WAN acceleration offers huge payoff

Product Test and Buyer's Guide This newsletter is sponsored by NetApp BEYOND BACKUP: DISK-TO-DISK BACKUP COMES OF AGE Assessing the wide array of D2D options can be daunting. In this paper, we compare disk backup solutions and offer guidance for evaluating the different types of advanced data protection solutions and provide guidance for identifying the solutions that will meet your needs. Product Test and Buyer's Guide, 08/14/07 By David Newman Imagine walking into the CIO's office tomorrow and saying, "I can cut our WAN consumption by as much as 80 times, speed file transfers as much as 45 times and make our Windows users a whole lot happier." Think you'd get the CIO's attention? Those aren't just idle claims. Seven months of rigorous testing showed us why application acceleration is such a hot area: These devices really work. We tested boxes from Blue Coat Systems, Cisco, Riverbed Technology and Silver Peak Systems in a true enterprise context, with a massive test bed pushing data over multiple T-3 and T-1 links (see "How we did it"). After pounding the systems with the most popular enterprise applications, we're inclined to believe the hype. Network World Storage Buyer's Guide Find the right products for your enterprise - fast. From a tape library to an on-line backup service to a complete, drop-it-in-place SAN Solution, check out this Buyer's guide. With over 200 products divided into specific categories, you can conduct side-by-side comparisons and make the best decision for your enterprise. Click here to go to the Storage Buyer's Guide now. Even if average speedups are "only" around 5 to 10 times, that's still a big improvement. With 31% of IT budgets eaten up by recurring monthly WAN costs, according to a recent Nemertes Research study, application acceleration promises potentially huge cost savings. Riverbed's Steelhead appliances outperformed the field in most tests, and won our Clear Choice award. But all these devices deserve serious consideration: Blue Coat's SG appliances for solid HTTP optimization; Cisco's Wide Area Application System (WAAS) for excellent compression, traffic transparency and interoperability with other devices; and Silver Peak's NX appliances for strong scalability and intuitive traffic reporting tools. For more on this test, please click here.

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Contact the author: Newman is president of Network Test, an independent test lab in Westlake Village, Calif. He can be reached at dnewman@networktest.com. This newsletter is sponsored by NetApp BEYOND BACKUP: DISK-TO-DISK BACKUP COMES OF AGE Assessing the wide array of D2D options can be daunting. In this paper, we compare disk backup solutions and offer guidance for evaluating the different types of advanced data protection solutions and provide guidance for identifying the solutions that will meet your needs. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007