What if everybody called a robin by a different name? It would be downright annoying for birdwatchers to talk about robins because folks wouldn’t know if they were talking about the same bird. They would first have to describe the bird before they could be sure they were referred to the same critter. The same is true with application delivery system (ADS) technologies. Every vendor calls its technology by a different name, so there is no way to compare ADS solutions without first wasting a lot of time describing them.

That’s why we came up with the Field Guide to Application Delivery Systems . This guide sets out a common nomenclature for ADS device types and the technologies they deploy. With this common language there’s no need to waste time determining if you and I are talking about the same ADS solution.

As an example of what’s in the Field Guide, last week we introduced Distributed ADS as a single term covering wide area data services (WADS), WAN optimization controllers (WOCs), WAN accelerators, wide area file services (WAFS), and QoS boxes – and Centralized ADS to cover application front ends (AFEs), web application front ends (WAFEs), and application delivery controllers. The Field Guide should get ADS customers and vendors on the same page and eliminate the head scratching.

In all there are 27 ways to improve how applications operate over the WAN. Each method solves a narrow set of problems - and no method works for all application classes (i.e., protocols). The report contains detailed tables (pages 19 to 22) defining which problem each technology addresses and upon which protocol each works its magic. This can be a real time saver when you are trying to figure out what ADS technology to apply to your particular set of problems and applications.

Check it out at the NetForecast website under Reports: Field Guide to Application Delivery Systems NFR5085 .