How to Re-evaluate Your MPLS Service Provider

MPLS
Data Trafﬁc
How to Re-evaluateYour
MPLS Service Provider

MPLS
Data Trafﬁc
Do you run an MPLS network to some or all
of your branches? If so, you are likely wasting
MPLS capacity backhauling Internet traffic.
For many organizations, a lot of the traffic is Internet-bound due to increased
cloud-usage. Backhauling Internet traffic over an expensive MPLS service adds
latency and puts pressure on limited and expensive MPLS capacity.

+/- % ÷AC
8 9 ×7
5 6 -4
2 3 +1
. =0
1,999,999.900If you are about to renew your MPLS
contract or if you need to upgrade capacity,
you are most likely facing a hefty bill.
One way to reduce your MPLS spend is to use Internet-based
(cable, ADSL, fiber) connectivity to augment or replace your
MPLS-based WAN.

Can you switch your dedicated and expensive
MPLS network to an Internet-based network,
sustain the service levels your business
needs, cut costs, and improve overall agility
and flexibility?
This e-book provides a checklist to help answer this question by
examining the various pros and cons of different approaches.

Three Approaches to Consider:
Use legacy MPLS services and its
guarantees if it is the only way to meet
your business goals.
Add Internet links to your existing
MPLS network to avoid the cost of MPLS
upgrades. You still need to rely on MPLS
to support latency sensitive apps
end-to-end.
Add Internet links and a cloud-based,
SLA-backed SD-WAN alongside your
existing MPLS network. You avoid the
cost of MPLS upgrades and can gradually
replace MPLS altogether.
MPLS
CLOUD
SD-WAN
BASIC
SD-WAN1 2 3
MPLS
WWW
MPLS
Learn more
WWW

4 Key Network Design Considerations:
Network availability is essential to keeping
your business up and running. The majority
of outages occur in the last mile where
physical infrastructure is exposed at
and around the customer premises. To address availability,
customers look at the reliability of network connectivity they
put in place and the time to ﬁx any outages. Fully redundant
connections can give Internet access MPLS-like uptime.
In addition, the time to deploy connectivity to new offices and
locations is important to keep the business moving forward.
AVAILABILITY CAPACITY
Adequate network capacity is required to
support the business. Bandwidth constraints,
due to cost, require additional technologies to
manage the quality of service and prioritize
traffic. Even if you have ample bandwidth, the amount of
capacity is dependent on the type of connectivity. Dedicated
capacity, like MPLS and symmetrical Internet, is more
expensive, but capacity is guaranteed (both upstream and
downstream). Best-effort services, offer more bandwidth at
lower cost, but capacity will decline due to congestion.
These limitations could be acceptable to the business,
depending on the types of applications being used.
1 2
24/7

High latency as a result of suboptimal
routing and packet loss can have a dramatic
impact on the user’s experience. Low-quality
network connections and congested ISPs
ISP networks increase packet loss in the last mile. Inefficient
routing over the long haul (i.e the middle mile) increases
latency. Latency can either be tolerated (i.e when using the
public Internet) or improved (with SLA-backed and redundant
connectivity).
LATENCY SECURITY
Offloading Internet traffic at a branch directly
onto the Internet enables better use of
MPLS resources. While not a networking
requirement per se, network security at
each branch reduces the need to backhaul traffic to a secure
Internet exit point at the datacenter. Many organizations
architected their network for Internet-traffic backhauling to
avoid the complexity of managing a network security stack at
every location.
This architecture is no longer compatible with the current
traffic patterns and rapid growth in Internet-bound and cloud
traffic. As you rethink your WAN architecture, evaluate your
network security to optimize costs, user response times and
management complexity.
3 4
4 Key Network Design Considerations:

