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SD-WAN — Software-Defined Wide Area Network

What is SD-WAN?

Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is a specific application of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technology applied to Hybrid WANs.

In a Hybrid WAN, routing policy controls are implemented and managed on a router by router basis. In a SD-WAN, a centralized SD-WAN controller service has control of all routing policies. As a branch of Hybrid WAN, SD-WAN routing policies are primarily utilized to manage which application traffic should traverse multiple types of transport, including MPLS, Internet VPN and Direct Internet Access (DIA) links.