WANlinks

WANLinks are the connections that comprise a wide area network, linking geographically dispersed sites such as branches, data centers, and cloud resources. They can be physical pathways like leased lines, fiber, and wireless backhaul, or virtual constructs such as MPLS VPNs and SD-WAN overlays, managed as a single fabric.

Common WANLink technologies include MPLS-based networks that provide predictable performance, Internet-based VPNs used with secure tunnels, SD-WAN overlays that choose among multiple transports, and dedicated or dark fiber. Many deployments blend several transport types to balance reliability, latency, and cost.

Architecturally, WANLinks use multiple parallel paths for redundancy and load sharing. Routing may employ BGP, OSPF, or SD-WAN path selection policies. Traffic engineering, QoS, and performance monitoring help ensure application performance, while centralized orchestration simplifies provisioning and policy enforcement.

Security and governance are integral to WANLinks. Encryption for data in transit, strong access controls, network segmentation, and regular auditing protect the network. VPNs, firewalls, and zero-trust principles are commonly applied across WAN environments.

Use cases include connectivity between branch offices, data centers, and cloud services; support for business applications such as voice, ERP, and backups; and disaster recovery. Design considerations cover latency, bandwidth, redundancy, vendor management, and total cost of ownership.