Sberbank : Sber builds largest SD-WAN in Europe using Russian equipment

In conjunction with Russian company B4Com Tech, Sber has expeditiously built and commissioned the largest* modern high-tech Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) in Europe. The new network, which consists of over 8,000 connected devices, ensures the reliable and secure operation of ATMs, self-service terminals, remote bank branches, and of employees who are working from home.

The network architecture adheres to the most recent modern failover requirements, ensuring the duplication of its key elements. Upon implementing the network, Sber's downtime as a result of inadequate connection quality decreased by a factor of 3.5. The contemporary technology enabled Sber to achieve a high level of stability for systems across almost all communication channels and to optimize related expenses by 30-60%.

Labor input related to the installation and configuration of new devices decreased significantly. Before, a qualified engineer was required to manually configure each network device. Now, configuration takes place automatically when connecting the device to the network. The operation and technical maintenance of the device park have also been significantly simplified. It is not necessary to adjust each device individually to carry out a mass settings update. Thanks to the broad range of monitoring possibilities, the technology reduced reaction time in cases of technical issues. The structure of SD-WAN facilitates the constant enhancement of management algorithms, traffic analysis, and connection maintenance, which provides us with many years of technical advantages in this field.

The implementation of SD-WAN technologies is an evolutionary step toward the network of the future. We are the first Russian financial institution to build a high-tech network based purely on Russian-manufactured equipment. In the next two years, we plan to reach 30,000 connected devices.

Andrey Kovalenko

Managing Director, Director of User Solutions, Sberbank

SD-WAN is a communications network-building technology occupying the highest level in the network interaction model that combines almost all network technologies. The main features of the network are virtualization of network interaction functions handling traffic control, separation of the administration and transmission levels, ensuring centralized configuration management, and Zero Touch Provisioning, a function that excludes the initial setup of the terminal equipment. The network can be founded on communication channels based on almost any technologies or operators. The network will determine the best and most stable traffic transmission path. The network consists of an extremely reliable management cluster, traffic aggregation nodes, and terminal network devices. The components interact according to specially designed secure protocols, which makes the system a single complex that guarantees a reliable and secure data exchange between a large number of consumers.

*B4Com Tech data.