Riverbed RiOS 7.0…to upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the FAQ

By Steve Evans

Riverbed is always adding new features.  Given their position in the magic “squares”, I’d expect them to be leading innovation.  But with such frequent upgrades, do you upgrade or not?  The new RiOS 7.0 has some stellar features that one could very well take advantage of.  And that really is the answer.  Can you take advantage of the new features?  If not, maybe you should wait.  Riverbed maintains several “tracks” of code so you should never be compelled to upgrade to a new major version just to stay current.  Your current major version is also being kept up to date with bug fixes and minor enhancements.  The following are all currently maintained major RiOS versions: 6.5, 6.1, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, and 4.1. 

Although I’ve had some recommend upgrading to the latest code, I prefer the more conservative route of upgrading to the latest code in the current release unless you are looking to gain access to features of a new major version.  Below is a list I compiled of the new features for 6.0, 6.1, 6.5, and 7.0 to help you decide if you would like to jump up to one of the newer versions.  If you are not interested in taking advantage of any of these new features, I recommend the latest RiOS version at your major release level.  If you would like some help deciding whether you need to upgrade, feel free to contact us and we’ll do a personalized assessment for you.

How about those engineering releases?  Are those safe?  Unlike the “Official Release” versions, the engineering releases have not yet undergone extensive Q&A testing.  However, usually they are worth considering due to the bug fixes they provide.  In my conversations with Riverbed engineers, I’m always encouraged to upgrade to the latest engineering release if it is available. Although I’ve never yet had a problem upgrading to the latest engineering release code, if you’re not currently having any problems, it’s probably best to stay on the “Official Release” version which has been extensively run through their Q&A process.  However, if you do upgrade and have an issue, don’t forget that the Riverbed allows you to easily boot back into the previous version.

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Riverbed Leads the Pack in WAN Optimization.

By David Mackey

You already know Riverbed has long been the WAN Optimization leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant.

Now they sell more appliances and virtual solutions than all their competitors combined.

The above graph is part of a larger report by Gartner. Contact Riverbed for the complete report.

Riverbed doesn’t dominate the field because they have the most magnetic marketing or the most efficient channel or the best financial backing. They lead because they demonstrate results. They say they can improve throughput to 7x and cut bandwidth consumption 90% and then prove it time and again.

Riverbed’s Steelhead products provide the most comprehensive approach to application acceleration and disaster recovery for any organization’s WAN. They go beyond simple optimization to help make IT infrastructure run faster, better, and more securely — in the data center, at a branch office, on a worker’s laptop, and in public and private clouds.

No stranger to the cloud, Riverbed’s Whitewater provides organizations with a fast, secure and cost-efficient method of integrating cloud storage into their existing backup infrastructure and disaster recovery strategies.

Riverbed Cascade provides application-aware network traffic management that enables end-to-end visibility into the performance of critical business applications. Cascade integrates end-to-end monitoring with deep packet capture and packet analysis for proactive alerting and robust network troubleshooting.

In fact, you could make a solid case that Riverbed understands packet capture and analysis better than any other company. They’ve brought together the three leading innovators in the field – Steve McCanne, co-creator of TCPDUMP, Loris Degioanni, inventor of WinPcap and Gerald Combs, creator of Wireshark – to continue the advancement of network performance management.

Riverbed’s most recent acquisition, Zeus software, helps enterprises to deliver fast, secure and available applications across any combination of physical, virtual and cloud infrastructures with a single point of application delivery control and monitoring. Zeus Traffic Manager will deploy on an enterprise’s own hardware or hypervisor, or in public, private, or hybrid cloud environments.

VistaOne proudly represents Riverbed as a value-added reseller, service provider and authorized training partner. Contact VistaOne for Riverbed products,services, and training.

Support a Worthy Cause and Enjoy a Pro Soccer Match in the Bargain

By Mike Callahan

I am a professional soccer player with the Richmond Kickers as well as the Community Relations Coordinator for VistaOne. While our main focus at VistaOne is improving network performance, we place a great deal of importance on giving back to the Richmond Community. I wanted to share with you some of the work we have been doing as well as respectfully ask for your support.

The first focus of our program is on the underserved youth in Richmond who often miss out on fun and unique opportunities. VistaOne and the Kickers have teamed up to address this problem and provide the hopefully sustainable experiences that these children deserve. To get a better idea for what our program is all about, please check out this link to the Richmond Kickers website.

