Load balance vs Multi path aggregation - SD-WAN

SD-WAN has become a familiar term among organizations and needs no introduction. However, the features offered by various SD-WAN vendors differ. On top of that, a few features are used vaguely, which has caused much confusion among customers and users. One of the key features is Multi-path WAN aggregation, also loosely called Link Bonding (there's one in Layer 2 as well) and other widely used Load Balancing.

• Load balancing - Enables simultaneous routing of application traffic (flows) across multiple WAN links such as broadband, 4G/5G, wiFi as sessions for enhanced performance and stability (through failover)


• Multi-path WAN aggregation - Offers zero-glitch experience through the seamless distribution of chunks of data or sub-flows of a single TCP/UDP connection among the various WAN links such as 4G/5G, and broadband. Bundling the multiple network connections in parallel to leveraging under-used links, spreading traffic evenly across those connections, and increasing bandwidth through each WAN port will eventually lead to improved performance.

About Author

Murugavel Muthu

Founder & CEO of COSGrid Networks with 24 years of experience in Product Development and Product & Business Management in leading technology companies, telcos and startups.