A Direct to Net Approach Trumps Traffic Re-hauling

Some enterprises who use cloud vendors are subjected to traditional security problems with the use of vPOPs

Funny as it may seem, it is true that most of their workload revolves around managing network routing decisions. It is said that networking and infrastructure leaders sarcastically refer to themselves as Chief Hairpinning Officers. Hairpinning, or traffic re-hauling, a process where data that goes to the internet is sent back to the central branch for a security check.

Setting aside business productivity and placing security on priority, hairpinning has always been a burden on enterprises. With high maintenance WAN links and expensive MPLS connections, the industry leaders have depended on traffic re-hauling to hold their massive and distributed enterprises together, for the longest time.

The alignment of these network decisions has become complicated in the last few years, as more applications are migrating to the cloud. Security is imperative and hairpinning is considered to be inevitable. Most brands build an architecture that relies on hairpinning as a standard security stack at every branch location in the world. It can be complex and expensive.

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With a majority of global industry applications now in the cloud, experts believe a cloud network design that eliminates the more complicated traffic hauling is the best way to move forward. The silver lining is perhaps with the advancements of cloud technology; a direct-to-net security approach is highly encouraged.

Yet, some enterprises do not realize that they are choosing a cloud security solution that uses hairpinning architecture instead of a cloud-first approach to security.

The Repeated Security Complication 

Enterprises that hoped to get a better experience with direct to net security protection are helplessly ridden with the legacy network problems. Experts believe that cloud security vendors are making the mistake of replicating the traditional WAN design into their cloud solution. Cloud vendors are using a virtual point of presence (vPOP) that is actually a form of traffic backhauling and it drastically slows down the user experience.

Experts believe that several cloud vendors do not have a choice but to use vPOPs. It is because they rely on the public cloud to help with cloud security, which requires backhauling traffic. They are forced to use vPOPs to reduce complications like geo-blocking and content localization.

Expert Recommendation

Several vendors claim that traffic re-hauling and vPOPs are the only possible solution to a seamless and secured user experience, but it is not true.

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Apart from zero-trust models, enterprises can choose a high-performing cloud security company that embraces a direct-to-net model. It is important that they do not depend on the public cloud and vPOPs, and fully focus on streamlining traffic path, data security, and a seamless user experience.

The digitized era is set to get bigger and enterprises must look towards the optimization of their cloud applications and cloud security. Cybersecurity awareness with respect to hairpinning and vPOPs among cloud vendors is imperative. Experts recommend infrastructure leaders to deep dive into a data-centric and network awareness strategy for a better understanding of application traffic and a secure, cyber-threat-free cloud experience.