The VeloCloud SD-WAN solution was built as a “transport-independent” product that is easy to implement and that permits the use of any type of physical transport connection, from MPLS to cable to cellular LTE.

VeloCloud tackles software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) with the intention of simplifying the way organizations configure their branches within the WAN, and to improve the performance and cost-effectiveness of the WAN.

“SD-WAN is a transformational approach to simplify branch office networking and assure optimal application performance,” said Michael Wood, vice president of marketing at VeloCloud. “Unlike traditional WANs, SD-WAN delivers increased network agility and cost reduction. SD-WAN has its roots in Software-Defined Networking (SDN), the underlying principle of which is to abstract the network hardware and transport characteristics from the applications that use the network.”

The VeloCloud solution is cloud-native and built on those SDN principles. It offers cloud-based service delivery, orchestration, and analytics to create a flexible architecture that addresses the demands of today’s organizations.

In December 2017, VMware acquired VeloCloud as part of its push to become an SD-WAN vendor.

VeloCloud SD-WAN Components

VeloCloud SD-WAN is delivered as a service in the cloud with a separate orchestration plane, control plane, and data plane. It includes the following components:

• Secure network overlay. The SD-WAN architecture’s separate control plane and data plane layers improve network service agility by moving intelligence from the data plane into the programmable control plane.
• Scalable, secure cloud network. To form a secure cloud network, this SD-WAN uses standards-based encryption (e.g., AES) to provide secure connectivity over any type of transport. VeloCloud SD-WAN devices are authenticated to the management plane, assigned business policies, and then granted access to the cloud network.
• Virtual service delivery. Services are deployed from a catalog of applications. Based on the type of service, the services are delivered at the branch, in the private data center, or in the cloud.
• Orchestration and analytics. This layer provides the control plane for forwarding traffic to and from on-premises and cloud nodes, across the multiple underlying transports and with the policy‐driven insertion of distributed network services. There is no IT administrator-dependent branch office installation required.

VeloCloud SD-WAN Products

• VeloCloud Edge. A compact, easy-to-install device that provides secure optimized connectivity to applications and data.
• VeloCloud Gateway. Deployed at cloud data centers around the world, these gateways provide scalability, redundancy, and flexibility; optimize data paths to all applications, branches, and data centers; and deliver network services from the cloud.
• VeloCloud Orchestrator. Delivers network-wide business policy creation, distribution, and enforcement based on applications, traffic, and network conditions.

Uniquely, VeloCloud uses two business models to offer its networking service. First, it is available as a monthly per-branch subscription model. Second, large organizations and service providers can use VeloCloud’s networking technology and run the product as their own service.

Collaboration with AT&T

VeloCloud was named a 2016 “Cool Vendor” in enterprise networking by Gartner. In October 2016, AT&T announced its collaboration with VeloCloud to produce an AT&T SD-WAN product. VeloCloud SD-WAN remains an essential component of the AT&T Integrated Cloud ecosystem focused on SD-WAN.

VeloCloud SD-WAN: Key Takeaways

1. In 2017, VeloCloud was acquired by VMware in order to jumpstart VMware’s SD-WAN.
2. The vendor’s SD-WAN has separate orchestration, control, and data planes.
3. For security, the VeloCloud SD-WAN uses encryption, authentication, and business policies on traffic.
4. There are three products in the VeloCloud SD-WAN portfolio: the VeloCloud Edge, VeloCloud Gateways, and VeloCloud Orchestrator.

Source: TeksmartIT