WAN optimization - boost your efficiency

Do you suffer from high latencies and jitter when connecting to remote locations? Do you experience problems with the operation of your remote applications via the WAN?

The solution: WAN optimization appliances

Businesses have more and more branches in various countries around the globe, with which they need to exchange mission-critical data. Bandwidth alone is rarely sufficient; when response times get longer, work stops being fun.

• The use of WAN optimization appliances provides a solution to this and other problems with respect to the connection ofremote users, teleworkers, and
• remote external offices.

The market features an increasing number of providers and various names such as "WAN Optimization" or "WAN acceleration" appliances. Moreover, these appliances can optimize the TCP stack in order to prevent unnecessary packet confirmations and to perform further optimization measures.

What you can expect from WAN optimization solutions

Depending on the vendor, WAN optimisation is achieved with one or several of the following procedures:

• Bandwidth managementBy means of optimum bandwidth management and prioritisation of data over the WAN line, mission-critical applications can be preferred over other traffic using the same line.
• WAFS (Wide Area File Services)The files are buffered locally on the appliance, and only the changes need to be transmitted between the locations. However, this only applies to file transfer, e.g. via CIFS.
• Compression
  The data are compressed on the way and thus consume less bandwidth. However, this does not reduce the disadvantages of the transmission over long distances with TCP.
• Protocol optimization
  The TCP protocol is optimized, e.g. by not sending a confirmation for each transmitted packet. This optimizes the general data flow.
• Caching
  In contrast to WAFS, this is used e.g. for HTTP requests, and the static contents are buffered. The data can then be called locally.

The vendors we work with combine the various optimization technologies in order to achieve the best possible performance between two locations. Thus, the optimum technologies can be configured depending on the application purpose and the utilized applications.