Recent Internet outages felt in South Africa and across the continent have brought the topic of redundancy to the top of everyone’s minds. The process of providing multiple traffic pathways and integrating solutions for data to keep flowing in the event of network failure is critical for continuity in any industry, especially as more and more digitally transform and their IT and data operations become essential to their business. It is, after all, through redundancy layers that the impact of the recent outages was not exacerbated.
Redundancy in enterprise network infrastructure is both a product and a process. While it may be associated with financial loss or parts of a business waiting to be disposed of, it is actually something all organisations, including connectivity service providers and their clients must consider. In a way, it is a stepping stone on the pathway to enhanced network resilience.
Different types and benefits
Network redundancy encompasses multiple elements ranging from energy supply to data access. These include systems that protect organisations against power cuts, let them retain access to critical information and digital portals, and ensure constant network uptime via multiple pathways and alternative traffic routes.
In short, network redundancy lets organisations, whether it be an SME just starting out or a giant, industry-leading multinational, protect their data from network failures while increasing its overall uptime. It also positively influences time and money spent on the network itself, with organisations not having to dedicate resources to setting up stopgap solutions or conducting costly, expedited maintenance. Furthermore, it benefits the overall security of the network, ensuring it is not vulnerable to threat actors during downtime.
Building, designing and implementing
In terms of network redundancy being a process, organisations need to consider how their networks are built and the various technical components that comprise that build. These include switchers and routers, network protocols that enable rapid switchovers in the event of an outage, subnet connections, and backup routines that ensure all data is periodically backed up and protected. On that note, any cloud transformation strategy demands a fully redundant connectivity solution, one that incorporates multiple products and packages to ensure diversity.
In the case of South African enterprises who want to overhaul their networks, or who are in the process of doing so, software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) is the go-to technology. SD-WAN enables businesses to centralise, take control of and manage their networks by leveraging multiple connectivity services. The biggest drawcard of SD-WAN for enterprises is its price for performance. It enables enterprises to reduce their WAN hardware and operational costs while improving performance.
SD-WAN and other solutions are how local enterprises can add resilience to their infrastructure. At the same time, they need to be investing a diverse range of connectivity products and services that have redundancies in place for any potential scenario. By working with trusted vendors who take redundancy into account and can take care of network architectures from end to end, local enterprises can weather any storm that comes their way.
