| SD-WAN is an advanced alternative to traditional internet VPNs, offering better security and flexibility for cloud-based, mobile user access. |
SD-WAN is a good option to replace a basic internet VPN service. In many ways, SD-WAN is an evolution of the standard IPSec VPN service, which is still used today to meet specific or simple requirements. IPSec remains a popular encryption security option for site-to-site or user-to-user requirements where there is no breakout to the public internet. For example, when an IPSec VPN is configured as “VPN-only,” all unauthenticated traffic is dropped, resulting in a secure tunnel between endpoints.
IPSec VPNs were widely adopted by enterprise businesses before the introduction of smartphones and public cloud applications. As a result, Enterprise VPN architecture requirements were much simpler, often resulting in a single breakout to the internet from a designated data center or branch office location.
However, in today’s world, users require constant access to public cloud resources through phones, tablets, and laptops. This transition to a cloud-based world has resulted in increasingly sophisticated threats to data from hacking. SD-WAN is designed to meet these demands head-on by implementing highly secure feature sets that are consistently updated via the cloud.
Internet VPN vs SD-WAN
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Internet VPN | SD-WAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:30 PM | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:30 PM | Basic site-to-site communication. | Feature rich with dynamic tunnel setup and the ability to steer traffic over any Internet circuit. |
| 2 | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:33 PM | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:33 PM | Low cost and easy to implement from almost any device or application. | The vendor or service provider market is competitive and can be difficult to understand the landscape. |
| 3 | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:33 PM | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:33 PM | Good for IOT where hardware simply needs to communicate with a server, i.e. to request more stock. | SD WAN can be used across hardware, virtualised instances and applications with a fully featured Enterprise hardened configuration. |
| 4 | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:33 PM | hyelland | 21/10/2024 01:33 PM | VPN only configuration. | Where requirements involve both secure communications and access to the Internet, SD WAN with SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) and SSE (Security Service Edge) offers significant benefits. |
| Internet VPN | SD-WAN |
