Product Steelhead Wide Area Application System (WAAS) NX appliances SG8100, SG200, Director Vendor Riverbed Technology Cisco Systems Silver Peak Systems Blue Coat Systems Version tested 4.0.0a 4.0.12.b33 2.0.0.0_15619 5.1.4.21.29594 Price Steelhead 5520, $70,000; Steelhead 3520, $45,000; Steelhead 1020, $12,500; Central Management Console 8000, $5,000. Total as tested, $190,000. WAE-7371, $120,000; WAE-612, $22,000; WAE-512, $14,800; Central Manager, $11,800. Total as tested, $303,400. NX-7500, $65,000; NX-5500, $45,000; NX-2500, $10,000; GX-1000, $10,000. Total as tested, $185,000. SG8100, $51,200; SG200, $5,500; Director, $18,000. Total as tested, $182,700. Pros Top performer; excellent reporting; easy-to-use interface. Strong in CIFS performance, compression, concurrent connections; good reporting via new dashboard. Long list of predefined application types; good reporting; easy-to-use interface. Long list of optimized applications; strong SSL performer. Cons External marking required for QoS tests; SSL optimization not supported yet. Sped up HTTP less than some other devices; SSL optimization not supported yet. Performance in some tests didn't match vendor's results. Some software issues in testing; central management not as unified as in others. Score 4.65 4.43 4.31 3.85

Category Weight Riverbed Cisco Silver Peak Blue Coat Performance 45% 5 4.5 4.25 4.5 Functionality 20% 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 Manageability 20% 4.5 4.5 4.5 2.75 Usability 15% 4 4 4 2.75 Total score   4.65 4.43 4.31 3.85 Scoring key: 5: Exceptional; 4: Very good; 3: Average; 2: Below average; 1: Subpar or not available.