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Bandwidth Bonding Over Multiple WAN Connections Using Peplink Solutions

Hooman Houtaham's avatar

Author

Hooman Houtaham

Network and Security Engineer

Overview:

By August 2015, K-SUN Sanat Iranian Co. had expanded significantly, operating a headquarters, 10 branches, and 2 factories across different regions. The company relied heavily on leased lines for WAN connectivity between these sites. While effective in some aspects, these leased lines were extremely costly, lacked flexibility, and often suffered from quality and stability issues. As the demand for reliable, high-speed communication between sites increased, the IT team recognized the need to replace these expensive leased lines with a more cost-effective, scalable, and secure solution using Peplink’s bandwidth bonding technology.

Objective:

  • Reduce Costs: Replace expensive leased lines with bonded internet connections to lower WAN-related expenses.
  • Enhance Flexibility and Scalability: Implement a solution that supports the growing network demands and the addition of new branches and factories.
  • Improve Quality and Stability: Ensure a reliable and stable WAN architecture by leveraging multiple high-bandwidth connections.

Technologies Used:

  • Peplink Balance Routers: Deployed to support multiple WAN connections and enable bandwidth bonding.
  • SpeedFusion Technology: Used to bond multiple WAN connections into a single, high-capacity virtual connection.
  • WAN Links: High-bandwidth internet connections from different ISPs.
  • Site-to-Site VPN: SpeedFusion’s VPN technology for secure, encrypted communication across sites.
  • AES-256 Encryption: For securing site-to-site communication.

Detailed Networking and Configuration

  1. Bandwidth Bonding (SpeedFusion)
    • Headquarters: Four WAN connections were bonded using SpeedFusion, resulting in a combined bandwidth that exceeded the previous leased line capacity while providing improved stability and reliability.
    • Load Balancing: Peplink’s intelligent load balancing ensured that traffic was distributed efficiently across all WAN links based on real-time conditions, optimizing performance and reducing congestion.
    • Traffic Prioritization: Mission-critical applications like VoIP and ERP systems were prioritized within SpeedFusion, ensuring they received the necessary bandwidth even during peak usage times.
  2. Redundancy and Failover Mechanisms
    • Automatic Failover: SpeedFusion automatically rerouted traffic through the remaining connections without manual intervention in case of WAN connection failures, minimizing downtime and ensuring consistent service quality.
    • WAN Health Checks: Peplink routers continuously monitored the health of each WAN link, adjusting routing and traffic flow based on performance, thereby enhancing stability and reliability.
  3. Security Considerations
    • Encrypted Tunnels: All site-to-site communication was secured using SpeedFusion’s built-in AES-256 encryption, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality across the WAN.
    • Firewall Integration: Peplink routers were integrated with the company’s existing firewall solutions, ensuring consistent security policies across all sites.

Practical Applications and Outcomes

  • Headquarters to Branch Communication:
    • Before: The headquarters relied on a single leased line to connect with a branch, leading to limited bandwidth, reliability, and redundancy.
    • After: With Peplink’s solution, the leased line was replaced by four bonded internet connections, reducing costs by 50%, tripling the available bandwidth, and significantly improving connection reliability.
  • Factory Operations:
    • Before: A factory relied on a single leased line, which, if disrupted, caused significant downtime in production communication.
    • After: Multiple bonded WAN connections provided continuous operation, even in the event of a connection failure, ensuring factory operations remained uninterrupted and stable.

Skills Gained:

  • Proficiency in deploying and managing Peplink Balance routers and SpeedFusion technology.
  • Advanced skills in WAN link bonding, load balancing, and traffic prioritization.

Results and Impact

  • 50% Reduction in Annual Connectivity Costs: Replacing the leased lines with bonded internet connections reduced WAN-related expenses by half.
  • 300% Increase in Available Bandwidth: The use of SpeedFusion bonding allowed the company to aggregate the bandwidth of multiple internet connections, tripling the available bandwidth for critical operations.
  • 99.9% Uptime: The implementation of redundant WAN links with automatic failover ensured near-continuous operation, with an uptime rate of 99.9%, significantly reducing downtime and its associated costs.
  • Enhanced Reliability and Stability: The move from leased lines to bonded WAN connections resulted in a significant improvement in connection stability and reliability, reducing the frequency of network disruptions and improving overall service quality.

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