive iteration of virtualized cloud networking.

 

One can visualize this as SD-WAN employing cloud-based networking and automation at the edge, while MCN extends this notion of cloud networking and automation everywhere and much more.

 

In line with this thought process, there is a chance that MCN will eventually outpace and possibly incorporate functionalities of SD-WAN and SASE.

 

If MCN aims for omnipresent networking and security, then it's bound to incorporate the enterprise edge – the main area of focus for SD-WAN and SASE.

 

This trend is already coming to fruition as various cloud networking participants endeavor to extend their networks to the edge, exemplified by initiatives like Amazon Outposts and Azure Virtual WAN. 

 

Similarly, Cloud Network as a Service (NaaS) is facilitating quicker connections to cloud entry points and Points of Presence (PoPs).

 

 

However, all these different cloud networking approaches adhere to a common principle: utilizing software abstraction to improve network management and automation.

 

The key distinction between SD-WAN and MCN is the degree of control over virtual networks within a specific cloud construct.

 

The main question is what happens in the cloud (a.k.a the cloud networking challenges), what about service networking, FQDN language vs BGP , DevOPS teams goals  ……. Cloud Native applications are typically Multi-Platform: a combination of Virtual Machines, Container Platforms (K8s/ECS), and SaaS solutions.App to App, or App to Platform connectivity is a critical element to Cloud Networking. L3 Networks fall short, lacking required context.

 

 

SD-WAN and MCN often intersect when network managers and IT professionals are considering upgrading their infrastructure to adapt to cloud environments. Seeing an increase in the overlap and integration among these technologies, mirroring the trend observed at the edge with virtualized networking and security technologies such as ZTNA and SASE.

 

While SD-WAN provides several advantages for wide area network connectivity, including traffic prioritization, application performance enhancement, and improved security, it falls short when it comes to service networking, particularly in cloud or microservices environments.

SD-WAN Limitations in Addressing Certain Challenges:

Operational Complexity

Scalability Issues

Performance and Visibility

Intricate Cloud Networking and Segmentation

Limited Remote User Support

In conclusion, while SD-WAN has been pivotal in transforming how organizations connect to the cloud, it does present certain limitations in a multi-cloud networking context. 

 

Telco's last-mile 

 

When telecommunication companies (Telcos) adopt SD-WAN as part of their strategy for providing last-mile connectivity to branch offices, it can yield several significant benefits:

 

1. **Improved Connectivity**: SD-WAN solutions can manage and balance traffic across multiple types of connections including MPLS, broadband internet, 4G/LTE and even 5G. For branch offices, this means that they can utilize a combination of different connectivity options, reducing dependence on costly MPLS links, and ensuring high availability and performance.

 

2. **Quality of Service (QoS)**: SD-WAN solutions can intelligently route traffic based on the needs of the application. For real-time applications like voice and video conferencing, SD-WAN can prioritize and route this traffic over the most reliable and high-performance link, ensuring a smooth, high-quality experience for end users. It can mitigate all the challenges in the last mile, visible more over the public connectivity: packet loss, jitter and latency.

 

3. **Cost Savings**: By using commodity broadband and reducing the dependence on expensive MPLS links, Telcos can pass on the cost savings to their customers. SD-WAN's ability to leverage cheaper internet connections  for non-critical applications also helps to drive down costs.

 

4. **Network Visibility and Control**: With SD-WAN, Telcos can provide their customers with deeper visibility into their network and application performance. This enhanced visibility and control can help businesses optimize their network usage, troubleshoot issues faster, and make data-driven decisions about network management.

 

5. **Fast Provisioning**: SD-WAN enables quick and easy deployment and scaling of network services to branch offices. This can significantly reduce the time and complexity traditionally associated with setting up network services at new locations.

 

6. **Enhanced Security**: SD-WAN provides integrated security features such as secure VPN, firewall, and end-to-end encryption, offering a more secure connection for branch offices. Telcos can provide these advanced security features as part of their SD-WAN offering, ensuring the protection of their customers' data while in transit.

 

 

In conclusion, SD-WAN offers a compelling solution for Telcos to improve the last-mile connectivity to branch offices for their customers. It combines the best of both worlds: the reliability and performance of MPLS with the flexibility, scalability and cost-effectiveness of internet broadband.

 

But hey wait a second, wouldn't be cool if we could truly bring **Cloud compatibility and readiness** as a benefit?

 

 

Prosimo Full-Stack Cloud Transit Architecture

 

Prosimo is a cloud-native multicloud networking solution that enables connectivity between networks, apps, andusers with simplicity, security, and performance.

 

Prosimo's Multi-Cloud Networking (MCN) architecture integrates with SD-WAN solutions to offer an enhanced last-mile connectivity strategy, particularly for branch offices requiring reliable access to cloud services.

 

Companies can harness the power of the Prosimo platform to augment their existing SD-WAN technology, thereby enhancing their cloud networking blueprint. At the core, Prosimo constructs a secure networking framework that spans from Layer 3 network protocols, optionally extending to Layer 7 application-level protocols within the cloud.

 

This level of adaptability empowers companies to link subnets, either within a single cloud environment or spanning multiple clouds, with the added capability of micro-segmentation that extends down to an individual IP address. This feature proves valuable whether organizations are establishing connections within Cloud Service Provider (CSP) regions, or while crossing over to a different cloud ecosystem, be it public or private.

 

The true strength of Prosimo comes into play with its ability to set up secure transit paths and enforce consistent network policies within minutes. This, importantly, is accomplished with a limited prerequisite of understanding the nuances of CSP services and absolutely no necessity to delve into or tweak network policies at the Layer 3/Layer 4 level, thereby substantially reducing the risk of accruing technical debt and increasing operational efficiency.

 

Organizations can seamlessly maintain their existing SD-WAN setups to establish strong connections between their branch offices and data centers to the cloud. The transport agnostic approach that takes user traffic and deliver it to the closest Telco's point of presence (PoP) or colocation center or even to the closest CSP Edge location. Whatever is closer.

 

Once within the PoP, organizations can redirect their cloud traffic towards Prosimo SD-WAN Connector Element, wherein the platform manages not only a seamless connectivity route and networking across any region in the cloud, but also efficiently addresses their networking requirements within the cloud environment.

 

Moreover, organizations can utilize Prosimo's capabilities to expand their reach to new cloud regions and orchestrate secure and appropriate access to cloud resources. This is guided by the principles of Zero Trust security model, ensuring that every access request is authenticated, authorized, and encrypted, thereby elevating the overall security posture of the cloud environment.

 

 

 Telco Super POP's and fabric stitching