What is WAN? When to use Wide Area Network design

Businesses with multiple locations or remote teams need a well-planned wide area network design to maintain reliable communication and data exchange across various sites. An effective WAN design allows employees to access important applications and resources consistently, regardless of their location, supporting collaboration and boosting productivity.

Companies with a solid WAN design can also optimize operational costs by centralizing network management and maximizing the use of shared resources. A thoughtfully designed WAN supports remote work, enhances customer service, and helps businesses remain competitive in a global marketplace.

But what is a WAN? This article will cover the following:

• Defining WAN
• WAN vs. LAN
• When should you use a WAN?
• Types of WAN technologies
• WAN design challenges
• What are some examples of WAN in action?
• Next steps: Choose Meter

Defining WAN

A Wide Area Network (WAN) connects multiple Local Area Networks (LANs) across vast geographical distances using various telecommunications links such as leased lines, satellite connections, or secure virtual private networks (VPNs). Public Internet can be a component of a WAN, yet most businesses typically prefer to use dedicated or private connections.

The goal of a WAN is to facilitate the sharing of data and resources between devices situated in different locations, making communication and collaboration possible across cities, countries, or continents.

Picture a WAN as a network of highways that links different "islands" of LANs. These islands could represent corporate offices, data centers, or remote branches spread across the globe.

For example, a corporation with offices in New York, London, and Tokyo might rely on a WAN to maintain consistent communication and data sharing among these locations. Employees in these different offices can access shared files, applications, and databases as though they were working from a single, unified network environment.

The Internet is the largest and most familiar example of a WAN. Network infrastructure built on WAN technology allows businesses to connect remote offices, data centers, and cloud services. This setup allows employees to access shared resources and collaborate efficiently, regardless of their physical location.

Such connectivity is important for day-to-day operations and supports strategic initiatives like remote work, international expansion, and digital transformation.

WAN vs. LAN

While both WANs and LANs facilitate communication between devices, their scope, speed, and applications differ significantly.

A LAN is confined to a small geographical area like an office building or campus, providing high-speed, low-latency connections ideal for local file sharing, printing, and other internal operations.

WANs, however, cover broader geographic areas, often at the expense of speed due to latency issues inherent in long-distance data transmission. WANs are essential for connecting multiple LANs over vast distances, supporting communication and collaboration between remote offices, branches, or employees working from different locations.

The choice between LAN and WAN depends on the organization's specific networking needs, with WANs becoming necessary as businesses expand geographically.

When should you use a WAN?

Deciding to implement a Wide Area Network (WAN) depends on several key business scenarios, particularly when expanding operations, supporting remote work, or managing global presence.

Scalability needs

As businesses expand to multiple offices or locations, a single Local Area Network (LAN) often becomes insufficient. A LAN works well within a confined area, like a single office or building, but struggles to meet the needs of organizations with geographically dispersed sites.

WANs provide the infrastructure to connect multiple offices across different cities, states, or countries, maintaining effective communication and data sharing.

For example, a retail chain with numerous stores across various regions would use a WAN to link inventory management systems, synchronize transactions, and share data efficiently across all locations. Without a dedicated WAN, each store might rely on less secure or less reliable methods, such as VPNs over the public Internet, to connect to central databases.

Remote work support and global operations

With the rise of remote and hybrid work models, WANs have become increasingly valuable for companies. Remote employees need secure and reliable access to company resources, similar to working within the office environment, even when your company has multiple global offices.

A WAN extends the corporate network to remote locations, allowing employees to connect to internal applications, databases, and collaboration tools from anywhere. This capability is particularly important for businesses with a distributed workforce, where consistent access to resources directly impacts productivity and engagement.

A WAN setup makes sure that remote employees have the same level of access and connectivity as those in the office, without compromising data security. WANs also support centralized applications like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, which need to be accessed by users in different global locations, allowing for unified and efficient business operations.

Types of WAN technologies

When it comes to building a reliable and efficient Wide Area Network (WAN), choosing the right technology is key to meeting the specific needs of your organization. Different WAN types offer various advantages depending on factors like cost, scalability, performance, and security requirements.

Leased lines

Leased lines are private telecommunications circuits that provide a dedicated, fixed bandwidth connection between two locations. They deliver a stable, continuous connection, which is important for businesses that run applications where any downtime or performance fluctuation can impact operations.

Leased lines are commonly used to link corporate headquarters to branch offices or data centers, providing a secure, high-performance connection with guaranteed bandwidth. However, the reliability and exclusivity of leased lines come with a higher price tag.

