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Prisma Access
(Cloud Management)
Prisma Access
(Panorama Managed)
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As organizations grow across different geographical locations, choosing a network
becomes a delicate balancing act of cost, performance, and security. A
software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by
separating the networking hardware (the
dataplane
) from its control mechanism
(the
management plane
). SD-WAN technology allows companies to build
higher-performance WANs using lower-cost internet access.
With the adoption of SD-WANs, organizations are increasingly connecting directly to
the internet, introducing security challenges to protect remote networks and mobile
users. Additionally, the deployment of SaaS applications has exploded, with many
organizations directly connecting to cloud applications, introducing security
challenges. The adoption of SD-WAN technology introduces many benefits in cost
savings, and enables organizations to be agile and optimized. However, it also makes
branch offices and users targets of cyber attacks.
SD-WAN security needs to be as flexible as the networking, but it’s not always easy
to adapt traditional methods.
In a traditional campus network design, there is a full stack of network security
appliances at the internet perimeter that can protect the branch, as long as all
traffic is brought through the core network. SD-WANs don’t always use this design,
especially when you integrate cloud applications.
An alternative to the traditional approach is to deploy network security appliances
at the branch office, which complicates the deployment but brings security closer to
the branch.
To understand the best way to secure an SD-WAN deployment, you should understand the
different SD-WAN deployment architectures.