Background
Software-defined WAN solutions can bring unparalleled agility and cost savings to networking, which has been the primary fuel for the rapid growth of SD-WAN in recent years. Organizations, from enterprises, small-medium businesses to cloud and managed services providers, can deliver more responsive, more predictable applications at lower costs in less time than the traditionally used legacy equipment.
SD-WAN can provide high-performance, high-speed, secure networking with centralized management and visibility, which is achieved by separating applications from the underlying network services with a policy-based, virtual overlay. SD-WAN solutions can facilitate secure connectivity over 5G between endpoints (users or things) and edge compute nodes. Additionally, SD-WAN solution has the benefit of increased flexibility to scale connectivity up and down depending on fluctuating demand, further making the network more efficient and dynamic on consuming network resources. This makes it best suited for businesses that boast multiple locations, heavy traffic, or a range of IoT devices.
Requirements
A leading cloud-native SD-WAN service provider in North America reached out to collaborate with Lanner, to develop a hardware platform with the following features:
- Multiple Layer Connections (Broadband, fixed wireless, LTE, fiber, etc.)
The SD-WAN appliance needs to be capable of managing multiple connections (DSL, Cable, MPLS, etc.) and bonds them together to deliver unparalleled speed capabilities.
- Secure Link Encryption (AES128/256)
The appliance must support native hardware-based QAT, in order to off-load the secure link encryption. In addition to on-board TPM for secure crypto-processing and tamper resistance at the hardware level.
- Packet-based Load Balancing for Failover Mechanism
The appliance needed the ability to handle packet-based link load balancing to fulfill same IP failover protection.
- Dual Nano-SIM Slots for Multi-Carrier
The appliance provides front-access dual SIM slots for 4G-LTE or 5G.
Solution
SD-WAN solutions can improve application performance, fast deployment times, centralized network management, optimized cloud connectivity, and cost-effective branch site connectivity.
The joint-developed managed SD-WAN appliance virtualized networks and allow the service provider to deploy on top of existing wired and/or wireless circuits from multiple vendors for robust, built-in business continuity and flexibility.
The NCA-1516, a desktop network appliance powered by Intel® Atom® C3000, is capable of both mmWave 5G, Sub-6GHz 5G and Wi-Fi 6 (both 2.4G and 5G compatible). The network appliance’s hardware performance is supercharged with Intel’s QuickAssist Technology and Intel® AES-NI. The NCA-1516 is equipped with ample network communication features and configurations for edge computing and secure SD-WAN.