Silver Peak announces new advancements to EdgeConnect SD-WAN

Silver Peak is a software company that specialises in broadband and hybrid WAN solutions.

The company recently announced changes to the Unity EdgeConnect high-performance SD-WAN.

What's changed about the EdgeConnect is the new function First-packet iQ. Also, EdgeConnect now combines SD-WAN, WAN optimisation, routing and a stateful firewall, aiming to simplify and consolidate branch office infrastructure.

In general, the advancements of SD-WAN could mean the impending displacement of traditional routers.

"By 2020, more than 50 per cent of WAN edge infrastructure refresh initiatives will be based on SD-WAN versus traditional routers," according to Joe Skorupa, Gartner vice president.

Silver Peak introduced EdgeConnect's ability to power an application-driven WAN edge to enable enterprises, of all sizes, to utilise commodity broadband that connects users directly to applications, whether they are hosted in the cloud or the data center.

Silver Peak notes that the consolidation of branch office infrastructure at the WAN edge can dramatically simplify operations for enterprises and lower costs without sacrificing network or application performance.

What's more, EdgeConnect's First-packet iQ aims to automatically identify more than 10,000 applications and 300 million web domains based on the first packet received.

The First-packet iQ steers specific, trusted SaaS and web-based application traffic directly to the internet. Unknown or suspicious traffic is directed to a regional hub or data center firewall for further inspection.

Direct internet breakout automation works to optimise SaaS and web application performance, enhancing worker productivity and business agility.

Following the release, EdgeConnect now has a stateful firewall that supports foundational firewall and security capabilities for branch office locations that do not host applications.

This allows outbound traffic to exit, but only allows ingress traffic to enter in response to user-initiated sessions providing robust, thin branch security.

EdgeConnect supports BGP routing protocols for interoperability between the SD-WAN and legacy WAN architectures.

BGP routing protocols facilitate full mesh network configurations and dramatically simplify the addition of local subnets to an SD-WAN, enabling enterprises to transition to an SD-WAN at a comfortable pace.

Silver Peak says that the combination of an integrated stateful firewall and routing interoperability enables enterprises seeking to integrate acquired companies or consolidate branch office infrastructure to transition to a thin branch without sacrificing the reliability of their WAN.

"We're embarking upon a long overdue revolution of the legacy WAN as enterprise network managers reach a boiling point over the rigidity, complexity and escalating costs associated with router-centric architectures," says Damon Ennis, senior vice president, products at Silver Peak.

Ennis explains that enterprises are increasingly seeking to simplify branch and WAN Edge infrastructure with SD-WAN solutions that connect users directly from branch offices to cloud-hosted applications without having to sacrifice performance.

"EdgeConnect enables distributed enterprises to immediately or progressively transform their router-centric WAN infrastructures to an SD-WAN to gain the performance, security, reliability and control they require to keep pace with changing business requirements.