By Ralph Santitoro, Fujitsu Network Communications
Software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) have generated much enthusiasm in the industry because they solve real business challenges for both enterprise subscribers and communications service providers (CSPs). SD-WANs leverage software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV) and life cycle service orchestration (LSO) technologies making them the ideal foundation for deploying new, on-demand virtual network services. This paper describes the fundamental capabilities of SD-WAN services, their operational and deployment considerations, key benefits to enterprise subscribers and CSPs, and use cases for connecting places and things. The paper also discusses key architectural and deployment considerations required to extend an SD-WAN service via virtual network functions (VNFs) operating on virtual customer premises equipment (vCPE) and virtual private clouds (VPC) to deliver additional virtual network services.