Y
WAN OPTIMIZATION
ADDING
WOW
TO THE WAN
WAN optimization techniques
tweak bandwidth for better
network performance
and more.
data center. Th e costs of managing data at remote locations can be reduced. And remote users will benefi t from a more responsive network infrastructure, thereby increasing productivity.
Making the Most of Bandwidth Workforces are becoming increasingly dispersed, with employees needing network access from a wide range of locations and devices. Th at’s You can’t be too rich, too thin or — in
today’s business environment — have too much bandwidth. How to achieve the fi rst two goals is anybody’s guess, but fortunately the third is well within reach, thanks to WAN optimization technologies.
Traditionally used to speed communications among branch offi ces and headquarters locations, WAN optimization controllers (aka WAN optimizers) use data compression,
information caching and other techniques to keep data volumes to a minimum and reduce latencies over wide-area communication links.
Th e result? Organizations can improve performance while delaying or even avoiding upgrades from traditional T1 or T3 WAN services to pricier optical networks.
In addition, the enterprise can consolidate resources in one central
performance demands. Th e performance advantages of appliances also makes them a top choice if data encryption is common and processing power is needed to compute encryption keys.
More recently, manufacturers have begun marketing virtual optimization solutions, software-only optimizers that reside on data center or branch- offi ce servers and tap into unused processing power. Th is option saves money by letting IT shops take
advantage of existing server investments rather than buying new hardware.
Flexibility is another advantage:
Network administrators can install and manage branch-offi ce optimization solutions from headquarters.
Here they can quickly perform upgrades or replacements.
A choice for organizations with fi eld staff and remote workers is a virtual solution designed for mobile computers.
Th ese small-footprint optimizers share the resources of a notebook to compress data, cache fi les and overcome the eff ects of performance-draining protocols.
“ Some people may think that when you go to the cloud, everything is all rosy,”
says Henry Tam, product marketing manager at WAN-optimization solutions vendor F5 Networks.
“However, many organizations are going to see the same performance issues as with a branch offi ce.”
• Mobile Computing | As smartphones and tablet PCs become commonplace in enterprises, WAN optimization technologies will be necessary to help remote staff work as effi ciently as those in the main offi ce.
• Widespread Video Applications | By freeing up bandwidth to eliminate transmission latency, WAN optimization solutions keep live and recorded videos running smoothly for internal and external audiences, notes Steve Schick, senior director of corporate communications for Blue Coat Systems.
As WAN optimization uses expand, traditional applications will also remain important. For example, data center consolidation goes a long way toward boosting the utilization rates and effi ciency of technology resources.
Keep in mind, this works only if competition for bandwidth and latencies, resulting from long-distance communications, don’t impair branch offi ces after local capacity moves to a corporate data center. Similarly, by eliminating redundant information before it fl ows to backup systems, WAN optimization helps organizations replicate data within allotted backup windows without ongoing investments in added WAN bandwidth.
Multiple Options
WAN optimization solutions come in a variety of form factors. Th e traditional form factor is an appliance, a box with integrated hardware and software that network administrators plug into WAN connections in data centers and branch offi ces.
Th e venerable hardware appliance remains the workhorse choice thanks
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possible. But with more data traveling between more people every day, the volume is starting to take its toll.
Unable to keep up with the demand, WANs are experiencing high latency and sluggish performance. Applications and multimedia fi les slow to a crawl, and end users can get frustrated.
What’s more, data backups, which already impact bandwidth and performance, can take even longer across a sluggish WAN. And a slow system raises security concerns when remote employees save local copies of fi les rather than work on the network. Th is can compromise confi dential data and weaken data monitoring processes.
To address these issues, many organizations purchase more bandwidth. However, that can chip away at budgets and may not even solve latency issues. A better solution:
Optimize your existing WAN, which can bring immediate improvements to performance and utilization — without the need to increase bandwidth.
Controllers Do More Makers of WAN optimization controllers (WOC) have pushed these devices from their branch-offi ce origins into new areas, says Paula Musich, senior analyst for enterprise networking and security at the technology advisory fi rm Current Analysis. “Th ere have been a couple of new wrinkles in the WAN optimization market as vendors anticipate increased demand from new types of traffi c traversing networks,” she says.
Th ese new types of applications fall into four main categories:
• Desktop Virtualization | Centralizing enterprise data and applications within data centers provides a number of management and security advantages. But WAN-connected end users often need the acceleration of optimization solutions to stay productive and avoid the frustration of slow screen refreshes.
