Introduction:

Software-defined wide area network refers to WAN connections built and provisioned using software-defined networking (SDN) technology instead of proprietary hardware. Such virtualized WAN connections are intended for establishing highly agile and manageable enterprise networks at the compute and application tiers, between corporate HQs and branch offices or between data centers spanning large geographic distances.

Businesses of all sizes rely on timely and accurate decision-makings for success and such decisions are usually the results of collective input from a globally dispersed workforce, making business-critical Unified Communications (UC) indispensable. The multimedia applications in UC such as VoIP, video and content delivery therefore must be taken into consideration if a sustainable network with expandable bandwidth is desired.

The scale and speed at which business and commercial applications, services and data are being moved to the cloud are unprecedented, not only contributing to the surge in cloud traffic and resulting in vastly different traffic patterns but also giving rise to fluctuating network quality and uneven resource efficiency. What’s more, enterprise computing is merely the tip of an iceberg; if and when the IoT and big data are brought into the equation, all forms of computing will become even more cloud-centric.

Challenges

Delivering or increasing available bandwidth on conventional WAN architecture very much depends on using costly private network services such as MPLS or leased lines. Furthermore, highly-trained manpower is required for implementing network designs/services and for re-configuring settings on a device-by-device or even port-by-port basis, greatly increasing lead-time and operation costs.

Consideration for security further increases the complexity of a conventional WAN architecture as security enhancement is typically achieved by layering on additional physical or virtual appliances to a network already crowded with multiple devices.

Conventional WAN (Source: LG CNS Blog)

Lastly, the trombone effect significantly deteriorates network performance. Given that all requests from branch offices for cloud access, data centers and SaaS applications must go through the hubs located at the HQs by way of WAN links, it is inevitable that such WAN links get overly saturated, resulting in bandwidth bottlenecks and performance degradation; and cloud migration will most definitely exacerbates such network woes, exponentially.

Lanner Solution:

The NCA-4010 is designed specifically for optimizing networking and virtualization performance. It is powered by the Intel® Xeon® D-1518 4-core/D1548 8-core 14nm CPU, (codenamed Broadwell-DE), offering unparalleled networking performance, abundant memory, external cryptographic acceleration and scalable LAN configurations.

This hardware solution comes with 2x DDR4 DIMM, each supporting up to 16GB for a maximum of 32GB system memory. For data storage, NCA-4010 features 2x 2.5" SATA drive bays and 1x mSATA via the mini-PCIe socket.

Furthermore, the NCA-4010 can be fitted, via the PCIe, with a Coleto Creek compliant external accelerator add-in card for cryptographic and compression acceleration. And instead of the accelerator add-in card, the NCA-4010 can be configured with a maximum of 16 GbE LAN ports by way of a NIC module, for even greater bandwidth scalability.

Benefits:

The NCA-4010’s Intel® Xeon® D-1518/D1548 CPU, generous memory resource and expansion capability offer quad-core or octa-core processing prowess, guaranteeing the level of application performance and security offered by MPLS or leased lines, for deploying and running a multitude of virtualized network services.

Software Defined WAN Architecture (Source: SDx Central)

The NCA-4010’s flexible and scalable network interface enables the deployment of multipath networks with automated and dynamic path steering, not only ensuring the fastest and highest-quality path is always being used for VoIP, video, big data or other business-critical applications, but also sidestepping the pitfalls of traditional network architecture where WAN redundancy only kicks in when the primary link fails, resulting in bandwidth being wasted.

Software Defined WAN (Source: LG CNS Blog)

Last but not least, the NCA-4010’s PCIe expansion capability for cryptographic and compression acceleration add-in cards significantly simplifies the delivery of high-performance compression and cryptography on devices deployed in enterprise systems, wireless, telecom, cloud and data centers, therefore fulfilling the ever increasing demand for high levels of traffic throughput and security.

Conclusion:

The evolution from WAN to SD-WAN is the key for businesses of all sizes to achieve greater network agility without sacrificing network performance or security. The NCA-4010 ensures enterprise network performance, security and simplifies virtualized service deployment and application optimization, boosting operation agility and fortifying business competitive advantages.

Featured Products: NCA-4010

CPU Onboard Intel Xeon processor D-1518 or D-1548 series (Broadwell-DE)
Chipset SoC
BIOS AMI-BIOS
Memory Technology DDR4 2133 MHz
Memory Capacity Up to 32GB (2 x 16GB DIMMs)
Memory Socket 2 x 288-pin DIMM
SATA storage 2 x 2.5" HDD drive bays (harddrive is NOT included), 1 x Cfast slot
Default LAN SKU A: 16 x RJ45 GbE ports with 2 x SFP+ 10GbE,
SKU B/C: 8 x RJ45 GbE ports, SKU D: 8 x RJ45 + 2 SFP+
Bypass 3 or 7 pairs bypass
Expansion 1x mSATA via mini-PCIe socket, optional rear expansion PCI-E slot
Operating temperature 0°C to 40°C
Dimensions (W x H x D) 438 mm x 44 mm x 321 mm (17.24" x 1.73" x 12.64")