WAN optimization -- Benefits and options

More WAN traffic than ever -- due to branch office expansion, applications like VoIP and video, and data center consolidation -- means more focus on WAN capabilities. The WAN is no longer just expensive network plumbing; it has become an asset that savvy network managers can leverage to benefit their businesses' bottom line. Technologies and products are emerging to allow users to manipulate WAN traffic for increased efficiency and throughput, but the options are many and varied. Our special report examines what's available and how to select what will work best in your environment.

  SPECIAL REPORT

WAN optimization strategies: Making the right decision
WAN optimization products are flooding the market, and choosing one can be tricky. We examine the options and see how a few companies with different needs found the right technology to solve their WAN traffic problems.

Expert webcast: WAN performance optimization

In this webcast, expert Eric Siegel of the Burton Group explains the technologies available for increasing WAN performance and how you can start implementing them.

WAN optimization: Making the business case
WAN optimization promises boosted data throughput and faster network response times. That, coupled with the prospect of saving money, often makes the business case for WAN optimization nearly a no-brainer.

The ABCs of WAN optimization: A guide to optimization and acceleration technologies
You can't implement a useful WAN management strategy without understanding the many facets of technology that are available. This technical article outlines and explains the differences between compression, application acceleration, caching, load balancing, bandwidth shaping, route optimization, quality of service, and more.

Application acceleration: An introduction to data reduction
Data reduction is one technique -- along with compression, quality of service, latency mitigation and loss mitigation – that can be used to achieve application acceleration and improve WAN performance. In this article, we take a closer look at how data reduction works.

Application acceleration: Compression and centralization
Application acceleration has made it possible to move to a centralized architecture while optimizing the WAN at the same time. This is due to a key facet of application acceleration: compression. This article explains how compression techniques work and provides advice for considering application acceleration and compression for WAN optimization.

WAN optimization and bottlenecks: Is the WAN really the weakest link?
"How much traffic" is no longer a good enough measure of WAN bandwidth. Today's ever-increasing expectations for data transfer rates require increased attention to WAN optimization. This article explains how applications-level traffic monitoring can lead to better WAN optimization strategies.

This was first published in September 2006

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