Why You Should Optimize Your Wide Area Network

In the era of technology and high-speed network connection businesses are increasingly becoming dependent on IT. Thus comes the need for an optimized high-speed global networking. But sometimes due to increasing traffic and pressure of various applications, cloud computing systems, the need for optimization and network management becomes inevitable. If you have never scaled your network before and have never accelerated the bandwidths then here’s a brief guide for you.

Understanding WAN

In simple terms a wide area network or WAN as it is popularly known as is a private telecom network which is geographically distributed over an area. A WAN is basically a network which interconnects a number of LAN networks. In case of a large enterprise's WAN connects headquarters, branch offices, collocated offices, centralized cloud servers within a single network. Thus also reduces the cost of setting up a firewall, application servers, and other resources in multiple locations. Thus is the load and traffic on such a vast network increases the bandwidth speed and subsequent connectivity speed reduces. The best way of eliminating such redundant traffic is by WAN acceleration and WAN network management.

The need to optimize

WAN optimization also is known as WAN acceleration is a comprehensive technology which is mainly implicated to maximize the data flow. Generally, enterprise WAN optimization is done to alleviate the speed of accessing the data.

Thus a comprehensive WAN optimization process encompasses the following aspects

·         Traffic shaping

Traffic shaping is processed by which various categories of traffics are prioritized and bandwidths are allocated with respect to it.

·         Data de-duplication

In this process the data that must be sent across the WAN network for remote backups and disaster recovery etc. are reduced or minimized saving bandwidths

·         Data compression

This is a process which limits or reduces the size of the data file to reduce the bandwidth usage

·         Data caching

In this process the data’s which are frequently used are stored in the local servers enabling faster access

·         Screening out of the non-essential traffics

To screen out the nonessential traffics stringent monitoring is necessary.

·         Enforcing rules

With the help of a strict WAN monitoring you can create and impose rules about data usage, downloads and internet activities

·         Protocol spoofing

This is another effective method of scaling the chatty protocols is by bundling all of them into a single protocol.

WAN optimization software

The best way to scale and cater benefit out of all the process is by putting a WAN optimization software. Generally when you download such optimization software from leading companies comprehensive management on data usage and increase in bandwidth speed is noted. The minimum requirements for such software include

·         2GB memory

·         64GB of storage space

·         1 to 2 Ethernet cable interfaces

·         2 or more CPU threads

However, it is recommended that you have 4GB memory in your device.

So if you feel that your enterprise network is lagging behind its high time you start accelerating it. Choose and download software from leading agencies today.

The Best Practices Of WAN Acceleration And Optimization

Business organizations all over the world are becoming increasingly dependent on IT Services delivered over Wide Area Network or WAN. It enhances communicability over a diverse enterprise network spread globally. Your WAN can work based on VPLS, MPLS, or IP-Sec VPN over the web. Regardless of what the WAN operates on, optimization of the network performance can offer you several benefits. Apart from enhanced performance, WAN optimization can regulate the growth of bandwidth expenses. The business companies that operate globally require WAN optimization more than others. WAN Acceleration Technology can prove to be indispensable to them. Now, WAN Acceleration systems utilize a variety of technologies. This topic will describe the most commonly used ones.

Caching: Consider that you are transferring a file over the WAN network from the main office. When you do that, the systems will cache a copy of the data. If someone requests the same data, the WOC intercepts the requirement and delivers it locally. The WOC will communicate and keep you in synchronization about the changes that occur in the file.  It is how wan acceleration and optimization helps business organizations.

Compression: Upon compression, the file shrinks and reduces in size. Naturally, wan acceleration works proficiently in transferring the data at high speeds. Large files can otherwise take a lot of time to move even over the swiftest networks.

Data reduction: It is a technique which looks at the locally cached files. It also uses references to bring about changes in a file for transmitting the changed bytes. It can sometimes reduce data traveling over WAN by more than seventy percent. It is a much more effective technique when combined with relatively static data or file transfers with alterations.

Latency reduction: CIFS and TCP are highly sensitive to latency because of their chatterbox-like nature. They require two-way communication as they transmit small chunks of data. Until the confirmation of the first transfer arrives, the next one won’t transmit. Delivering one file can require 100,000 back and forth communications. You can reduce it by contemplating a protocol and accelerating the connection with proprietary algorithms.

Service quality and bandwidth management: Both these matters can address WAN links which are over-subscribed. They perform QoS by inspecting packets and prioritizing them based on an application, destination, source IP, and protocol. For example, web browsing and email checking can receive low priority. After all, there are other critical applications, like transaction processing.

Packet coalescing: This technique is the last one on this list. It helps with packets having large headers by consolidating multiple packets into a one. This consolidated packet has only one header.

The results

The outcomes of WAN Acceleration are self-explanatory. With it, the performance of your WAN systems can increase up to ninety percent or more in some applications. However, there are a few things which don’t see any improvement whatsoever. You should never forget the fact that all the suppliers are different. Every optimizer will provide you with something different. You need the expertise of knowledgeable people to determine the best WAN Acceleration supplier. You should resort to an expert to manage your procurement process. They can also help in assuring that you made the right decisions or not while obtaining the best prices.