Costs can increase significantly over longer distances due to the dedicated nature of the service and the infrastructure needed to support it. Larger enterprises with substantial networking demands and budgets often opt for leased lines because they prioritize steady connectivity and are willing to invest in top-tier service quality.

Frame Relay

Frame Relay is a packet-switched WAN technology that gained traction in the 1990s for linking remote offices over long distances. It offers a cost-effective solution for establishing a WAN by allowing multiple users to share bandwidth on a single physical circuit.

However, Frame Relay is now largely considered obsolete and has been replaced by more modern WAN technologies like MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching), VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), and SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network). Organizations have mostly transitioned away from Frame Relay due to its limitations in speed and scalability.

MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)

MPLS is a WAN technology that provides a high-performance, reliable method for data transport by directing packets based on short path labels instead of lengthy network addresses. This method optimizes network resource use and reduces latency, which benefits businesses relying on latency-sensitive applications, such as VoIP (Voice over IP) and video conferencing.

MPLS also enhances network security and allows for traffic prioritization, making it a preferred option for organizations managing complex, multi-site WAN environments. The ability to direct data along predefined paths offers more predictable and efficient data flow, helping to allocate the necessary bandwidth to high-priority traffic, such as voice and video, without interruption.

Wide Area Network design challenges

Designing a Wide Area Network (WAN) requires a deep understanding of networking principles, careful planning, and meticulous execution. Organizations face several challenges when setting up a WAN, ranging from technical complexities and cost considerations to significant security risks.

Complexity of setup

Setting up a WAN involves coordinating with multiple vendors, selecting the right technologies, and managing a variety of network configurations. Each location in the network might have different requirements, necessitating careful planning to interconnect these sites effectively.

Choosing the appropriate technology—whether it's MPLS, SD-WAN, or another option—is vital to fulfilling specific operational needs.

Additionally, Integrating the WAN with existing LANs and IT infrastructure requires careful planning, particularly when designing for redundancy and failover capabilities to ensure network reliability. Modern WAN solutions like SD-WAN simplify this process by providing centralized management and dynamic path selection.

Regulatory compliance and security considerations further add to the complexity, requiring thorough attention to detail. Failing to manage these aspects can result in project delays, unforeseen costs, and potential security vulnerabilities.

Cost considerations

Deploying and maintaining a WAN can be a costly endeavor. Initial setup expenses include investing in networking hardware like routers and switches, along with the fees associated with telecommunications services such as leased lines or MPLS circuits.

For extensive networks, these costs can escalate rapidly, particularly when international connections are involved. In addition to the initial deployment, organizations must also budget for ongoing expenses, including:

• Service fees
• Equipment maintenance
• Software updates
• Potential network upgrades

To manage these costs effectively, organizations need to assess their needs and choose a WAN solution that provides the right balance between cost, performance, and reliability. Solutions like SD-WAN offer more flexible and scalable options that may help reduce costs compared to traditional WAN technologies.

Security risks

WANs expose organizations to security risks, as they often involve transmitting data over public networks or the Internet. Potential threats include:

• Unauthorized access
• Data breaches
• Cyberattacks targeting the WAN infrastructure

To mitigate these risks, organizations must implement robust security measures like:

• Encryption
• Firewalls
• Intrusion detection systems
• Regular security audits

Organizations using WANs must ensure compliance with relevant data protection and privacy regulations, such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), or PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), depending on their industry and geographic location.

What are some examples of WAN in action?

Wide Area Networks (WANs) are integral to many organizations, enabling them to connect multiple sites and support important business operations over vast distances. Here are several examples of how different sectors utilize WANs to enhance connectivity and functionality.

Corporate WAN

In a corporate setting, a WAN connects multiple offices, data centers, and remote sites, allowing employees to access shared resources and applications regardless of location.

Consider a multinational corporation with its headquarters in New York and branch offices in London, Tokyo, and Sydney. A WAN links these locations, facilitating communication and collaboration across the globe.

The network supports a wide range of functions, from email and file sharing to video conferencing and ERP systems, making it possible for employees to collaborate effectively, no matter where they are.

Setting up a corporate WAN involves configuring secure connections between offices, commonly using SD-WAN technology due to its flexibility and cost-efficiency, or MPLS for environments requiring high reliability and predictable performance.

VPNs may be established for remote workers, with careful management of network traffic to prioritize business-critical applications.