• Cloud Computing | Maintaining productivity also becomes a challenge
/// BETWEEN
4- AND
10-FOLD
CAPACITY
BOOST
POSSIBLE
FROM
DEPLOYING WAN
OPTIMIZATION
TOOLS \\\
SOURCE: Juniper Networks
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Product makers and analysts also point out that virtual optimization solutions are a good fi t for cloud computing. Public-cloud customers typically don’t have the option of installing an appliance within their service provider’s infrastructure, but they can readily add a virtual WAN optimizer to a shared server and fully optimize network traffi c to and from the cloud.
Because virtual optimization solutions don’t run on dedicated hardware, performance may be slightly less than with a high-end appliance. Although the diff erences are real, the gap — typically 2 or 3 percent degradation — will be insignifi cant to many users.
Finally, a fourth form factor is now gaining traction in branch offi ces.
It’s an appliance that comes with enough processing power to also run a variety of local resources.
Th ese can include printer servers, Microsoft Active Directory servers, web fi lters and security applications.
Core Components
Th e magic of WAN optimization results from a combination of technologies that can minimize the volume of traffi c moving across networks and manage data fl ows as effi ciently as possible. An integral part of the mix is the ability to apply data compression algorithms to reduce the volume of data that must pass over long-distance links.
Th is keeps WANs from growing strained as demand increases, plus it speeds transmission times.
Data caching, typically at both the central data center and at branch offi ces, further enhances performance.
Th e fi rst time a user sends a large fi le from the main offi ce, the WAN- optimization solution stores a local, branch-offi ce copy on a hard drive within the appliance or on a network- connected storage resource.
Th en, any time anyone at a branch offi ce requests the information, they
round trips that take place between an end user making a request and the server that’s providing a fi le,” Kelly explains. “When you send a Microsoft SharePoint fi le from a server in New York to a server in San Francisco, for example, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of round trips that take place before that fi le is ever served.”
Optimization solutions take charge by handling many of the necessary acknowledgement messages that typically fl ow over the WAN.
As more audio and video data traverses networks, organizations have to do more than just keep network pipes clear. Th is time-sensitive information needs special treatment.
Built-in, Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities in optimization solutions do this a couple of ways. First, they limit available bandwidth to data packets that won’t be bothered by slight transmission delays. Second, receive the local copy instead of
initiating a transmission over the WAN.
Th e local and headquarters optimization solutions can communicate with each other to determine if the fi le has been revised and if so, send only the updates across the wire.
“With WAN optimization, organizations can eliminate 60 to 95 percent of the traffi c across any one link,” says Miles Kelly, senior director of product marketing for WAN optimization vendor Riverbed Technology.
Organizations can use these tools as well to mitigate performance slowdowns caused by Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Common Internet File System (CIFS), Server Message Block (SMB), Messaging Application Program Interface (MAPI) and other so-called “chatty”
network transport standards.
“Chatty is defi ned by the number of WAN OPTIMIZATION
HOW TO OPTIMIZE
PERFORMANCE FOR
VIRTUAL DESKTOPS
If you have remote offi ces and desktop virtualization is on your IT roadmap, remember that every keystroke and screenshot must traverse the WAN. Look for optimization technologies that are designed for these predominantly unidirectional data fl ows.
One important component is the ability to store user-specifi c information caches at branch locations and then send pointers when a user requires the information. “Th at way there’s less data traveling over the WAN, and response times are faster because the information is closer to the end user,” says Prashanth Shenoy, senior manager for borderless networks marketing at Cisco Systems.
Th is approach also frees up cache resources in the data center for use in applications with heavily multidirectional communications.
“We’re seeing a number of organizations that have been thinking about deploying virtual desktops now warming up to the idea because of WAN optimization,” Shenoy says.
Finally, optimization solutions can also act as an early-warning system for network administrators by constantly monitoring messages fl owing among headquarters, branch offi ces and remote users.
When transmissions begin to slow to unacceptable levels in a network segment, the optimization technology sounds an alarm before gridlock occurs. Some solutions even provide reports to help network administrators identify ongoing trouble spots.
Selection Criteria
Th e market for WAN optimization solutions is competitive, with a number of vendors off ering their own mix of features and capabilities.
