Watching over our networks is similar to supervising a bustling highway: it aids us in ensuring that traffic moves efficiently without any congestion (improving performance). By recognizing all hurdles or breaks in the network, we can take action in advance to guarantee seamless operations and reduce disruptions for users. Monitoring allows us to anticipate future needs for extra lanes through capacity planning and guarantees compliance with traffic regulations.
Monitoring of Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) operates in a comparable fashion. It is essential for maintaining peak performance, security, and efficiency of the current corporate networks. It adopts a reiterative process of ongoing monitoring and evaluation of network traffic, application effectiveness, and security data at multiple sites.
Components of SD-WAN Monitoring
- SD-WAN monitoring has performance metrics that serve as health check-ups for your network. They assess variables like data quantity (bandwidth), rate of information delivery (latency), and existence of any interruptions (jitter and packet loss). By keeping track of these measurements, we can make sure that your network remains fast and reliable, giving all users a positive experience.
- Similar to securing your home by locking your doors, SD-WAN monitoring security component protects your network from online threats. It monitors for any questionable behavior—such as an individual attempting to retrieve your information without authorization. By identifying these risks at an early stage, we can prevent any damage they may cause and protect your information.
- There is also the real-time component. Picture having a dashboard that displays the real-time performance of your network, this component works like that. Real-time monitoring continuously examines your network to ensure that everything is functioning properly. It is similar to having a real-time update on your network’s status, informing you of potential problems such as sluggish connections or excessive traffic.
SD-WAN Monitoring Tools
Cisco Meraki Dashboard
The Cisco Meraki dashboard functions as a centralized tool for overseeing and managing all network equipment, like routers and access points. It is like having a universal remote for your entire network, enabling you to easily oversee performance, set rules, and tackle issues.
VMware VeloCloud Orchestrator
This tool functions as a conductor for your network symphony. It manages all your SD-WAN devices, making sure they operate seamlessly in unison. It keeps track of traffic, automatically tweaks settings for optimal performance, and offers insights on your network’s performance.
Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator
Think of this tool as a traffic controller for your network highways. It manages how data flows across your network, optimizing routes to avoid congestion and delays. It also monitors performance metrics like bandwidth usage and application performance in real-time.
Fortinet FortiManager
FortiManager assists in the management and monitoring of security policies throughout your SD-WAN infrastructure. It recognizes and reacts to security risks, guaranteeing that your network remains safeguarded against cyber threats.
Citrix SD-WAN Center
This tool acts like a navigator for your network journeys. It provides visibility into your SD-WAN environment, helping you understand traffic patterns, application performance, and user behavior. It also offers analytics and reporting to optimize network resources.
Benefits of SD-WAN Monitoring
- With SD-WAN monitoring, users can actively detect and solve network problems to reduce downtime and enhance application performance.
- SD-WAN monitoring allows users to observe questionable behaviors and implement security protocols to safeguard against online dangers.
- It increases operational efficiency by optimizing troubleshooting processes and resource allocation, resulting in cost savings and enhanced IT management.
- SD-WAN monitoring assures optimal application performance
- SD-WAN monitoring brings about Increased agility of both your business and network
