SD-WAN solving the business requirement of 5G in the IoT landscape

The 5G connectivity is set to form the dynamic environment in which IoT will operate. 5G network will take IoT capabilities to the next level by providing faster, reliable and resilient communication.

With the adoption of emerging technologies, like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Mixed Reality (AR/VR), and IoT in general, we are witnessing a new wave of digital trends. From Industry 4.0 to smart cities to virtual and live events with advanced experiences, the need for seamless connectivity is rising at an unprecedented rate.

SD-WAN or a Software-Defined network will play a vital role in providing a reliable approach to cope with the rapidly evolving needs of the traffic networks and the power of IoT to the businesses.

SD-WAN is an evolution of wide-area networking that supports applications hosted in multiple locations, over any type of network and through any type of service provider connection. The following are the ways through which SD-WAN will play a critical role in helping enterprises build their IoT infrastructure in a 5G society:

Data Security:

Data security issues are certainly top of mind for businesses as security breaches become increasingly costly. ?With 5G enabling applications to operate within different virtualized environments, SD-WAN prevents unauthorized access of sensitive information in two ways: dedicated route and security controls.

A dedicated route allows enterprises to cage traffic while security controls permit or deny traffic based on specific criteria. The risk of security breaches can be reduced to a substantial amount by adopting both these methods.

?Centralized management

One of the core benefits of SD-WAN is simplifying the control of networks through Centralized Management.

Traditionally, setting up new devices would entail manual configuration of the devices at each location. However, SD-WAN allows new IoT devices to be added to the network without the need for reprogramming software and cuts down operational requirements.

It also allows businesses to use a pre-configured template to quickly make changes to network traffic regardless of the number of edge locations—all through a single management dashboard.

This will be key for organisations in keeping up with a consumer landscape that’s going to change at an even quicker rate with the arrival of 5G.

?Scalability and reliability

IoT devices are the source of bulk data collection. The businesses slices/dices this data to better understand the use case better and provide the value their customers are looking for.

This incoming surge in data can pose a challenge for businesses with major strains being applied on traditional network infrastructure and in turn affect application performance and user experience.

SD-WAN provides a flexible network topology, low latency and reliable connectivity to multiple cloud service providers so that the data can be scaled up or down based on the unique level of application needs.

It meets expanded enterprise-scale requirements without compromising the quality of connection despite the increase in the number of connected devices and data sources.

Reduced operational costs:?

With 5G, SD-WAN significantly reduces operational costs due to transport independence across different connection types and increased WAN bandwidth capacity.

Swift Response time:?5G can significantly decrease data transport times while SD-WAN can move computing functions to the cloud. This will enable quick processing of large volumes of data since the resources are located closer to edge devices. In the use cases, where Edge computing may not yield the required results, 5G and SD-WAN will reduce the computing time and provide substantial value.

?It is expected that 5G connectivity will cause a massive increase in new connected devices, and the enterprise network will be distributed across an even greater area. To adapt to these new requirements, SD-WAN will play a larger role and become the standard technology for networking in time to come.

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