In this article, I will discuss why Mobility and Security are critical components of SD-WAN and what you should do to improve your implementation. I will also explain why Data plane encryption is essential. These are some of the most common questions that network engineers are asked when it comes to SD-WAN. Hopefully, this article will help you make an informed decision on SD-WAN for your company.
Mobility is a must-have component of SD-WAN.
As more applications move to the cloud, SD-WAN offers many benefits for enterprises and customers. Previously, they used MPLS networking to connect branch offices to their data centers, but this was problematic because MPLS bottleneck in heavy northbound traffic. The advent of SD-WAN made MPLS networking an outdated solution that provided the flexibility needed to meet today’s mobility needs.
Besides providing high-speed internet access, SD-WANs also offer failover and redundancy features to help organizations minimize the costs of managing the network. For example, SD-WANs must support a centralized management portal, enabling administrators to provision new sites, monitor rapidly, resolve issues, and provide proactive alerting. Likewise, they must be compatible with existing MPLS connections. Therefore, mobility should be a top priority when planning an SD-WAN.
The inclusion of cloud-based computing has made mobility impossible to ignore. Mobility should be a central component of SD-WANs to ensure smooth connectivity. Mobility must be compatible with client software and mobile resources, backed by the same security policies and optimized routing. This way, employees can access and use critical information anytime, anywhere. Mobility is a boon for enterprises and mobile users. Mobility also makes connections more interactive.
Security is a must-have component of SD-WAN.
While traditional WAN provides connectivity between remote offices, it is vulnerable to the proliferation of Internet-borne threats. Moreover, if remote users lack appropriate security controls, you can expose sensitive data. Therefore, a secure device onboarding process is vital for SD-WAN solutions. In addition to being a significant security concern, rogue devices can masquerade as legitimate network devices. Therefore, the first step in setting up security for your SD-WAN solution should include security controls and measures.
For data integrity, ensuring that the Cisco SD-WAN overlay network is secure is critical. DTLS, or Distributed Transport Layer Security, provides control plane integrity. DTLS uses an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256) encryption algorithm to encrypt control traffic. Once the authentication process is complete, it is time to test the security of the Cisco SD-WAN overlay network.
A secure SD-WAN solution uses a virtual private network (VPN) to protect sensitive data. It may be used for internal networks as well as the public Internet. By keeping data separated, the risk of information compromise is significantly reduced. In addition, SD-WAN does not require a centralized data center. Therefore, a secure SD-WAN solution does not require a centralized data center, which would increase the cost of maintaining security.
Data plane encryption
An essential component of the Cisco SD-WAN network is the secure control plane, which is based on AES-256-GCM cryptography. The control plane encrypts and validates all of the devices on the network. You can also use it to establish secure data paths. To implement AES-256-GCM encryption, routers generate an AES key for each data path and send it to the vSmart controller via OMP route packets. These packets are similar to IP route updates. They contain the router’s TLOC and AES key, and vSmart controllers place these packets into reachability advertisements.
ESP mimics AH by performing a checksum on every field of a packet. The ESP calculates a checksum using the outer IP header’s payload, inner IP header, and non-mutable fields. The resulting HMAC-SHA1 hash is placed into the last area of the packet. If the checksums match, the box is accepted by the receiving device.
In addition to DTLS, SD-WAN software can also implement DTLS based on the TLS protocol. DTLS provides encryption and authentication while ensuring data integrity. Both TCP and UDP servers are protected by firewalls, which offer excellent protection.