* NetScaler Secure Application Accelerator
NetScaler is continuing its attack on the Secure Sockets Layer remote access market with the launch of an SSL appliance designed for small and midsize businesses.
Called Secure Application Accelerator, the three-model appliance is a scaled down version of the company’s Secure Application Networking Systems product that also supports SSL remote access.
The device differs from other SSL remote access gear made by companies such as Aventail, Netilla, Whale and others in that it is based on devices that were primarily intended to speed up SSL sessions with Web servers. Remote access was added later. Equipment from the other companies focus on SSL remote access rather than to improve the efficiency of back-end servers.
NetScaler’s appliances work by splicing together SSL connections with remote clients and servers, maintaining persistent TCP/IP links to both. The gear then uses and reuses these connections to streamline transactions and reduce delay.
In the case of the new device, NetScaler has left out the optimization of SSL sessions between the appliance and the backend servers, but does optimize links between the appliance and remote machines. The appliance also lacks Layers 4 through 7 traffic-management features of NetScaler’s higher end equipment.
The three Secure Application Accelerator models are the 9050 and 9100, which share a hardware platform, and the 9500. The 9050 and 9100 both have two 10/100 Ethernet ports. The 9050 supports up to 400 SSL transactions per second and up to 250 concurrent users and costs $10,000. The 9100 supports up to 2,000 SSL transactions per second and up to 1,000 concurrent users and is priced at $17,500.
The 9500 has four 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and supports up to 4,400 transactions per second and up to 2,500 concurrent users. It costs $25,000. All the Accelerators are available this month.
