The cloud, distributed computing and remote work models have dramatically changed network traffic patterns. Traditionally, most traffic stayed within the company LAN, and networks were designed to move that traffic efficiently. Because remote users primarily accessed centralized applications and resources, WANs focused on moving traffic into and out of the LAN.

When organizations first began adopting cloud services, they treated them as an extension of their IT environments.

Network reliability has never been more important. Organizations across all industry sectors are increasingly dependent on their networks to extend connectivity to highly distributed remote workers, cloud services, edge devices and IoT infrastructure. Meeting those demands often requires upgrading legacy hardware-centric networks to more cloud- and software-driven environments to accommodate growing volumes of users, devices and traffic.

According to a recent Techaisle survey, software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) adoption is expected to grow 145 percent among small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs). While just 10 percent of SMBs are currently using SD-WAN solutions, 25 percent are planning SD-WAN deployments.

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are becoming easier to launch, harder to stop and larger than ever, according to a new report from Deloitte Global. The consulting firm anticipates that more than 10 million such attacks will occur in 2017.

Gone are the days when low-level hackers used DDoS attacks to make a political statement or simply for their personal amusement.

The wide-area network (WAN) is rapidly replacing the LAN as the primary conduit for accessing business applications and data. The WAN enables branch offices and remote workers to connect to headquarters, and provides the Internet connectivity needed for cloud-based services.