* Traffic-shaping vendors keep busy
The WAN traffic management companies have been busy introducing new appliance models and making software enhancements. The likes of Allot Communications, Packeteer and Peribit Networks are addressing the following enterprise trends and requirements with their latest offerings:
* Greater volumes of aggregated traffic at central sites.
* Increased numbers of distributed enterprise remote sites.
* The need for networks to take automated action when certain conditions exist to maintain performance parameters and contain viruses.
Packeteer has addressed the last issue with an intriguing “adaptive” capability in its latest management software release, which we’ll discuss in the next newsletter. But first, a summary of the latest hardware advancements:
* Allot has expanded its NetEnforcer product line, bumping performance from 1G bit/sec full-duplex (2G bit/sec total) to 2.5G bit/sec full-duplex (5G bit/sec total). The company said last week that the NetEnforcer AC-2500 will ship in the first quarter of next year starting at $50,000 list.
“This will allow organizations to make use of OC-48 interfaces on their routers rather than having to deploy multiple appliances to do so,” Allot Chairman Yigal Jacoby said .
Allot’s “big” box is aimed at very large enterprise hub sites, universities and service providers.
* Packeteer trumped its own 500M bit/sec full-duplex 9500 Series appliance, announced in April, when it launched the 10000 Series this week. The device, shipping now, offers 1G bit/sec full-duplex (2G bit/sec total) throughput and a reported 1.4 million concurrent traffic flows. Aimed at similar installations as the Allot NetEnforcer, the Packeteer 10000 Series lists for $36,000 and up.
* Peribit last week announced a low-end member to its Sequence Reducer (SR) compression/traffic-management equipment line for smaller remote sites, to begin shipping this month. The SR-15, which supports connections to two other sites at 64K to 1M bit/sec speeds, lists for $1,895.
Peribit’s next model up, the SR-20, can connect to five other sites at 64K to 2M bit/sec speeds. It lists for $2,920, potentially saving you $1,100 or so at each remote site. The savings could add up if you have lots of sites that don’t need multiple WAN connections to other places. Peribit’s high-end product operates at 155M bit/sec.
