TODAY'S TOP STORIES:
WAN TECHNOLOGIES
The Internet will eventually render conventional WANs obsolete. We assess alternative technologies, many based on MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching), that will let IT link remote locations quickly and inexpensively.
Few users rave when application traffic traversing a beefy corporate LAN meets a typical WAN. Even fewer enterprises are willing to spend to fix the problem. The answer: Make the most of expensive wide-area pipes with optimization appliances.
Today's WAN optimizers readily deliver tangible performance benefits -- the differences lie in network integration, security, management and reporting. We tested products from Blue Coat, Cisco, Citrix and Silver Peak. See how they fared on our live test network.
We sent out an RFI for our fictional company, which is considering a move from frame relay to MPLS. Our Editor's Choice is a mature offering with a wealth of integrated options. But was it the best value?
Momentum is picking up for MPLS in core service provider and enterprise networks.
The produce seed maker and distributor needed to squeeze every last bit out of its multi-site, multi-country WAN pipe without expensive bandwidth upgrades. Discover why the solution grew on the company very quickly.
Shunra's impressive transaction analysis should eliminate guesswork when it comes to planning network changes and predicting application performance on the WAN.
After a close call with its VoIP traffic at its Times Square location, Virgin is now upgrading the 3 Mbps MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) WAN link at headquarters to 10 Mbps and preparing to add more bandwidth-heavy applications to its MPLS WAN.
Whether you're connecting remote users to a single storage facility or forcing data backups to a central site in a distributed storage environment, you need a strong SAN-over-WAN implementation.
Carrier Ethernet promises higher data rates, more flexible provisioning and lower cost than conventional WAN technologies, but coverage is spotty. We spoke with Qwest and surveyed our readers about the state of the market.
We tested four accelerators, which use caching, compression and QoS to speed data across your network. But only one earned our Editor's Choice award, thanks mainly to its superior management software.
Startup will offer managed MPLS services by reselling large carriers' wholesale services.
WAN technologies are expected to deliver higher levels of management control.
The music equipment retailer, which runs its point-of-sale and inventory traffic on a vintage frame relay WAN, has added a pilot IP VPN with hopes of phasing out the frame relay WAN altogether.
Performance-management systems give network engineers a deeper understanding of how valuable WAN bandwidth is used.
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