Considerations MPLS Basic SD-WAN Cloud-based SD-WAN
Availability
Reliability and
uptime
ƒƒ What is the maximum uptime required by your
most critical applications?
99.99% 99.99% (2 ISPs, 4G/LTE backup)
Time-to-Repair ƒƒ What level of downtime can the business
withstand at a branch office (minutes/hours per
year - quantify number of 9s)?
SLA-backed, 2-4 hours Next business day (reduced downtime with
multiple links and 4G/LTE backup)
Time-to-Deploy ƒƒ How critical is time-to-deploy for a new branch? 30-90 days 1-7 days for Internet, minutes to hours for 4G/LTE
Capacity
Dedicated ƒƒ Do you need to boost WAN capacity?
ƒƒ What is the needed upgrade for Upload/
Download?
ƒƒ Best effort (ADSL) or Guaranteed (Fiber)?
Yes, high cost per
MBPS
ƒƒ 1-2 ADSl/Cable (best effort)
ƒƒ 1-2 Symmetric Fiber (dedicated)
ƒƒ Active/Active and Forward Error Correction (FEC)
Latency
SLA-backed,
Branch-DC
connectivity
ƒƒ Do you need global connectivity (latency is a
major challenge)?
ƒƒ What is the cost of your global MPLS network
vs. an alternative SLA-backed backbone?
SLA-backed Not guaranteed1 SLA-backed2:
ƒƒ High quality last mile
ƒƒ SLA-backed cloud
network
Security
Secure Internet
access at the
branch
ƒƒ Do you want to offload Internet traffic at the
branch?
ƒƒ How will you handle branch office security
(beyond building VPN tunnels over the Internet
to the DC)?
ƒƒ How can you avoid deployment of network
security appliances?
No Optional
(with branch firewalls)
Yes
(with cloud-based
network security)
Cloud&
Mobile
Integrate cloud
data centers
and mobile
users to the
WAN
ƒƒ Do you have AWS VPCs or Microsoft Azure
instances you need to connect to your WAN?
ƒƒ How do you securely connect mobile users to
the WAN and to the Internet?
No Limited cloud support,
no mobile support
Seamless integration
of cloud and mobile
into the WAN
1 SD-WANs shift traffic to the Internet, but continue to depend on MPLS connectivity for latency-sensitive applications.
2 A cloud network provides SLA-backed backbone. For connecting locations and users over a long haul, latency will not exceed the SLA committed by the provider.
The Ultimate Checklist

The New WAN:
Rise of Globalization,
Cloud and Mobility
Transforms the WAN
When we think about the WAN,
we tend to think about
connecting physical locations to
the datacenter. Nowadays, the
WAN is stretching to address
globalization, cloud and mobility.
GLOBALIZATIONEnterprises need to connect people and locations across intercontinental
distances. Legacy MPLS solutions from your regional provider need to be stitched
together with other offerings or bundled with a global vendor. Legacy SD-WANs
lack the latency control to support three scenarios. Cloud-SD-WANs can provide
affordable SLA-backed connectivity.
CLOUDThe migration to cloud apps and cloud infrastructure forces traffic to the Internet.
The end-to-end control offered by MPLS providers doesn’t really apply to these
scenarios. Legacy SD-WAN appliance-based approaches stretch to support the
cloud. Cloud SD-WANs naturally extend the WAN to the cloud as part of the overlay.
MOBILITYMobile users were always an afterthought from a network design perspective so
they are not supported by MPLS and SD-WANs. But they are now a major part of
how business is done and Cloud SD-WANs support them as part of the core
WAN architecture.
As you look for the various solutions to improving your WAN,
look beyond traditional WAN architectures to address emerging
requirements.

About Cato Networks
Cato Networks provides organizations with a software-defined and
cloud-based secure enterprise network. Cato delivers an integrated
networking and security platform that securely connects all enterprise
locations, people and data. The Cato Cloud reduces MPLS connectivity
costs, eliminates branch appliances, provides direct, secure internet
access everywhere, and seamlessly integrates mobile users and cloud
infrastructures to the enterprise network.
Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cato Networks was founded in 2015 by
cybersecurity luminary Shlomo Kramer, who previously cofounded
Check Point Software Technologies and Imperva, and Gur Shatz, who
previously cofounded Incapsula.
For more information:
www.CatoNetworks.com
@CatoNetworks

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