Multilink Aggregation

Multilink aggregation is the process of merging several physical internet links into a single logical link that offers a higher throughput. Adaptiv | Edge can connect to one or more broadband underlays from any Internet Service Provider. Businesses can use the combined bandwidth required to access cloud apps and other SD-WAN sites by connecting up to eight different underlays. Adaptiv Connect uses session-based steering for multilink aggregation, optimizing network performance by dynamically distributing data flows across multiple links. This approach enables the aggregation of available link bandwidths without fragmenting individual sessions, ensuring that each data flow (or session) is assigned to a single link at any given time, while multiple sessions utilize all available links collectively.

Multilink aggregation has key benefits:

Aggregated Throughput: By distributing individual sessions across multiple links, the solution achieves the combined throughput of all links, leveraging their total capacity for overall traffic. This enables a higher effective bandwidth than any single link alone, benefiting applications with high aggregate data demands.
Improved Performance over Packet-Based Aggregation: Unlike packet-based aggregation, which distributes individual packets of a single flow across links, session-based steering avoids the need for reassembly at the destination. Packet-based approaches can be constrained by the slowest link, impacting performance due to packet delays. In contrast, session-based steering assigns each session to a single link, avoiding these delays and enhancing performance consistency.
Resilience and Failover: Our SD-WAN dynamically shifts sessions to healthier links as conditions change, ensuring stable and reliable connections. If one link experiences latency or packet loss, traffic can be shifted to more reliable links, maintaining optimal performance.

To learn more about how multilink aggregation is a beneficial feature for businesses, see Multilink Aggregation Business Use Cases.