Speed and scalability are key attributes that WAN optimization and application acceleration vendors are touting at the Interop trade show and conference, going on this week in Las Vegas. A10 Networks, Citrix Systems and F5 Networks are among vendors displaying their latest wares at the show, and each is focused on satisfying the performance needs of today's most demanding enterprise data centers. (Compare Application Acceleration and WAN Traffic Optimization products.)

Here are some of the highlights:

* Citrix is introducing a new family of NetScaler devices that it says can deliver more than 10Gbps throughput while concurrently providing acceleration, traffic compression, and integrated Web application firewall security. The NetScaler MPX Web application delivery devices rely on multi-core processors to boost throughput. Two models will be generally available at the end of April, the MPX 15000 and MPX 17000. Each has either four or eight processors. NetScaler MPX lets data centers support 2.5 times the number of Web applications per appliance, and the new devices require nearly 50% less power than previous appliances, the company says. NetScaler MPX pricing begins at $180,000 per pair.

* A10 Networks is announcing that its AX accelerators can be stacked to provide higher capacity. My colleague Tim Greene reports that up to eight of A10’s AX devices can be tied together to load balance and provide more than 30Gbps of throughput. In a clustered configuration, one AX is designated as the master device that distributes traffic among the rest. If one device fails, its predetermined pair takes over with about a one-second delay, the company says.

* F5 Networks is teaming with Ixia, a vendor that provides IP performance test systems, to showcase the capabilities of its Viprion application delivery controller at Interop. Geared for service providers and large enterprises, Viprion is F5’s modular hardware platform that can handle 36Gbps of Layer 7 throughput, 1 million connections per second, and 200,000 SSL transactions per second, F5 says. Meanwhile, Ixia’s Layer 7 IxLoad test application uses real-world subscriber modeling to simulate typical traffic patterns that flow through data centers. IxLoad can deliver high density 10Gbps line-rate with Layer 7 traffic, the companies say. Using Ixia’s testing technology, the vendors will show how F5’s Viprion handles high-volume Web and video traffic -- as well as how its modular design fits into space-conscious data centers.

Ann Bednarz is associate news editor at Network World.