Benefits of SD-WAN Over MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)

SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) offers several key advantages over traditional MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) networks. While MPLS has long been a go-to solution for enterprise networking due to its reliability and security, SD-WAN provides a more flexible, cost-effective, and scalable alternative, especially in today’s cloud-centric business environments.

Here are the main benefits of SD-WAN over MPLS:

1. Cost-Effectiveness

• SD-WAN: One of the primary advantages of SD-WAN is cost savings. SD-WAN allows businesses to use more affordable broadband internet connections (such as fiber, cable, or LTE) in addition to or as an alternative to expensive MPLS circuits. Businesses can aggregate multiple lower-cost connections while still maintaining high reliability and performance.
• MPLS: MPLS is generally more expensive because it relies on dedicated circuits provided by the carrier, which come with higher service-level agreements (SLAs). The cost per megabit is significantly higher than broadband alternatives.

2. Scalability

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN is highly scalable and can be deployed across multiple sites without the need for complex hardware installations or extensive lead times. Adding new locations to the network is quick and easy, often requiring little more than connecting to local internet service providers.
• MPLS: Scaling an MPLS network is more time-consuming and costly, as it requires coordination with the service provider for the installation of new circuits, which can take weeks or months, especially in remote or global locations.

3. Flexibility in Network Connections

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN supports a variety of network connections, including broadband, fiber, LTE, satellite, and MPLS, and allows for dynamic path selection based on real-time network conditions. This flexibility ensures that businesses can use any available connection type to meet their needs, enabling load balancing, redundancy, and failover options.
• MPLS: MPLS networks rely solely on dedicated MPLS circuits, which limits flexibility. If there’s a failure or congestion, traffic cannot be easily rerouted over alternative connections like broadband or LTE without deploying additional hardware.

4. Improved Cloud and SaaS Performance

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN is designed with the cloud in mind. It allows for direct internet access from branch locations, which reduces latency for cloud applications like Microsoft 365, Salesforce, or AWS. By avoiding the need to route all traffic through a central data center (as with MPLS), SD-WAN improves the performance of cloud and SaaS applications.
• MPLS: MPLS is traditionally designed for site-to-site communication. When accessing cloud services, traffic often needs to be backhauled through the data center, increasing latency and reducing performance, particularly for applications like video conferencing and cloud-based tools.

5. Simplified Management and Automation

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN centralizes the management of the entire WAN, allowing IT teams to monitor, manage, and optimize the network from a single interface. This includes real-time monitoring of traffic, automated updates, policy management, and traffic routing based on predefined business requirements. Automation and orchestration are key features of SD-WAN, reducing manual intervention and streamlining network management.
• MPLS: MPLS networks require manual configuration and ongoing coordination with the service provider for network adjustments. Management is often more complex and less flexible, requiring specific hardware setups and individual site configuration.

6. Enhanced Performance with Dynamic Path Selection

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN continuously monitors network performance and dynamically selects the best path for traffic based on real-time conditions such as latency, packet loss, and jitter. It can automatically reroute traffic to another connection if one link is degraded, ensuring high availability and optimal performance.
• MPLS: MPLS offers stable and predictable performance, but if there is congestion or a failure on the MPLS circuit, traffic is typically rerouted through a failover MPLS circuit (if available) or results in performance degradation. MPLS doesn’t support the same level of dynamic traffic optimization.

7. Faster Deployment

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN can be deployed quickly using zero-touch provisioning, where devices and configurations are managed remotely, allowing businesses to bring new sites online rapidly. With SD-WAN, new branches can be connected in days, using available internet connections, instead of waiting for months for MPLS circuits.
• MPLS: MPLS deployment often involves long lead times, especially in remote areas, because the service provider needs to provision dedicated circuits. Setting up MPLS can take weeks or months, making it less agile.

8. Direct Internet Breakout

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN enables direct internet breakout at branch offices, allowing traffic destined for the internet or cloud services to exit the network directly from the branch rather than being routed through a central data center. This reduces unnecessary backhaul, improves performance for cloud services, and optimizes bandwidth usage.
• MPLS: MPLS usually routes all traffic through a central data center before reaching the internet, which increases latency and bandwidth usage. This backhaul of internet-bound traffic can lead to bottlenecks and degraded performance for internet-based applications.

9. Security

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN includes integrated security features such as encryption, secure VPNs, firewalls, and sometimes integration with cloud-based security services (SASE). These security tools are built into the SD-WAN solution, ensuring that all traffic, regardless of its path, is secure.
• MPLS: While MPLS is inherently secure due to its private nature, it typically requires additional security measures like firewalls or VPNs for external connectivity. MPLS does not inherently provide encryption, so businesses may need to layer additional security solutions.

10. High Availability and Resilience

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN improves network resilience by leveraging multiple connection types and providing automatic failover. If one connection fails, SD-WAN can immediately switch traffic to another available link, ensuring that critical applications remain online. This enhances network reliability and uptime.
• MPLS: MPLS networks can offer high reliability, but if an MPLS circuit fails, businesses must rely on backup MPLS circuits or wait for the service provider to resolve the issue, which can result in downtime or degraded service if redundancy is not built-in.

11. Bandwidth Flexibility and Aggregation

• SD-WAN: SD-WAN allows businesses to aggregate bandwidth across multiple connections (e.g., combining broadband, LTE, and MPLS), enabling more bandwidth at a lower cost. This aggregation optimizes resource usage and ensures that no bandwidth is wasted.
• MPLS: MPLS bandwidth is fixed based on the contract with the provider. Increasing bandwidth on an MPLS connection can be expensive and time-consuming, requiring provisioning from the service provider.

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In Summary:

SD-WAN offers numerous advantages over MPLS, including cost savings, flexibility, cloud optimization, faster deployment, dynamic traffic management, and simplified network management. For businesses that require agility, scalability, and enhanced performance—especially in cloud-centric and distributed environments—SD-WAN provides a more modern, efficient alternative to MPLS.

That said, MPLS is still highly reliable and secure for specific use cases, such as mission-critical data transfers between corporate sites. However, SD-WAN is increasingly becoming the preferred choice for businesses looking to optimize their network performance and reduce costs.