Moving to the Azure cloud opens up new opportunities for enterprises.
Moving to Microsoft Azure opens up a host of new opportunities for enterprises in the cloud. They can take advantage of a wide variety of services, unlimited storage, dynamic compute power and continuous application delivery. These new opportunities often introduce new situations for the enterprise to consider. For example, traditional private WAN connections with SLAs might not be readily available where needed and IT may feel like it’s opened up new fronts in the ongoing battle to secure their perimeter.
These potential challenges can now be overcome by using NetScaler SD-WAN in Azure. As shown below, NetScaler SD-WAN instances sit within compute instances in the Azure Cloud and terminate NetScaler SD-WAN virtual WAN connections. Now enterprises can automatically build secure and always-on connections from any branch or Data Center, and take advantage of NetScaler SD-WAN’s ability to identify and optimize cloud traffic.
Companies that are using Microsoft solutions and gradually moving to Microsoft Azure and their SaaS products will be able to take advantage of the deep support in NetScaler SD-WAN for Microsoft applications as well the new Azure support. As Ray Jaksic from Coretek says, “As both a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider and a Citrix Solutions Architect partner, we are excited to hear of this enhancement to the NetScaler SD-WAN offering. This will allow us to offer more value to our clients as they undertake a cloud-transformation project.”
Some of the other benefits that using NetScaler SD-WAN in Azure are:
Create direct connections from every location to the cloud. No need to route Cloud and internet traffic through the data center, which adds latency and wastes WAN bandwidth. Now, efficient connections can be built from every location directly to Azure. The on-premises NetScaler SD-WAN appliance identifies cloud traffic and directly routes it to Azure across a secure tunnel. This improves the performance and quality of the user experience and leaves expensive point to point connections for non-internet traffic.
We’re pleased to now offer NetScaler SD-WAN on our Azure marketplace. More than 90 percent of the Fortune 500 have turned to Microsoft’s cloud for speed, scale and innovation. Using solutions like NetScaler SD-WAN, enterprises have an easy and seamless path to harnessing these benefits. — Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Azure Networking
Ensure an always-on connection to Azure. NetScaler SD-WAN will create a highly reliable connection to Azure by aggregating all available network paths into a single virtual connection. Traffic to and from the cloud will be routed along the best path available, and any outages or network slow-downs will be avoided without disrupting connections or application quality. This provides a WAN-like experience when connecting to the cloud, even using broadband or wireless Internet access links from branch locations, and ensures that users can count on applications in Azure cloud to always be available.
Extend the secure perimeter to the cloud. By using NetScaler SD-WAN in Azure, the connection from offices to the cloud is secure. Traffic destined for Azure can be segregated from general internet traffic and encrypted using IPSec or AES. An integrated firewall can be used to limit traffic to just the Azure traffic, or used to selectively allow only specific applications and website to be accessed from the branch. NetScaler SD-WAN also provides in-depth visibility into applications with knowledge of more than 4500 apps, including Microsoft and SaaS applications
Evolve to a simple, easy-to-manage branch network. Moving to the cloud should simplify IT, and NetScaler SD-WAN helps make the on-premises network simpler, as well. All network policies, for both WAN and Cloud traffic, are set from a single location using a simple graphical interface. No need to log in and individually manage each appliance. And as your network grows, adding NetScaler SD-WAN is as simple as plugging in the power cable and the Internet connection. No need to have a technical installer on site. Even routing, Firewall and WAN Optimization services are integrated, so your branch office radically simplified at the same time as the cloud is simplifying your infrastructure.
NetScaler SD-WAN in Azure will be available in the 1st quarter on the Azure marketplace and is currently available as a Tech Preview, which you can download from the Citrix website.
Companies pursuing a hybrid cloud strategy can take advantage of the NetScaler SD-WAN solution integration with Equinix, which provides reliable connectivity to Equinix Performance Hub in sites around the world and connectivity into Azure Cloud via ExpressRoute through the CloudExchange facilities.
For more information about NetScaler SD-WAN, go to www.citrix.com/sdwan.
