Hybrid WAN

What Does Hybrid WAN Mean?

A hybrid wide area network or hybrid WAN is a WAN that uses more than one connectivity format to transfer data around the network. As a sophisticated type of wide area network, it is frequently used to achieve performance and security benchmarks.

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Techopedia Explains Hybrid WAN

The hybrid WAN has more than one protocol for routing data. This approach helps companies that have particular mission-critical data that needs to be handled differently, or are spread out over a larger graphical area, or any system that can benefit from micro-managing data tracks in more than one way.

Part of the principle behind hybrid WANs is the idea of network segmentation. A hybrid WAN may have two sub-networks or more blended into the network environment with a firewall sitting in the middle. This security structure helps to keep sensitive data secure with less of an operating cost compared to other less partitioned wide area networks. The hybrid WAN is helping businesses to diversify the use of data inside a network for various efficiencies and other benefits.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…