Is SD-WAN Better Than MPLS? A Comparison of SD-WAN vs MPLS

When choosing a WAN design, one of the most common questions network security architects and CISOs have is, "Should I go with SD-WAN or MPLS?" Yes, it is correct. The decision to transition to SD-WAN has far-reaching implications for businesses.

Software-defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) can be less expensive, more secure, and outperform Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) (MPLS). MPLS can be costly in terms of bandwidth, whereas SD-WAN protects your network against hazards that MPLS cannot. SD-WAN, in a nutshell, improves visibility, availability, performance, and flexibility. As a result, the industry has seen a surge in interest in SD-WAN during the last few years.
Adaptability is another reason fueling the surge in interest. MPLS connections are often rigid, fixed connections that cannot quickly adapt to the type of interconnectivity demanded by today's dynamic networks. Furthermore, they do not support application recognition or advanced bandwidth control for latency-sensitive applications.

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So far, everything is going well. While Fortinet realizes that there are many considerations to consider when choosing an SD-WAN solution, SD-WAN must have integrated security. HOWEVER, most SD-WAN systems do not provide the same level of security as MPLS, which is essentially a secured tunnel going via a Service Provider's secured private network. Both security and network operations must be handled through a single integrated management platform to provide a more effective strategy MPLS.

But, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, examine whether your company should make the transition from MPLS to SD-WAN in the first place.

The Key Difference Between SD WAN and MPLS

There are some fundamental differences between SD-WAN and MPLS. To summarize, MPLS is a dedicated circuit, but SD-WAN is a virtual overlay separate from physical lines. This provides MPLS with a minor advantage in packet loss avoidance but at a higher cost per megabit transported. SD-virtualized WAN's overlay, on the other hand, allows you to use connection types such as LTE, MPLS, and internet, providing additional flexibility.

If, on the other hand, you're looking for networking technology to benefit your business, you may need more knowledge. To assist you grasp the differences between SD-WAN and MPLS, we'll look at three crucial areas: cost, security, and performance. Some of these advantages are less obvious than others, and there may even be some disadvantages in some specific instances, which will be examined more. Let's get this celebration going.

SD WAN vs MPLS Cost Comparison

Previously, many businesses depended on individual MPLS connections to connect remote branches and retail sites to the central data center using a hub-and-spoke WAN topology. As a result, all data, workflows, and transactions, including access to cloud-based services or the internet, were sent back to the data center for processing and redistribution. When compared to an SD-WAN system, this is highly inefficient.

SD-WAN reduces costs by providing optimized, multi-point connectivity through distributed, private data traffic exchange and control points to provide your users with secure, local access to the services they need – whether from the network or the cloud – while also securing direct access to cloud and internet resources.

Secure SD-WAN outperforms MPLS in terms of security.

MPLS looks to offer a security advantage since it provides secure and monitored connectivity between branch offices and data centers via the service provider's internal backbone. By default, public internet connections do not offer the same level of protection.

This comparison, however, is deceptive. MPLS does not undertake any analysis of the data that it sends. This is still the responsibility of the MPLS client. Even when using an MPLS connection, traffic must be inspected for malware or other exploits, necessitating installing a network firewall and any other security services at either end of the connection.

Many SD-WAN options have the same issue. Apart from highly rudimentary security capabilities, most SD-WAN solutions still require security as an overlay solution. And for businesses that try to add protection as an afterthought to their complex SD-WAN connections, the challenge is often more significant than they bargained for.

Fortinet's Secure SD-WAN solution is distinguished by the fact that connectivity is deployed as an integrated function within an NGFW appliance, so every connection includes dynamic meshed VPN capabilities to secure data in transit, as well as deep inspection of that traffic using a diverse set of security tools – including IPS, firewall, WAF, web filtering, anti-virus, and anti-malware – that.

In terms of performance, SD-WAN outperforms MPLS.

In terms of performance, MPLS provides a continuous, constant level of bandwidth. While this may appear to be a plus, today's traffic has highly demanding performance requirements. As a result, organizations must lease an MPLS connection for their worst-case traffic load scenario, which means that expensive bandwidth is frequently unused. At other times—due to the ever-increasing volume of data generated by modern networks and devices—the MPLS connection may be constraining network connectivity.

Of fact, certain MPLS connections provide a sliding scale of connectivity. Still, even this is limited due to its inability to understand the nature of the traffic it manages and make dynamic adjustments accordingly.

To complicate matters further, while all traffic necessitates bandwidth, some applications, such as audio and video, have latency requirements that must be constantly monitored. When many applications run via the same connection tunnel, latency-sensitive traffic must be prioritized, which requires application recognition, traffic shaping, load balancing, and priority among unique connections, all of which MPLS lacks.

SD-WAN recognizes apps and may tailor bandwidth and other services to their specific requirements. It can start multiple parallel connections and then provide granular load balancing between them, as well as failover to a new connection if available bandwidth drops, as well as rate-limitless sensitive applications to ensure that latency-sensitive applications get all the room and horsepower they need – which is why the industry's most potent n powers Fortinet's Secure SD-WAN.

When MPLS may outperform SD-WAN alone

However, there are a few situations in which MPLS may be a better option than SD-WAN alone. MPLS, for example, provides a clean and secure connection that is especially desirable for certain types of data, applications, and transactions—particularly where a high level of integrity and privacy is required. However, because MPLS is an option for each SD-WAN solution, this is not a binary choice. Important transactions can still be completed via MPLS.

Furthermore, in some regions, particularly in the United States, MPLS might be prohibitively expensive. In some circumstances, replacing a public internet connection with MPLS might be relatively inexpensive. Even when MPLS is much less costly or when security or reliability considerations outweigh cost differences, SD-WAN can be built over an MPLS connection to give higher protection and functionality than an MPLS system alone. This is due to SD-increased WAN's flexibility, granular traffic control, integrated security, and the ability to use several connection strategies—MPLS, public internet, IPSec, SSL, and so on—all from the same SD-WAN deployment.

In almost every scenario, secure SD-WAN outperforms MPLS.

Fortinet's experience has shown that the benefits of an SD-WAN solution outweigh the benefits of MPLS alone. This is because today's traffic, which includes modern web applications and complicated workflows, necessitates a more flexible and dynamic connectivity environment than static MPLS connections can give.

Traditional SD-WAN systems, on the other hand, fall short when it comes to security. A Secure SD-WAN solution, on the other hand, not only adds a layer of management and flexible connectivity options for remote offices that MPLS does not, but it also adds deep and profoundly integrated security that reduces management overhead and extends visibility and control from the central IT management console or SOC solution out to the distributed WAN's very edges.

Only you know enough about your firm to determine whether SD-WAN or MPLS is better suited to your requirements. For additional information on Cisco SD-WAN features, you can check on the SPOTO blog. And if you want to grasp the updated and trended technological points, please try the SPOTO Cisco training course and Cisco exam dumps to help you get the Cisco certification on the first try!