NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: STEVE TAYLOR AND JOANIE WEXLER ON WIDE AREA NETWORKING 11/04/04 Today's focus: Packeteer-shaped WANs learn to 'adapt'
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Traffic-shaping software gets smarter * Links related to Wide Area Networking * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Adtran New WAN access solution lowers overall connectivity costs! The new NetVanta 1224STR from ADTRAN combines a modular 56k to dual T1 DSU/CSU, 24-port managed Layer 2 Ethernet switch, full-featured IP router, stateful inspection firewall, VPN, and in a compact 1U chassis. Available at a price well below competing multi-box solutions, the NetVanta 1224STR will change the way you connect! Register to win a NetVanta 1224STR now!! http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=86063 _______________________________________________________________ WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO GET AHEAD? An IT recruiter outlines the actions you should take to advance your career. Learn how you can gather the enduring respect of colleagues, clients and business associates without coming off as pompous or self-serving. Click here to find out what you need to do to get ahead: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=86121 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Packeteer-shaped WANs learn to 'adapt' By Steve Taylor and Joanie Wexler Last time, we discussed some performance and price-point requirements that traffic management vendors Allot Communications, Packeteer and Peribit Networks have addressed with new appliances they are bringing to market. Now let's look at some of the software enhancements. In addition to shipping a 1G bit/sec full-duplex device for large hub sites, Packeteer has announced Packeteer 7, management software with a feature called Adaptive Response. The feature comprises a programmable set of rules (available in template format as plug-ins from the Packeteer Web site) that automatically identify and respond to network events impacting network performance, explains Jeff Barker, director of product management. A couple of ways Adaptive Response could be used: 1) Say you buy an MPLS-based IP VPN service. You set a policy in your Packeteer appliance to mark packets so that your carrier places them into a particular class of service (CoS) to achieve a certain performance level. Meanwhile, your appliance continually monitors all MPLS service levels. If the monitor discovers that a less-expensive CoS meets the required performance levels for your traffic, even temporarily, the appliance can dynamically change traffic markings so that packets end up in the least expensive class that still satisfies your performance requirement, saving you money. If performance then degrades, the appliance can automatically go back to marking traffic to the next highest class of service that achieves the required performance. 2) For so-called "second-level diagnostics," Adaptive Response will reportedly send an alert on abnormal activity - such as an unusually high number of host connections - but profile and store characteristics of the traffic flow. "So if the problem is transient, the diagnostic information is still there after the fact for troubleshooting the initial event," Barker says. "If it is telltale of a virus, for example, the engineer can limit the flow and alert the host administrators." Packeteer has also added Application Flow Monitoring to its software for a more in-depth view of a traffic flow's performance, including application response time and how much delay was attributable to the server(s) involved. Meanwhile, Peribit vice president of corporate marketing Mike Banic says that along with a new low-end appliance for more affordably serving volumes of remote sites (see previous newsletter), the company's PeriScope management software has been enhanced with more centralized policy-setting, configuration and reporting capabilities. PeriScope 5.0 allows enterprises to centrally configure and manage up to 2,000 distributed Peribit devices, he says, and a "My Peribit" portal lets administrators see at-a-glance, multiple reports, sliced and diced to their liking, of a cross-section of devices. For its part, Allot says that, with the forthcoming delivery of its high-end NetEnforcer AC-2500, discussed last time, it will release new software that includes support for additional protocols and enhanced security and reporting capabilities, but wasn't specific. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Allot exec predicts new demands for QoS Network World ISP News Report Newsletter, 08/25/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/isp/2004/0823isp2.html Users focus on optimizing, securing WANs Network World Wide Area Networking Newsletter, 08/24/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/frame/2004/0823wan1.html Peribit gear boosts WAN performance Network World, 06/28/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/062804peribit.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Steve Taylor and Joanie Wexler Steve Taylor is President of Distributed Networking Associates and Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Webtorials.Com. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to Webtorials.Com <http://www.webtorials.com/>, the first Web site dedicated exclusively to market studies and technology tutorials in the Broadband Packet areas of Frame Relay, ATM, and IP. He can be reached at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by SBC Gimme Shelter! Converged Services Spell Relief For Beleaguered Network Managers Switched IP networks are rapidly becoming the corporate communications architecture of choice. By converging voice, data and video onto IP telephony platforms and Virtual Private Networks, enterprises can supply bandwidth when and where end users need it, while significantly lowering administrative and equipment costs. Click here to download this Whitepaper now http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=85996 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the WAN newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/frame/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE NEW! Website dedicated to Networking for Small Business now available The editors of NW Fusion and PC World have combined all their expert advice, authority, and know-how into a powerful new tool for small businesses, the new Networking for Small Business website. Get news, how-to's, product reviews, and expert advice specifically tailored to your small business needs. Find help with Security, Broadband, Networking, Hardware, Software, and Wireless & Mobile technology at: <http://www.networkingsmallbusiness.com/> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? 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