NaaS vs SDN vs SASE: what's the difference?

The world of big tech is many things: dynamic, exciting, unexpected… But it's also (whisper it) got a jargon problem.

Take the question of networking. If you're looking to simplify your network and unlock some cost savings in the process, the last thing you want is to be confronted by a swarm of acronyms. Yet this is the situation that many non-specialists find themselves in.

NaaS. SDN. SASE. They're all cloud-based networking services, right? But what, exactly, is the difference?

It's an important question for businesses because tech and finance are so tightly bound. Questions of performance, latency, bandwidth and so on aren't just technical. You don't want an agile solution just so IT can watch it run smoothly like a model train set.

No, these things matter because they contribute to the overall operational efficiency of your business. If you get a solution that doesn't quite fit, the whole of your company suffers – not just IT.

At Ascend, we see this happen all the time. There's a language barrier in the tech world that needs to be overcome if all stakeholders are going to make informed decisions.

That's why we've put together this layperson's guide to software-defined networking – in particular, the differences between NaaS, SDN and SASE. We hope it sheds some light on the issue.

What is NaaS?

Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) is a way of simplifying networks that exists to solve a problem.

Traditionally, a company would have network hardware on their premises. On the plus side, this gave companies total administrative control over their networks. But hardware has a problem. It's difficult to make any alterations without spending money.

Whether it's a repair, an upgrade or a like-for-like replacement, servers can't be quickly and easily modified. This leads to downtime and unexpected costs.

What's more, hardware isn't easily scaleable. If you sell cocktail shakers, your business will probably see an uptick in sales at the start of summer. But your network is giving you the same bandwidth as the rest of the year. In other words, you can't be flexible about the allocation of your resources.

Enter NaaS. With this model, you rent networking services from a cloud vendor and pay on a monthly basis.

As with other kinds of "aaS" – Software-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, and so on – the need for hardware is eliminated. All you need is software to run your network – and that software can be accessed from any device in any location.

IT is no longer responsible for maintenance, which is now covered by the cloud provider. As well as freeing up time, this allows businesses to redirect the money they would have spent on hardware upgrades.

But IT still plays a key role. Now that the network has been virtualised, they can reconfigure networks on demand, scaling up and down to meet real-time requirements.

During a busy season, you can effectively rent more bandwidth from a vendor. With an on-premise model, this isn't possible.

That's NaaS – so, how is it different from SASE?

NaaS vs SASE

NaaS is a service package that virtualises and outsources hardware. It's not built for security but can be integrated into security platforms such as SASE.

SASE is pronounced "sassy" and stands for "secure access service edge". Like NaaS, it's a network architecture model. But it serves different business goals.

It was introduced as the solution to a problem. In the old days, geographic spread was a problem for networking. If your company had one branch in Omaha and another in Alaska, chances are you'd have to deal with slow connections, regular drop-outs and gaps in security.

This isn't the same problem that NaaS seeks to solve. NaaS is about handing over the reins of your network to a third party. SASE is about improving network performance across wide-area networks.

With SASE, employees can access corporate workloads from a distance with improved speed, reliability and privacy.

Differences and similarities

Both NaaS and SASE are emerging network models that seek to make companies more efficient and more cost-effective. They improve the user experience for employees and let businesses refocus their energies.

However, they are built for different ends. SASE wants to optimise your network performance and data security, especially if your business network is spread across a wide geographical area. NaaS, by contrast, relieves companies of the burden of building and maintaining their own network.

What is SDN?

Another kind of virtual networking platform is SDN, which stands for software-defined network.

It functions something like a traffic cop for data, using software-based controllers to communicate with network hardware and keep data packets moving across the network.

Compared with traditional networking methods, SDN is fast and flexible. Developers no longer have to manually program chains of hardware. Instead, they can direct the traffic through a single, centralised, software-based controller.

Like SASE, it seeks to optimise the flow of data across a network. But SDN is just one component of SASE, which bundles together SDN, cloud security and edge computing.

Moreover, SDN is the technology that underpins NaaS. However, NaaS builds upon this foundation by simplifying access and management for users.

Which is best for my business?

Choosing between SASE, NaaS and a traditional SDN depends entirely on where your business is now and where you want it to be. However, NaaS is the best option if your focus is on reducing hardware costs, making your payments more predictable and allocating network resources with greater flexibility.

In short, NaaS gives you greater freedom.  It's flexible. It's scalable. It's pay-as-you-go, not pay-forever. And it lets you allocate and reallocate bandwidth and other network resources flexibly, meeting demand as it arises.

Based in Ireland, Ascend Cloud Solutions provides expert cloud computing advisory services to organisations around the globe. As part of our commitment to offering end-to-end, ultra-agile cloud solutions, we're working hard to create a transformative cloud network and management infrastructure for Ireland's digital-first businesses. Watch this space to learn more.