Silver Peak Addresses MPLS Issues with Unity EdgeConnect

Silver Peak is tackling customer concerns over costly multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) solutions for their wireless networks with the launch of Unity EdgeConnect, a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution designed to enable enterprises to build their networks by utilizing broadband to connect to applications.

As the cost of broadband WAN becomes cheaper, Silver Peak hopes to help users simplify their WAN deployments and allow customers migrate from legacy MPLS networks to improve traffic flows, said David Hughes, CEO and founder of Silver Peak.

The offering is being positioned as a way for customers to test out SD-WAN at certain branch offices without the need to fully commit to making the lead to an all-broadband infrastructure. The solution offers granular visibility into Internet traffic while allowing users to piece together their WAN networks at their own pace, thus saving on the overall cost of implementing a broadband solution.

“Despite the mounting frustration with MPLS connectivity costs and inflexibility, many customers still do not believe the Internet can provide the security and performance needed for today’s business-critical traffic,” said Hughes in a statement. “Our strategy is to deliver solutions that enable broadband WANs and offer point-and-click deployments, but also make the Internet act like a private network.”

While MPLS traditionally has been more consistent and secure than SD-WAN, the solution typically is slower due to latency and traffic issues born of increasing web traffic. Similarly, broadband has higher peak speeds than MPLS but doesn’t always perform to capacity, and until recently the solution has been more expensive than MPLS, said Hughes.

“With an ever-increasing number of applications delivered as a service via cloud infrastructure, it’s important that enterprises be able to move at cloud speed,” said Hughes. “Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is the premier solution for customers that want to leverage the Internet more effectively in a secure, controlled and automated manner while guaranteeing consistent and reliable performance for users connecting to any application.”

Unity EdgeConnect is available in both physical and virtual flavors, giving customers a choice in how they want to deploy the overlay solution, according to the announcement. Silver Peak is also including Unity Orchestrator, which provides visibility into legacy and cloud applications and allows users to centrally assign business intent policies to secure WAN traffic.

EdgeConnect is available for $199 per site per month with the included Orchestrator software. Customers looking to add more performance to their network can purchase the separate Unity Boost subscription service, which is available for an additional $5 per megabyte per month.