How should the network architect extend on‑premises SD‑WAN branch connectivity into AWS?

The most effective way to extend on-premises SD-WAN branch connectivity into AWS is by deploying virtual WAN Edge devices (vEdge or cEdge) directly within the AWS cloud environment. These virtual routers act as endpoints for the SD-WAN fabric, allowing branches to establish secure, optimized tunnels directly to the AWS VPCs. This approach leverages the full capabilities of SD-WAN, including intelligent path selection, application-aware routing, and centralized management, for cloud-hosted resources. Creating virtual instances of vSmart Cloud is incorrect because vSmart controllers are the control plane of the SD-WAN fabric, not data plane devices for connecting branches to cloud resources. Creating GRE tunnels from each branch over the Internet is a less secure and less scalable solution that lacks the advanced features of SD-WAN. Installing the AWS Cloud Router in the main data center is not a standard or efficient way to extend SD-WAN to AWS; the Cloud Router is typically used for connecting on-premises networks to AWS, but not as the primary SD-WAN extension point.