Technology - App Armor Tunnel for Automated WAN Network Management

Our philosophy is guided by our goal to automate WAN networks, eliminating the need for human intervention in managing network problems. Setting networks on autopilot requires cognition and intelligence to be designed into the SD-WAN solution, making it network aware. Self-driving networks must have the ability to observe, detect, and make sense of complex network environments, as well as take smart actions to resolve any networking problems.

App Armor: Next-Generation SD-WAN Tunnel

App Armor is one of our next-generation SD-WAN tunnels designed to set WAN networks on autopilot. App Armor leverages three core Mushroom Networks technologies: flow filtering, adaptive overlay tunneling, and cognitive path management.

Flow Filtering for Application Identification

The built-in layer 7 traffic filters enable SD-WAN appliances to identify and tag each packet according to the appropriate application class. These filters provide the SD-WAN appliances with the out-of-the-box ability to identify hundreds of different traffic types and tag them accordingly.

Adaptive Overlay Tunneling for Optimized Performance

Based on the application class, the App Armor tunnel triggers the appropriate algorithms for that specific traffic flow. These algorithms are implemented on a per-flow class basis and take into account the metrics that matter most for that specific application class. App Armor comes pre-loaded with various sets of algorithms to address any traffic class.

Cognitive Path Management for Smart Decision-Making

App Armor leverages dynamic WAN path monitoring via in-band and out-of-band probes, collecting rich telemetry data to learn network characteristics. These characteristics include first-order metrics such as one-way path latencies, packet loss, delay, jitter, and peak rates, as well as second-order metrics that include historic telemetry data. This enables App Armor to understand fine-grained details of the WAN paths and make instantaneous smart decisions on a per-packet basis.

Optimized Performance for Diverse Traffic Types

The three core technologies – flow filtering, adaptive overlay tunneling, and cognitive path management – combined with the built-in advanced QoS capabilities, ensure optimum performance for Internet flows. For example, VoIP/SIP traffic is automatically detected by the SD-WAN appliance and treated with algorithms that optimize the MOS score, considering packet loss, jitter, and latency (the metrics that matter most for the VoIP/SIP traffic class), all without any human intervention. Similarly, video broadcasting flow can be identified via the media port, allowing the use of algorithms optimized for live video streaming.