CloudAccess
Frequently Asked Questions

Like most SD-WAN technologies, CloudAccess is deployed in a hub-and-spoke model. This means that customer endpoints connect to a controller hosted centrally in a data center (either in the cloud, at your customer's headquarters, or, most commonly, in the service provider's various points-of-presence. CloudAccess WANs can be deployed as hub-and-spoke or full mesh using the same physical topology.

The CloudAccess tunnel is created between two endpoints. For example, the service provider's data center will have CloudAccess software on designated server(s) and customer endpoints will have CloudAccess software running on a customer edge device (SD-WAN CPE).

The CloudAccess tunnel supports speeds in excess of 2.5Gbps. In fact, the only limitations to extreme speeds are data center bottlenecks or hardware processing power. Using the Link Aggregation (Channel Bonding) feature does slow the tunnel, but as you can see from the video below, the system can achieve 1.83Gbps on a run-of-the-mill i7 processor.

CloudAccess scales well in two ways:

First, we boast some of the fastest channel bonding (link aggregation) speeds in the industry. As customer bandwidth demand increases, CloudAccess can help you meet those needs. Other vendors cap out at 1Gbps, which means they're already too slow for most markets.

Second, the core CloudAccess infrastructure is highly scalable. In the video below, we demonstrate how a ~$5000 server can support as many as 400 customer endpoints. Take a look—we don't think you'll find another provider as dedicated to helping you achieve positive ROI.

In our model, the service provider is on-the-hook for provisioning the service's two nodes.

Provisioning the multi-tenant SD-WAN controller takes less than 2 hours. Each CloudAccess SD-WAN CPE (or edge device) takes approximately 2 minutes - including the OS.

Yes and no. In our partner portal (you should check it out!), we list standard supported CPE hardware that comes with a 1-yr warranty. There are 4 different models we supply for the edge devices.

We can help service providers source sufficient hardware for their controllers. If you've got any questions, please get in touch.

CloudAccess has multiple business continuity features. Obviously, the WAN connections can be used to reduce the customer End Point's risk of failure.

The tunnel itself automatically re-establishes a connection to a back-up controller in the event of a failure in the data center. Each site can be assigned two controllers - one as primary, one as backup.

On top of that, each device will automatically enable a pass-through interface to act as the CPE gateway in the event all controllers are offline, ensuring the customer can still reach the Internet.

Standby links are connections that are largely idle until a primary connection fails and CloudAccess needs to engage it to keep customer traffic flowing. These links are monitored regularly by the CloudAccess Orchestrator through heartbeat "pings". These pings use approximately 250MB per month.

Yes, all traffic works fine. CloudAccess Channel Bonding is at layer 3. There are some modes where there are restrictions (DMZ). If you have any additional questions, contact us and we’ll let you know if your specific need is supported.