Investigation of the possibility of building a Software-defined Wide Area Network SD-WAN based on Aruba equipment

Abstract

SD-WAN allows to centralize management of a distributed network infrastructure, as the entire network is provided by a controller that is located in the head office or in the cloud and supports the operation of branches (SD-Branch). SD-WAN is a technological transition to solutions that are more flexible, open and integrated with the cloud. SD-WAN solutions must provide a secure, service-provider-independent network with enterprise-class performance over a variety of WAN technologies. Building a software-defined WAN with Aruba hardware requires research to select the elements and ensure key characteristics are met. The SD-WAN controller can be Aruba Central, a powerful cloud solution for managing networks, switches, and branch controllers that includes built-in analytics tools that provide network and business process data for important decisions. The SD-WAN controller maintains connections to all SD-WAN Edge and SD-WAN Gateways to determine the operating status of SD-WAN paths over different WANs and restores quality of performance for each SD-WAN path. Aruba 9000, 7200, 7000 series mobility controllers and gateways can act as gateways for head offices and branches and support automatic configuration of IPsec tunnels and configuration of dynamic routing of head offices and branches. o build a branch network requires equipment, namely the appropriate set of access level switches and access points that Aruba has. The Aruba SD-Branch solution provides network access for employees, wireless Internet access for guests, and connectivity for IoT devices.