Networking
SD-WAN
Also called: Software-Defined WAN
A WAN architecture that pools multiple circuits — fibre, cable, LTE — under software control, steering each application over the best available path and failing over automatically.
For multi-site businesses, SD-WAN replaces per-site static routing with policy: voice and video over the lowest-latency link, backups over the cheapest, automatic failover when a circuit degrades rather than only when it dies. Brownouts, not outages, are what SD-WAN handles better than legacy failover.
It is also a hurricane-season argument. A cellular backup path that carries phones and card processing when fibre is cut is the difference between a closed location and a degraded one — and it is far easier to configure in advance than during a storm.
Support305 designs and installs these systems across South Florida.
Managed IT servicesRelated terms
- QoS
- Switch and router configuration that prioritises latency-sensitive traffic — audio, video, voice — over bulk traffic when a link gets congested.
- UPS
- A battery-backed power source that keeps equipment running through outages and, just as importantly, filters the sags and surges that shorten hardware life.
- RTO / RPO
- Two recovery targets: RTO is how long a system may be down, RPO is how much recent data may be lost. Together they dictate what backup and failover design is required.
More Networking terms
Support305 in the press
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