SD-WAN vendors with advanced QoS and traffic shaping

SD-WAN vendors are crucial for optimising network performance and reliability. Each vendor offers unique capabilities in QoS and network traffic shaping, which can significantly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your network infrastructure. 

From 2021 to 2026, SD-WAN infrastructure is expected to grow at a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.1% from International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC projects a 17.7% yearly increase in revenue by 2023 to reach $5.3 billion.

This article will explore the importance of evaluating QoS offerings when choosing an SD-WAN solution and highlight the role of advanced technologies in enhancing network performance.

Importance of Quality of Service (QoS) in SD-WAN

In SD-WAN, Quality of Service (QoS) encompasses a range of tactics and technologies designed to maximise network throughput. Traffic prioritisation is a common problem for traditional WAN connections, which causes congestion and poor performance. On the other hand, SD-WAN offers intelligent and adaptable path selection tools that guarantee high-priority apps get the bandwidth they need. This section examines how QoS improves SD-WAN architectures' dependability and performance.

The capacity of QoS in an SD-WAN system to recognise and classify traffic into various priority levels is one of its fundamental tenets. This is essential for delay-sensitive applications like VoIP and real-time video streaming. SD-WAN ensures that critical connections are clear and uninterrupted even during periods of high traffic by giving these apps a higher priority.

Bandwidth allocation is an essential component of QoS in SD-WAN systems. With this capability, network administrators can set minimum and maximum bandwidth limitations for particular apps. By preventing non-essential apps from using too much bandwidth, these limitations protect the resources needed for high-priority tasks.

Understanding traffic shaping in SD-WAN

When managing SD-WAN traffic shaping, it's crucial to comprehend how to shape and control traffic effectively. Here's a simplified breakdown of QoS policing and shaping:

• Uplink configuration: Adjust bandwidth settings, monitor statistics, and update uplink intervals.
• Bandwidth settings: Set upload and download speeds for each uplink, ensuring efficient load balancing and traffic control.
• Uplink statistics: Add destinations for continuous latency and packet loss monitoring, aiding network performance assessment.
• List update interval: Determine the frequency of security list updates to optimise network security without overloading bandwidth.
• Uplink selection: Choose primary uplinks and enable load balancing for proportional traffic distribution.
• Active-Active autoVPN: Decide whether to simultaneously form VPN tunnels over primary, secondary, or uplinks.
• Flow preferences: Direct traffic based on specific criteria like VLANs or destination ports, ensuring optimal routing.
• SD-WAN policies: Configure policies to regulate VPN traffic, dynamically adjusting connections for performance optimisation.
• Global bandwidth limits: Restrict network traffic per device, ensuring fair distribution and preventing congestion.
• Network traffic shaping rules: Create rules to prioritise or limit traffic based on application type or user, enhancing network efficiency.

By mastering these settings, you can tailor your SD-WAN to meet your business's unique needs, ensuring smooth operations and optimal performance.

Key features of advanced QoS in SD-WAN

• Advanced QoS policing and shaping encompass features such as application-aware routing and deep packet inspection.
• These technologies surpass simple traffic prioritisation by analysing the traffic content itself.
• Decisions are made based on data content rather than just relying on data labels or tags.
• This level of granularity allows for more sophisticated traffic management, which is especially beneficial in hybrid networks.
• Application-aware policies within SD-WAN can distinguish between different types of activities, such as office video calls and public video streaming services.
• Despite both involving video traffic, SD-WAN can dynamically adjust to prioritise critical business communication.
• This flexibility showcases the robustness of Quality of Service (QoS) within SD-WAN frameworks.
• QoS in SD-WAN extends beyond speed and efficiency and enhances security and compliance.
• By prioritising encrypted and protected data streams, SD-WAN solutions reinforce security frameworks.
• Additionally, this prioritisation ensures compliance with regulatory standards, offering a dual benefit of security and regulatory adherence.

Benefits of traffic shaping in SD-WAN

Implementing network traffic shaping in SD-WAN offers several advantages:

• Controlled traffic flow: You gain control over network traffic flow by utilising a traffic shaper in a firewall QoS shaping policy. This enables you to regulate maximum and guaranteed bandwidth and assign specific traffic to different priority levels, such as high, medium, or low.
• Granular traffic classification: Advanced shaping policies classify traffic into up to 30 distinct groups. This granularity facilitates precise network resource management by defining the percentage of interface bandwidth allocated to each traffic group.
• Optimised bandwidth allocation: With shaping profiles, you can ensure that each traffic group adheres to its assigned speed limit based on the outgoing bandwidth limit configured on the interface. This optimises bandwidth allocation across various types of traffic, enhancing overall network performance.

Refer to Tata Communications for further details and guidance on implementing shared policy traffic shaping and interface-based traffic QoS shaping.

Conclusion

Selecting the right SD-WAN vendor entails thoroughly assessing and aligning your network requirements with the vendor's strengths in QoS shaping. Key considerations include the flexibility of QoS settings for customisation options for application priority in deployment and the level of support and updates provided. Engaging with a vendor that excels in these areas such as Tata Communications’ IZO™ SDWAN can improve network performance, reduce downtime, and enhance productivity, ultimately providing a competitive advantage in today's dynamic business world. Sign Up For A Free IZO™ SDWAN Trial today!