Networking > WAN OptimizationEssentials

WAN optimization in a large enterprise is a nascent and headline-grabbing market. Still, IT managers are faced with the burning question: Is it really worth the investment?

Replacing different-capacity WAN accelerators with a standard-sized but software-limited box can cut costs and reduce upgrade woes, Expand Networks has claimed.

Geographically distributed enterprises are warming to the idea of reducing data transfer times with dedicated appliances as another vendor, Riverbed Technology, enters the local market.

WAN optimization technology is a way to save money -- take that to the bank. For instance, U.S.-based custom machinery manufacturer Curt G. Joa, avoided the cost of adding a server to its German office by installing WAN-acceleration gear from Silver Peak.

Two luxury cruise lines faced the same satellite-delay challenges for shipboard Internet access and came up with different ways to address the unavoidable latency on those ship-to-shore connections and keep passengers happy.

Aluminium vessels manufacturer, Austal, is utilizing a Wide Area Network (WAN) optimization appliance to increase application speeds between its offices in Western Australia and Alabama in the United States (US).