Packeteer brings SNA reliability to IP

PacketShaper offering delivers class of service, performance monitoring features.

By Marc Songini
Network World, 09/06/99

Packeteer is rolling out software for its PacketShaper device that promises to give time-sensitive, transaction-oriented IP traffic the same quality of service (QoS) previously available only with SNA networks.

The company's PacketShaper box has been outfitted with Web-enabled host access support and promises to deliver SNA QoS features, such as session-level class of service and response-time monitoring, to IP WANs. PacketShaper can recognize and classify up to 150 different types of Web-to-host traffic, including tn3270, tn5250 and 3270/5250-to-HTML emulation, Packeteer claims.

The product will help SNA users migrating to an IP network who don't want to sacrifice their SNA reliability and levels of service, Packeteer says. The company has established relationships with Web-to-host vendors, such as OpenConnect, Esker, Attachmate and others, to help PacketShaper optimize its Web-to-host traffic control schemes, says Todd Krautkremer, Packeteer vice president.

A PacketShaper device, which is about the size of a VCR, sits between an Ethernet LAN and an IP router. From this vantage point, the device reads and classifies all the traffic types going in and out of the net, such as tn3270, tn5250, tn3287 print sessions and so on, Krautkremer says.

IS staff members use the browser-based PolicyConsole to configure the PacketShaper and implement policy, which is enforced by the Packeteer TCP Rate Control technology. This feature communicates with the servers and clients across the WAN and limits how much traffic they release into the network. The idea is to control congestion by not letting one type of traffic overwhelm another. PacketShaper can prioritize traffic based on the application; for instance, the device will guarantee that a user executing a crucial business transaction gets access to more bandwidth than a user who is just browsing the Web.

PacketShaper has worked well for one Kansas City enterprise net customer running tn3270 sessions to users in South America. Hoechst Marion Roussel, a pharmaceutical business, needs to ensure its roughly 1,000 tn3270 users get priority to their applications, says Tom Clark, a senior analyst at the company. After the two-day installation of PacketShaper, he saw a 30% increase in the performance of the tn3270 network.

The PacketShaper with Web-enabled host access support is available now in three models, all supporting different WAN speed connections. The 1000 series, which handles traffic at speeds up to 384K bit/sec, costs $4,000; the 2000 series, which manages bandwidth on T-1/E-1 connections, sells for $8,000; and the 4000 series, which supports T-3/E-3 links, is priced at $16,000.

Packeteer : www.packeteer.com