Introduction

Citrix software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) is a service that grants the enterprise with the ability to dynamically connect branch offices and data centers on a global scale. As companies utilize a growing number of cloud-based applications, traditional WAN networks could not maintain consistent high network speed and optimized connectivity. SD-WAN provides IT stakeholders a solution for the above-mentioned issues with better tools to manage several types of internet connections, including broadband and MPLS, as well as 3G/4G/LTE. The SD-WAN solutions leverage policy management tools to improve IT's ability to optimize how data moves between office branches, data centers and cloud. SD-WAN centralizes the rule definition and distribution processes, allowing administrators to group rules and manage policies with a single application, simultaneously.

Today's enterprise infrastructure is supported by WANs but often experience issues due to the high volume of traffic. Organizations that leverage MPLS and other networking solutions may encounter service outages, traffic congestion and packet loss. SD-WAN addresses these problems seamlessly. Ultimately, end users will not even know if their network uses SD-WAN because their applications and services will simply work as intended. The ability for SD-WAN to dynamically route traffic through a hybrid network means that WAN traffic is reduced overall, and network agility increases.

Owing to these capabilities, the Citrix SD-WAN appliance is widely used in various on-premises and cloud infrastructures, where multi-tenancy and seamless access to resources are key for ensuring user satisfaction. In such infrastructures, if the SD-WAN appliance is congested due to unexpected incoming and outgoing traffic or if the appliance is sluggish in routing the traffic due to packet loss, latency and jitter, or the non-critical applications consume more bandwidth, the performance and delivery of the business-critical applications across the infrastructure are sure to be badly hit! For a seamless flow of traffic without congestion, packet loss, latency, etc. and to improve user experience, it is therefore necessary for the administrators to continuously monitor the traffic flow routed via the Citrix SD-WAN appliance. This can be easily achieved using a dedicated monitoring model offered by eG Enterprise.