Direct Internet Access (DIA) in SD-WAN enables which of the following?

• A. It routes all branch traffic via HQ
• B. It does not affect latency
• C. It only works for VPN traffic
• D. It enables branch traffic to exit directly to the Internet via SD-WAN edges, reducing backhaul to HQ; benefits include lower latency and improved SaaS performance; considerations include security, policy enforcement, and eGRESS control

Answer: (D)

Direct Internet Access means branches can exit Internet-bound traffic directly at the SD-WAN edge rather than sending everything back to headquarters. This local Internet egress reduces backhaul over the WAN, which cuts delay and improves performance for SaaS and other cloud services because traffic doesn’t have to traverse long paths to the data center. At the same time, it allows applying policy, security, and egress controls at the branch edge—through firewalls, URL filtering, threat prevention, and other security services—under centralized orchestration. In short, DIA optimizes how branch users reach the Internet by keeping traffic local, boosting performance while still enforcing security and policy. The other options describe backhauling, false latency effects, or limiting DIA to VPN traffic, which doesn’t reflect its real scope.