Recently AWS announced the general availability (GA) of its Cloud WAN solution allowing enterprises to set up and manage a complete wide area network (WAN) environment from a single cloud-based console.
AWS Cloud WAN, which has been in preview since last year, is a cloud-based managed WAN service that will enable enterprises to bring together their entire network of on-premises data centers, branch offices, and cloud infrastructure in one global network.
With the solution, enterprises no longer have to set up various overarching networks to bring all their network environments together – which often leads to a great network complexity of different networks, each of which has a specific task, such as connectivity, security, and monitoring. They can now build, manage, and monitor a so-called "unified global network" more quickly and efficiently by connecting to various AWS cloud environments and regions, as well as Local Zones and AWS Outposts environments located in customers' on-premises data centers.
Furthermore, the solution also integrates with various third-party SD-WAN environments such as the SD-WAN solutions and services from HPE Aruba, Aviatrix, Checkpoint, Cisco Meraki, Cisco, Prosimo, and VMware.
Source: https://aws.amazon.com/cloud-wan/
In an AWS news blog post on the GA of AWS Cloud WAN, Sébastien Stormacq, a principal developer advocate at Amazon Web Services, explains:
With Cloud WAN, networking teams connect to AWS through their choice of local network providers, then use a central dashboard and network policies to create a unified network that connects their locations and network types. This eliminates the need to configure and manage different networks individually, even when they are based on different technologies. Cloud WAN generates a complete view of your on-premises and AWS networks to help you visualize the health, security, and performance of your entire network.
The central console allows administrators to use the service to assign policies and monitor the health status of the global cloud-based WAN environment. Furthermore, they can also automate configuration and security tasks via the console, for example, by routing network traffic from offices through a dedicated firewall before it reaches cloud-based resources in an AWS region.
David Brown, vice president of Amazon EC2 at AWS, said in a press release on the GA of AWS Cloud WAN:
As the edge of the cloud continues to be pushed outward, and more customers move their applications to AWS to become more agile, reduce complexity, and save money, they need an easier way to evolve their networks to support a modern, distributed model that allows them to reach their customers and end users globally with high performance. With AWS Cloud WAN, enterprises can simplify their operations and leave the time-consuming task of managing complex webs of networks behind.
The cost of AWS Cloud WAN is based on usage. Four factors determine what customers pay: the number of Core Network Edges (CNEs) deployed, the number of connections to these CNEs, the number of Transit Gateways peered with the CNEs, and the data handling of traffic. More details are available on the pricing page.
Lastly, the AWS Cloud WAN service is available in AWS regions across the US, Asia Pacific, Europe, Canada, Cape Town, Africa, and Bahrain in the Middle East.
