WAN acceleration for Data centers: How can it help you?

Your Data center works rather well, but as soon as videos, audio, and other resource-intensive files and applications are necessary for work, becomes obvious that the network works not so quickly as worked once.

What can you make?

You can add a band, but it will increase your operating expenses. It is an infinite problem – when you need to expand a band again, you will be forced to purchase more channels, and it will increase expenses.

But, there is an alternative. You can look towards acceleration of WAN for your Data center.

What is the acceleration of WAN?

Acceleration of WAN squeezes and deletes the repeating information from a data stream which are sent through your WAN network. It gives you the chance much quicker to send data through the existing bandwidth without loss of speed or performance. WAN accelerators are devices which are installed on the channel in such a way that data are processed on both ends of a flow. Acceleration of WAN on the present is shown when you have an opportunity to set rules which will define what part of a data stream has a priority and should be transferred quicker than others. Having an opportunity to control what files or data to miss first of all and to transfer on maximum speed, WAN accelerators allow you to obtain important data as fast as possible and with a high priority where it is necessary, at the same time, giving the chance to other data to work in the normal mode.

As Acceleration of WAN helps work with Hitachi Consulting

Shisko Michael, the director of IT of department of Hitachi Consulting in Dallas, uses already three years WAN accelerators for connection of the remote offices of the company scattered worldwide.

"We began to think of it when we began to receive complaints about bad work of some applications, and that the internal network and access to files slowed down", Michael says.

The problem was aggravated a few years ago when thanks to absorption the company began to grow. "We began work in the company where everything was centralized, but in process of growth and merger of several companies, we were forced to expand infrastructure on additional offices", - Michael added. "The companies which were absorbed used direct access in the Internet earlier, but then began to receive it far off from our central office. And it slowed down their work."

Trying to solve this problem and to increase network performance for remote offices, Hitachi studied acceleration of WAN and tested several solutions of producers, including Riverbed Technology, Silver Peak Systems Inc. and others.

Hitachi was selected at first by PacketShaper from Packeteer (Blue Coat Systems belongs now), but understood that though PacketShaper and increased network functioning speed, it after all "to ponastoyashchy did not surprise us", according to Michael.

When expanded with Hitachi the offices to Europe, the network slowed down again.

At that moment specialists of Hitachi looked more deeply and understood that the market considerably changed since their first tests 18 months ago. "We found out that acceleration of all that is in WAN network is incapable to solve all problems and that some applications to which we provided a necessary band just took away it, slowing down work", Michael says.

Soon after that, the Hitachi company got acquainted with technologies of acceleration of WAN from Blue Coat which allowed administrators to set rules for network traffic in such a way that critical files received the top priority while less important files had a priority below. Using these technologies, administrators received understanding that it is transferred on their network and could prioritize traffic. "We could accelerate what we found necessary, without accelerating the rest", Michael told.

For the last year, on Hitachi network about 20 devices of acceleration of WAN from Blue Coat were installed, providing to administrators control of which they dreamed. Devices service about 1600 employees worldwide, he says.

According to Michael, a basic reason of why it is necessary to consider acceleration of WAN, a large amount of difficulties which cannot be solved using simple adding of bandwidth is. "Acceleration of WAN should be considered at least when you intend to spend more money for a band", - Michael told.

At the same time were as well financial advantages of acceleration of WAN. It was going to spend for IT in addition $ dollars 9000 a month, or $ dollars 325000 within three years to connect more channels. "We paid for acceleration devices much the smaller amount", Michael noticed.

How did it occur?

"Users from the Trance Atlantic noticed considerable performance improvement", he tells. Users from the States, did not notice clear advantages as earlier they not so strongly suffered from delays in delivery in a long distance.

Michael says: "The main output which we received consists of our experiences that acceleration without visibility is not the sufficient solution".

Analysts: Use of acceleration of WAN – the growing trend.

According to analytical agency IDC, the market of delivery of WAN applications makes $ dollars 1 billion today and this market continues to grow.

Joe Shkorupa, analyst of Gartner Inc. from Stamford, says that use of solutions on acceleration of WAN is popular since the companies add branches and they need to maintain operability of the networks under the increasing loading.

"Initially, the idea was in that that to concentrate everything in data center and then to use the device which would solve the problems of applications caused by zaderzha and limitation of a band" Joe speaks. "But, as well as many others, this idea did not work".

Some network services, such as printing and IP addressing, were necessary for work on the place in branches for maintenance of efficiency of employees, even if the network is unavailable.

In many cases the key application should be available locally in branch in order that it could work, and this application should be located in the place that employees had to it continuous access, - Joe says. Many devices of acceleration of WAN have the opportunities allowing to place with themselves the necessary applications as guest now to support operability of branch even at emergence of problems with network.

Chris Silva, analyst of Forrester Research Inc. from Cambridge, told that need for acceleration of WAN is often dictated by working loading of network of the company – it even more sharply if your business relies on resource-intensive services, such as video training, audio-files, rich media, Web applications, etc.

"Acceleration of WAN squeezes them and forces to work again", - he says.

It is also useful in those countries or places where providers cannot expand with the TV set to you a band because of restrictions of the existing systems, Chris says.

The latests version of technologies where traffic contracts and then is prioritized as in case of Blue Coat, Riverbed and even Citrix Systems, are big advantage, he told.

It is popular because it makes economic sense in comparison with purchase of an additional band which is more expensive, Chris says. "You can take the existing IP a link, upgrade it and receive the same performance, as well as with an additional band, only for smaller money, even after you will give $5.000 or $10.000 for the end device".

"To decide to go what way, the company needs also to have introductory information from several key internal players. Usually it is solved by the head of department of Service of Network, but it is also very important to have opinion of two other sources – Department of implementation of applications because you need to understand what applications will work and with what priority, and Department of security. You need to be sure that the solution conforms to requirements of the regulator and that you offer rather good security", - Chris says.