VMware SD-WAN & Microsoft Azure: Consistent, Reliable User Experience

This blog isreprinted from the VMware SD-WAN blog page at https://blogs.vmware.com/velocloud/2001/09/08/vmware-sd-wan-and-microsoft-azure-consistent-reliable-user-experience/

In an economy where customer experience is top of mind,businesses need to be more flexible, agile, and innovative if they want tocompete successfully. So it's not surprising that they're looking to cloudservices and applications as a smart path forward. But traditional networkingapproaches are inefficient and costly in a cloud-based landscape. How can youtake advantage of all the benefits that cloud provides, without leavingsecurity, performance, and visibility behind?

A traditional architecture has branch offices in differentlocations, often connecting via different types of connections. Each branchlocation has a WAN edge, and management is generally CLI-based. Engineers loveCLI, but they also know that it doesn't scale, is often error-prone, and takesa lot of time to provision a new branch location. Construction sites and otherpopup locations are difficult to add to the existing network architecture,while maintaining full visibility, security, and policy, because they areisolated from the network.

Traditional architectures are also stuck with the backhaulingdilemma. Although applications are steadily moving to the cloud, traffic muststill be sent to the data center, backhauled across expensive MPLS links toaccess the Internet or applications.

A better way to ascend to the cloud

VMware SD-WAN can help you solve manyof these issues. It delivers zero-touch provisioning, so you can bring up asite in minutes. It connects to a central orchestrator and downloads the entireconfiguration, including the correct data center, policies, and everything elseit needs, with just one click. It also downloads all the traffic profiles, soit knows which applications need to go over MPLS or an Internet link toconnect to the data center.

For SaaS applications and cloud services, SD-WAN lets youconnect directly to the Internet, sidestepping backhaul processes and reducinglatencies that could deliver a performance hit. If you need to bring up a popupsite, simply ship a box out to the location, connect to a broadband or 4Gservice, and it instantly connects to the SD-WAN fabric, providing all the samepolicy and management advantages.

Connecting to Azure

One of the strongest examples of how SD-WAN really shines insupporting the cloud is with Microsoft Azure implementations.Offering a variety of massively popular services, Azure is available withseveral native connectivity options.

• You can choose ExpressRoute, a private line solution that connects your data center all the way to Microsoft Azure. This type of connection is generally offered by service providers.
• Azure Virtual WAN is a networking solution from Microsoft that combines different solutions and networking security functionalities together, utilizing a hub and spoke model. You can deploy a hub to each of your major regions and connect branch offices to that specific hub. Connectivity is automated, so it's great for large-scale branch deployments.
• A standard IPsec connection to the virtual network gateway (VNG) is another option. With this basic solution, you deploy a VNG and have the VMware SD-WAN Edge device build an IPsec tunnel into a VNet. You can have different VNet peerings to access the network.
• Virtual Routers are a new option announced at Microsoft Ignite. This approach eliminates the complexity of routing like UDR in different VNets and calling APIs to change the UDR. Virtual Routers peers with other network appliances and eliminates the complexity of changing the UDR routes.

No matter which connection option you choose, VMware SD-WANmakes it easy to connect your environment to Microsoft Azure, and take advantageof reliable last-mile Internet connectivity with automation.

Find better ways to accelerate new Microsoft Azure possibilities at our webinar

If you'd like to find out how to put better cloud outcomes inreach for your organization, faster, register for ConnectVDI users to VMware Horizon with Azure VMware Solution and VMware SD-WAN.

Join us as we highlight how VMware SD-WAN, Azure VMware Solution, and VMware Horizon provide the operational simplicity to connect distributed enterprise workforces to Microsoft Azure. Register for our live online event, January 14 at 1:00 pm Pacific time, or view it on demand.