How can network administrators sort through the options to fi nd the best solutions for their individual needs? Experts advise enterprises to consider a number of factors:
• Evaluate your overall application delivery needs. For example, if an organization sends large volumes of repetitive data over the WAN, then a solution with data deduplication
bandwidth, such as backup and disaster recovery systems, then look to solutions that accommodate critical throughput levels.
• Perform a network assessment.
In addition to profi ling applications, study overall traffi c patterns and demands currently placed on the WAN. “When the enterprise does a network assessment, many people are surprised by what’s eating up their bandwidth,”
F5 Networks’ Tam says.
• Talk to business project managers.
Network administrators often have a clear idea of upcoming IT initiatives that will likely soak up bandwidth. But if they don’t meet regularly with department chiefs, they could be blindsided by new initiatives. Foster ongoing communications with business managers to learn what new mobile applications or software-as-a service initiatives, for example, will be competing for WAN resources.
• Study vendor roadmaps.
Understand the growth potential of any optimization solution
beyond just bandwidth concerns and evaluate WAN optimizers that include other capabilities important to the organization, such as security or single sign-on.
“ Look at WAN optimization in a broader more holistic way versus just as a point solution,” Tam says.
• Don’t forget about scalability.
Determine if near-term plans for cloud computing, desktop virtualization or other strategies will bring hundreds (even thousands) of new users under the WAN optimization umbrella.
If so, the optimization solution must be able to scale quickly.
“ Many enterprises that have deployed WAN optimization to some degree now want to expand it to many more offi ces and users,”
says Prashanth Shenoy, senior manager for borderless networks marketing at Cisco Systems.
• Plan for the unexpected. WAN optimization technology is reliable but not infallible. To guard against impaired WAN performance, choose solutions that maintain network communications even if the optimization capabilities fail.
• Look for implementation ease. WOC appliances should install directly into the IT infrastructure with one end of the network wire coming into the appliance from the router and another wire going out to a switch. WOCs should also be able to automatically identify and connect with one another no matter where they reside on the WAN. Th e best products provide a central console so administrators can manage all devices from a single location.
• Choose native support for IPv6.
Although the latest Internet protocol version may not be an imperative for many organizations now, it will likely become a factor over the life of any optimization solution purchased within
WAN OPTIMIZATION BENEFITS
As the use of advanced applications and technologies increases, the WAN is becoming essential to many organizations. To enhance WAN performance, optimization solutions can deliver massive improvements to a wide range of top IT initiatives including:
• Accelerate application performance up to 50x, thereby increasing organizational productivity
• Consolidate in the branch and data center for a 6-month payback
• Optimize file sharing, web, e-mail and even voice video — all at the same time
• Leverage cloud economics without compromise
• Protect data more completely, with less cost and eff ort
• Solve problems up to 83 percent faster
Source: Riverbed Technology
VIDEO CONFERENCING
AND WAN USE
WAN optimization frees up bandwidth and improves network performance. However, for critical and time-sensitive applications such as video conferencing, more tuning of the network may be needed.
Video conferencing relies on time-sensitive transmission of data over the network. Any reduction in bandwidth allocation will result in signifi cant deterioration in media quality — the resulting picture and audio may be so poor that they’re unusable.
Blue Coat System’s PacketShaper is an example of a WAN optimization appliance that’s specifi cally targeted for such applications. PacketShaper allows network managers to allocate priority to certain traffi c over the network.
For example, a branch worker may be connected to headquarters on a 1 megabit per second uplink, but the bandwidth required for video conferencing is 800 kilobits per second. Th at doesn’t leave much room to do anything else.
If there’s no other traffi c in the pipe, video quality will be excellent, but as soon as one party shares a fi le with another, the battle for bandwidth begins. Th e eff ect is immediate degradation in video quality.
Th is is where a tool like PacketShaper steps in. Network managers can allocate a high priority to the video-
conferencing traffi c, which will ensure it gets the bandwidth it needs. If the fi le transfer has been deemed not time-sensitive, PacketShaper would still allow the transfer to take place but queue it up after the conference or at a lesser speed so that it won’t infringe on the video conference.
“WAN optimization allows companies to really embrace video technology, which was almost impossible before,” says Mark Urban, Blue Coat’s senior director of product marketing. “Now, live video can be delivered with no upgrade in bandwidth.”
the next few months, Tam points out.
“ Start by developing a good understanding of each application’s performance requirements
— which ones can or cannot endure some transmission delays,” Current Analysis’ Musich suggests. “Th en you can start looking for the approach that works best for you.”
