Defined: SD-WAN Subscriber Network and Service Provider Network

The Subscriber Network is defined as the network belonging to the Subscriber or another organization authorized by the Subscriber (such as a partner, cloud provider, etc.) that is connected to the Service Provider at two or more UNIs and accesses the SD-WAN Service.

The Service Provider Network represents the set of components and logical constructs used by the Service Provider in order to provide an SD-WAN Service. It includes SD-WAN Edges, Underlay Connectivity Services, Tunnel Virtual Connections, and a number of control and management functions, services, and servers.

The name “Service Provider Network” indicates that the SD-WAN Service Provider integrates all of these components into the SD-WAN Service offering, but does not make a statement about the owner or operator of any given component—all components may be owned and operated by the Service Provider, or some components (or even all) may be owned and operated by one or more other organizations.

The Service Provider Network can be completely opaque, that is, the Subscriber connects to the Service Provider Network at the UNIs and the SD-WAN Service provides the desired connectivity, but the Subscriber has no insight into any of the underlying components. Alternatively, the Subscriber can agree with the Service Provider that some of the Subscriber’s existing (i.e., previously contracted) Underlay Connectivity Services (see section 6.6) are to be used with the SD-WAN Service. In that case, these Underlay Connectivity Services are known to the Subscriber; however, other underlying components of the SD-WAN Service may remain opaque.