NFV startup NetElastic Systems launched an enterprise branch router that integrates both application visibility and SD-WAN.

The EBR 1000A router is based on the company’s existing routing technology, but includes an integrated deep packet inspection engine that provides in-depth application visibility. It also relies on cloud or local-based management for service providers and enterprise end-users to prioritize application traffic across two WAN connections.

NetElastic is a three-year old Santa Clara, California-based startup that offers a line of NFV and routing software built specifically for carrier networks and enterprises. This includes a virtual Broadband Network Gateway (vBNG), a virtual router, SD-WAN, virtual Provider Edge (vPE) router, and now its new enterprise router.

According to Rich Sabin, director of marketing at NetElastic, the company began its foray into SD-WAN in 2018, “developing a carrier-centric solution suitable for smaller enterprise customers who are more cost conscious.” The company found that the first-generation of SD-WAN was sold directly to customers, but that service providers and carriers can help increase the scalability and profitability of the SD-WAN market.

NetElastic also saw the need for an SD-WAN service that could deliver higher internet speeds as enterprises increasingly adopted high-speed broadband. NetElastic says that its SD-WAN can deliver 1 Gb/s running on low-cost white box appliances, and that its branch router can deliver up to 2 Gb/s, or a full gigabit per WAN link.

The new router addresses application awareness at the enterprise branch. It monitors all available WAN connections for path performance, capacity, loss, jitter, and latency to route applications to the best path. It can also detect more than 1,000 predefined applications and other customer-defined applications.

The router uses NetElastic’s SD-WAN capabilities to enable any combination of transport services, which in turn lowers costs. It also reduces financial over head by reducing l IT resources and not charging annual or monthly SD-WAN service fees.

While the new router is designed for carriers and service providers, Sabin also noted that it would make “an ideal platform for a managed service provider’s SD-Branch solution.”