WAN Optimization and Disaster Recovery For the large organization, a typical infrastructure scenario will include several centralized data centers that may even be located on diff erent continents to serve global operations. Over time, these hubs generally will expand the data they handle as well as the applications they push out to far-fl ung users.
In addition, as the enterprise consolidates to take advantage of data center capacity, many are migrating to virtualized environments.
Keep in mind, while this reduces the footprint, it also adds to network traffic.
In such a scenario, it can prove expensive to maintain eff ective replication of the data and provide adequate failover for applications. Th e result can leave the organization exposed without a viable disaster recovery approach, notes Nik Rouda, director of marketing, solutions and verticals at Riverbed Technology.
“We have seen an increased use of networks for disaster recovery in the past,” he adds.
“But it has been very expensive to perform backup and replication across the WAN.”
Th e cost associated with disaster recovery or DR is dramatically decreased on an optimized network.
Th is is because moving data is simpler and cheaper to do, which means DR strategies are more aff ordable.
But beyond cost factors, WAN optimization also alleviates the technical constraint of moving massive amounts of information over long distances.
“Th e challenge is to keep the data centers in sync with one another,” according to Mark Urban, senior director of product marketing at Blue Coat Systems, “Firms also want to be able to constantly move vast amounts of data between them.”
Center-to-center backup and replication becomes practical and feasible for organizations, and freeing bandwidth creates the opportunity to generate a high- availability network and resources. “More data can be protected,” Rouda says. “What’s more, backups can be more frequent and data recovered much faster, which makes recovering from a disaster easier and cheaper.”
The ability to recover quickly is not up for debate, Rouda says. He points to the recent spate of outages that several household-brand companies WAN OPTIMIZATION
/// LOOK TO OUR NETWORKING
EXPERTS TO CUT COSTS AND
SAVE TIME BY ACCELERATING
APPLICATION DELIVERY
ACROSS THE WAN.
and companies need to understand the broader range of solutions and the need for comprehensive protection.” WAN optimization off ers a big step toward that protection.
Safety First
One concern many companies have about WAN optimization is security. Won’t increasing the amount of data going across the network spawn increased security needs? By bumping up the speed and volume of data, the ability of existing security solutions to handle the increased load should certainly be assessed.
“Security people are seeing the eff ect of the ‘tyranny of the numbers,’” says Mark Kadrich, an independent consultant and former head of Th e Security Consortium.
“More traffi c means there is more to inspect in order to fi nd that golden nugget telling us there is a breach.”
With the focus on network infrastructure moving from the LAN to the WAN, with large optimized connections and diff erent features being applied such as load- balancing, this all makes it trickier for security tools to perform well.
“Many companies are operating at near capacity,” Kadrich says,
“In addition, there is a trade-off between increasing network loads by several orders of magnitude and the need to inspect traffi c.”
What this means is that companies must include both the network providers and security enforcers on their IT teams in the optimization process. “It comes down to how well we distribute resources,” says Kadrich.
Despite the concerns, there is a major advantage for the corporate infrastructure in optimizing WAN traffi c and creating a matching information assurance strategy, Kadrich acknowledges. Specifi cally, it strengthens a business’ disaster recovery capabilities.
SELLING WAN
OPTIMIZATION
TO MANAGEMENT
All technology expenditures must be justifi ed to the organizational powers that be. However, spending for WAN optimization initiatives are rapidly becoming a “slam dunk,” – if for no other reason than the fast results and quick return on investment.
Also, remind management that WAN optimization is the type of technology that can make the company money while also cutting costs. In other words, it’s a “win-win.” Th is is a convincing argument that the technology should be implemented.
In addition, the optimization solutions can be the catalyst to providing collaborative apps that in the past may not have been practical across the WAN. Th e ability to transfer fi les and applications in real time makes for another great business case.
Th is can assist in boosting productivity for remote and branch offi ce staff ers. And making the claim that the company can do more with less will certainly get the ear of decision-makers during these fi ckle economic times.
ASSESSMENTS
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We can help you fi nd the ideal telecommunications package to meet your goals. Frame relay, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), virtual private LAN service (VPLS), T1, DS3, OCX – no matter what kind of Internet or network technology you need, we can help you navigate the options and fi nd the right carrier. We’ll work with you to determine which types of data you transmit, how much bandwidth you need, how scalable your network should be and how the resulting solution will impact your bottom line.