Educational institutions

Universities and colleges often span multiple campuses, research centers, and administrative buildings, all of which need to be interconnected. A WAN provides the necessary connectivity to link these sites, enabling students, faculty, and staff to access shared resources from any location.

For instance, a WAN can support access to online learning platforms, digital libraries, and research databases, fostering a collaborative learning environment. It also enables virtual classrooms and joint research projects across campuses.

Network engineers working with educational institutions need to design WANs that provide reliable connectivity with sufficient bandwidth to handle high-traffic periods, such as during online exams or large-scale virtual events. Security measures must also be in place to protect sensitive student and institutional data.

Healthcare networks

Healthcare organizations, including hospitals, clinics, and medical centers, rely on WANs to connect their facilities and facilitate secure data exchange and communication. A WAN allows healthcare providers to share patient records, medical images, and other important information across locations, supporting coordinated care and improving patient outcomes.

For example, a hospital network might use a WAN to connect its main facility with satellite clinics, enabling doctors to consult with specialists remotely and access up-to-date patient information in real time. WANs also enable telemedicine services, supporting remote consultations and extending care to patients in underserved or rural areas.

Designing a healthcare WAN involves creating connections that support real-time applications while meeting regulatory requirements for data privacy and security, such as those outlined in HIPAA in the United States.

Financial institutions

Banks and financial organizations depend on WANs to connect their branches, ATMs, data centers, and headquarters. In this context, a WAN supports applications like transaction processing, real-time data synchronization, and secure communication channels for financial transactions.

For instance, when a customer withdraws money from an ATM, the transaction is instantly communicated back to the bank's central system via the WAN, updating the customer's account immediately.

Maintaining a WAN for financial institutions requires setting up high-speed, low-latency connections to handle large volumes of transactions efficiently and securely, as well as implementing strong encryption protocols to safeguard sensitive financial data from cyber threats.

Retail chains

Retail businesses with multiple store locations often use WANs to connect point-of-sale (POS) systems, inventory management databases, and centralized headquarters. This setup allows for real-time inventory updates, sales tracking, and customer data management, which are crucial for efficient operations and customer service.

For example, if a customer purchases an item at a store in Chicago, the sale is recorded and inventory updated across all locations.

Designing a WAN for a retail chain involves configuring reliable connections that can handle peak traffic during busy periods, integrating various store systems into a central database, and securing data to protect customer information and transaction details.

Government and public sector

Government agencies and public sector organizations use WANs to connect offices, facilities, and remote sites, enabling efficient data sharing and communication across regions. In such settings, a WAN supports various functions, from administrative tasks and public services to emergency response coordination.

During a natural disaster, for instance, a government WAN facilitates the rapid exchange of information between emergency services, promoting a coordinated response.

Network engineers working on government networks must focus on creating secure, resilient networks capable of operating under diverse conditions, including emergencies. They also need to comply with stringent security standards to protect sensitive government data from cyber threats.

Next steps: Choose Meter for your WAN needs

Meter offers comprehensive WAN design and implementation services, specializing in modern solutions such as SD-WAN. Meter handles everything from ISP negotiations to hardware and software provisioning, and ongoing network management to ensure optimal performance and security.

With Meter’s expertise in wide-area network design, IT staff can dedicate their time to strategic projects rather than daily network management tasks. Meter’s approach to network design is scalable, allowing your WAN infrastructure to evolve as your business grows, with solutions customized to your unique requirements.

Opting for Meter goes beyond just setting up a network—it's about gaining a strategic partner that understands and addresses your specific needs.

Here’s how Meter stands out:

• Built-in scalability: Meter's WAN solutions are designed to expand with your business. Whether you're adding new locations or getting a new network installation, our services adapt to your changing needs.
• Simplified management: We handle all aspects of WAN management, freeing your IT team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than being tied up with network maintenance.
• Comprehensive security and compliance: Our solutions are built with multiple layers of DNS security, including advanced encryption, firewalls, and proactive threat detection. We also align with industry standards like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, providing confidence for businesses in regulated sectors.
• Expert ISP negotiation: Meter takes care of all ISP negotiations via Meter Connect, securing optimal terms and performance for your WAN setup, which saves you valuable time and resources.
• End-to-end support: From the initial network design phase to ongoing maintenance, Meter offers complete support to handle any network challenges or adjustments as your business grows.
• Performance optimization: Our WAN solutions are crafted to deliver high performance, reducing downtime and enhancing speed and reliability across all your locations.

Choosing Meter for your WAN needs means partnering with a provider dedicated to delivering performance, security, and flexibility. To test our services for your business, schedule a demo.