Array Networks adds application acceleration

Array Networks this month will add application performance features to its suite of traffic management products with a platform the company says will accelerate the delivery of content from Web sites and data centers.

The Array TM-X suite combines multiple features, such as link load balancing, monitoring and reporting, network address translation (NAT), port forwarding and disaster recovery. The new platform will work with Array’s ArrayOS TM software, now available in Version 6.0. The company says combining the new platform with the enhanced software will secure application delivery.

“The role these products play in providing high performance and secure delivery of applications makes them a critical component of any IT system,” Lynn Nye, president and founder of research firm APM Advisors, said in a statement.

Link load balancing enables ArrayOS to perform policy-based routing, which the company says gives administrators choices when selecting routes. For example, routing choices can be based not only on the destination IP address, but also on entire flow parameters, such as source IP address, source port, destination IP address and destination port.

The software can adjust the flow of traffic across multiple ISP links based on responsiveness, using a new shortest-response-time algorithm.

Array also added monitoring and reporting capabilities that the company says provide “hundreds of pre-configured and custom reports” on many aspects of traffic management and application acceleration. Network managers can get snapshots of their network or get analysis over time of their application traffic trends.

Plus, the company added NAT and port-forwarding features. A new static NAT capability allows traffic to be forwarded both inbound and outbound without any port changes, and improvements to port forwarding allow inbound traffic through without making changes to the IP address, which ensures client information is directly provided to the specific applications that require it, Array says.

Other new features include security enhancements such as application firewall rules and dynamic rules support. In terms of port and link redundancy, the software now has the ability to back up a link or port in the same unit without interrupting network connectivity.

ArrayOS TM 6.0 is available for immediate delivery. Array TM-X will be available in June.