SD-WAN, MPLS or internet VPN: connecting branch offices
KINNEX Team5 min read
When a business has more than one site, the wide-area network decides how well branches work with head office.
MPLS
A private carrier network with guaranteed paths and predictable performance. It is reliable and carries a premium price, and lead times for new sites can be long.
Internet VPN
Encrypted tunnels over ordinary broadband or leased internet. Cheap and quick to deploy. Performance depends on the internet, and failover is only as good as the design.
SD-WAN
Software-managed networking that uses several links at once, such as broadband, leased line and mobile, and picks the best path for each application. It adds central policy, visibility and automatic failover.
How they compare
- Cost: VPN is lowest, SD-WAN in the middle with licences, MPLS highest.
- Resilience: SD-WAN and well-designed dual-link VPN are strong; single MPLS is exposed to one carrier.
- Speed to deploy: VPN and SD-WAN are quicker.
- Control: SD-WAN gives the best central view.
- Cloud access: SD-WAN and local breakout suit cloud apps better than hauling traffic through head office.
Questions that decide it
How critical is each site? Which applications are sensitive to delay, such as voice and video? Do you need cloud access directly from branches? Who will operate it?
Often the answer is a blend: SD-WAN over two different carriers, with a private link only for the sites that justify it.