SD-WAN vendor Talari Networks released the latest version of its SD-WAN software to include integrated WAN optimization services. As part of this release, the vendor also announced integration capabilities with Zscaler to secure connections to cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.

Talari’s WAN optimization allows the vendor to compress data before it reaches an SD-WAN tunnel. “We already offered deterministic routing, but people like multiple levels of optimization, so why not do some data compression and reduce the risk of packets being dropped?” said Atchison Frazer, head of worldwide marketing at Talari.

While the company claimed its core SD-WAN technology was already good enough to deliver similar functionality, WAN optimization has become a standard among SD-WAN vendors. Talari acquired a WAN optimization company and integrated the IP into its core SD-WAN technology to stay competitive and meet customer expectations, said Frazer. Talari won't disclose which company it acquired.

Prior to this announcement, Frazer said that there were instances of customers running Talari’s SD-WAN technology alongside Riverbed’s WAN optimization capabilities as complementing technologies, for example.

Zscaler integration

Talari also integrated with security vendor Zscaler to include additional security functions in its SD-WAN technology. The security vendor has partnered with a handful of other SD-WAN vendors, including Riverbed, Viptela, VeloCloud, Citrix, InfoVista, and Silver Peak.

Zscaler has more than 100 data centers around the world, making its network well-suited to serve enterprises with many locations.

The Zscaler integration allows Talari to route its outbound SD-WAN traffic to its security platform. This is where it’s inspected for things like malware and data leakage before being routed to the public Internet. It also allows customers to remove existing, expensive equipment at each location, offloading the work to Zscaler.

However, Talari already offered traffic encryption services for its SD-WAN technology. For example, “the moment a packet enters the Talari fabric, we stripe it with our protocol to ensure that its reliability and bandwidth requirements are met, which allows customers to prioritize traffic,” Frazer said.