Telecom installers and providers are doing their best to meet the user demands of high-speed internet connections, which is only possible by acquiring the latest generation of mobile wireless network, 5G. With higher bandwidths, shorter delays, and increased network connectivity, that day is not far when you will see a 5G network in every home, office, and industry around you.
But, along with all the benefits 5G has to offer, the telecommunication providers associated with this industry will also have to face the challenges of working on several network modules such as enhanced mobile broadband, IoT communications, and other wireless features, to succeed in providing a reliable connection to all the 5G users. This is where SD-WAN technology steps in, as it provides an automated system that will help service providers to easily integrate several network aspects without any difficulty.
SD-WAN technology is undoubtedly the next big thing in the telecommunications sector because of its widespread association with the emerging 5G network. Together with 5G, these two technologies could transform the face of this world which could lead to the rapid growth of the telecom industry in the future, something that the previous generations of wireless networks failed to achieve in a minimal time.
5G’s ability to provide greater bandwidths for data transmission doesn’t hide its limitation of the network range. It usually consists of a crowded and dense infrastructure containing millions of small cells that make it hard for the technicians and operators to operate and maintain the system. For this reason, there is a strong need for network optimization to continue providing reliable and high-performance networks to consumers.
SD-WAN, short for Software-defined Wide area networking, is a platform to optimize such 5G networks through automation that ultimately helps the service providers in enhancing the traffic and controlling of 5G cells. This enables continuous end-to-end networking between the 5G users and plays a crucial role in supporting all the lower latency and higher-speed applications.
SD-WAN works with the creation of one network by combining various physical WAN links. It has a wide range of applications in the data centres, branch offices, or anywhere in the network, where there is a need for controlling the data traffic and load balancing. It also allows the 5G providers to considerably increase their bandwidth capacity so that they can improve their network security with faster data transmissions.
Industries and businesses are embracing the new trend of the SD-WAN platform, as it serves as a direct replacement of the technology of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). By increasing the bandwidths of their existing MPLS connections, organizations can easily provide a failover backup, which is very economical for them as compared to running their operations by improving the MPLS lines on the default bandwidths.
To cater to today’s increased demands of high-speed networks, a strong digital infrastructure combining both the 5G and SD-WAN architectures is needed. This system not only incorporates the new capacities of the organizations, but it also provides such a platform to the telecom installers to manage the access of multiple networks and clouds, that are receiving the data from several devices and software.
In a nutshell, SD-WAN acts as a core component of the organization as it directs the real-time data to the whole system interconnected with each other to provide a reliable network experience to the consumers. Through this data routing, 5G providers utilize their storage and networking resources efficiently and help in enhancing the performance and security of the network and eventually the organization.
Based on the aforementioned facts about 5G and SD-WAN architectures, here are some ways that show how SD-WAN supports both the existing and new 5G networks:
Data Routing Optimization:
Usually, organizations that work on SD-WAN architectures optimize the data routing based on the complexity of each application. An example is that any organization which has a sensitive network and is prone to losses can use a high-cost circuit with higher bandwidths and availability. On the contrary, the same organization will use a lower cost circuit to route less critical programs such as email and web browsing. This architecture also enables the organizations to reach their targeted levels of performance in the application, regardless of the network being used in the organization.
Solid Computing Speed:
5G eliminates the delays between data transmissions, thus reducing the timings to transfer it over long distances. But this will not happen if the organizations do not have high-end computing systems and devices which can process the data quickly. Hence, it will also be difficult for the technicians and the other concerned staff to maintain smooth network operations. In other words, this is only possible when the organizations have a highly reliable SD-WAN architecture that allows the data computations to quickly move to the cloud so that the resources can easily be accessed from the points of location of the devices. This movement of computing functions to the devices will also help the organizations in saving hardware costs and energy consumption.
Edge-To-Edge Security:
It is difficult for a 5G network to protect itself from several cyber-attacks that can happen because of the network’s nature of splitting frequencies into multiple virtual networks. This will increase the number of devices and connections associated, which will automatically lead to an increase in security threats. Through SD-WAN architecture, organizations will be able to get an additional layer of security for the data and they can transport it secretly through private tunnels, without alerting the hackers. The higher volume and speeds of data with 5G will not be an issue as SD-WAN covers every aspect of security to protect and monitor all the devices and zones associated.
Conclusion:
In short, we can say that telecom installers and service providers will have relief in terms of network complexity with the adoption of SD-WAN architecture. It will not only bring a revolution in the telecommunications industry but will also prove to be a huge success in the deployment of 5G networks. It will fulfil all the user requirements and demands of an automated wide area network, bringing optimized data routing, security, and high speeds of computing to the network.
