NetScaler this week is expected to release a tool designed to simplify the deployment of its application acceleration hardware.
The AppTune tool uses templates for configuring a NetScaler box to speed traffic for applications such as those from Oracle and SAP. The templates can speed integration time by simplifying the minutia of tuning and configuring enterprise software to interoperate with a NetScaler box, the vendor says.
NetScaler’s appliances usually sit in front of an application server farm or data center, and provide services such as load balancing, content caching, SSL acceleration, data compression and TCP/IP session termination. Performing these tasks on an appliance lets servers run faster by freeing up their resources, the vendor says. Compression also shrinks the bandwidth an application consumes on a LAN or WAN. The NetScaler 9000 appliances include multi-port 10/100/1000M bit/sec interfaces and hard drive-based caching, and run on high-end Intel processors.
NetScaler’s products compete with hardware from Crescendo Networks, F5 Networks, Foundry Networks, Radware and Redline Networks.
IT staff at the corporate offices of 7-Eleven Stores, which was an AppTune beta tester, use the tool to speed the delivery of Web-based forms and Microsoft Exchange data, and back-end mainframe applications. The company runs a network of two data centers and 40 regional offices that connect to 6,000 stores nationwide. AppTune lets 7-Eleven’s network staff configure the NetScaler box based on intricate and deep-level application settings, says Eric Walters, manager of network services for the Dallas company. In the past, configuring the correct compression settings, caching settings and response time settings for specific application modules and content was tricky, he says.
“We’re network people,” Walters says. “We know how applications are supposed to perform on the network. But the application people know the ins and outs of the software better than we do.”
The template-based setup lets 7-Eleven staff get a NetScaler box in tune with an application quickly. This eliminates weeks of trial-and-error testing, he adds.
“It’s a real advantage to have some pre-defined settings to work with,” he says.
AppTune supports enterprise software packages from JD Edwards, Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and Seibel. It also can be used to configure a NetScaler box to accelerate Microsoft Outlook and IBM Lotus Notes traffic.
AppTune is a free download for NetScaler customers with a current support contract.