Our second focus is on Special Olympians, which is where we would love to get your and your associates’ help. VistaOne is sponsoring a “Special Olympics Night” at the Kickers home game on July 22nd against the LA Blues. While we expect the pro game to generate its normal enthusiasm, it’s the Special Halftime contest where we need the heartiest fan support!

We’ll have a pre-game party for everyone and your kids are welcome to take the field before and after the game with ALL the athletes, Kickers and Olympians! Simply put, we want to put as many people in the stands as possible to give these athletes the support and recognition that they deserve. Get more information and reserve your tickets to this great event.

Please feel free to email or call me (804-479-7702) if you have any ideas for projects we could work on together or if you simply want to bring some employees out to any game! Thank you for taking the time to read this and for making the Richmond community a better place!

6 New Reasons for Traffic Shaping and Acceleration with Exinda

By David Mackey

With 70% year-over-year growth, Exinda has been making serious inroads into network application delivery enhancement with their Unified Performance Management version of WAN optimization. UPM displays every application that is traversing the network, identifies individual users, pinpoints the origin of traffic and communicates the amount of bandwidth consumed. Then it provides tools for practical prioritization, secure control and acceleration.

The just-introduced operating system version, ExOS 6.1, elevates the platform further introducing the Exinda Edge Cache™ and four other feature enhancements and functions. In addition, the company launched Network Reporting Center, an advanced solution for real-time troubleshooting and historical reporting of all applications on an organization’s WAN and Internet connections.

Together, they provide six new reasons to put Exinda on the short list of any organization looking to initiate WAN optimization or replace an outdated shaping device:

1. Edge Cache
The Exinda Edge Cache enables single-sided caching of Internet-based content, including web objects, videos and software updates with a single Exinda appliance at the branch office or data center, dramatically reducing bandwidth usage and costs. Web objects are cached at the network edge as they are downloaded from the Internet. These objects can then be delivered to the users on the corporate local area network much faster.

2. Scalability Enhancements for Optimization
Under the new OS, administrators can expect to double the number of connections supported for acceleration by any Exinda appliance. Organizations can add more users without hardware upgrades.

3. IPv6 Support
Exinda now supports native IPv6 connectivity, visibility and control. Administrators can netflow export IPv6 traffic information such as layer 7 application ID and application performance metrics—jitter, loss and latency—for both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.

4. Enhanced Network Health Alerting
Administrators can institute alerts based on individual metrics such as:

• packet retransmissions and losses

• TCP connections started, refused, aborted or ignored by the server

• network server and transaction delays for both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic

5. Updated L7 Application Signatures
With every release Exinda continues to add and improve its L7 inspection engine. With ExOS 6.1, Exinda has added over a dozen new signatures and updated more than 50 existing signatures.

6. Network Reporting Center
The advanced Network Reporting Center delivers comprehensive network diagramming and long-term historical trending and analytics to enable network managers to get a complete view of their entire worldwide network.

NRC goes beyond port and protocol reporting to show the actual applications and users consuming network resources. Network managers have the tools to monitor overall network performance, analyze historical data to anticipate problems, identify key trends in performance and address them before they impact the user experience.

Once installed on the WAN, NRC collects network data from the Exinda appliance in each location, including head office and branches, and consolidates the data into a single, centralized reporting dashboard. NRC provides granular, by-the-minute reporting in real time, as well as up to two years of historical data on the applications traversing the network. The NRC is offered as a cloud solution or as an on-site virtual appliance.

Request a personalized demo of Exinda products.

Higher Education Accelerates Adoption of Procera’s DPI Traffic Shaper

By David Mackey

Procera’s PacketLogic traffic management solution continues to gain sales momentum in the higher education market, with more than 45 new customer wins year-to-date worldwide. The list includes VistaOne customers James Madison University, The University of Maryland Baltimore, The University of Richmond, Thiel College and Georgia State University.

Procera’s commitment to visibility and control in higher education networks has paid off. Universities have chosen Procera for its ability to affordably scale to a 10Mbps connection using software keys and its capacity to exceed the capabilities of traditional packet shaping devices for enhanced insight and control over network traffic.

They like the fact that they can go beyond IP addresses to identify actual individual users on the network in real time. The feature permits dynamic provisioning of bandwidth based on the user’s role or consumption-based quota.

Procera makes a powerful solution for service providers and has been priced and licensed to accommodate the specific requirements of the resident network providers in colleges and universities. Their EDU-tailored Smart Campus suite combines Procera’s inline PacketLogic shaping device with built-in statistics server and a special higher ed version of their PacketLogic Subscriber Manager.

The PacketLogic Smart Campus solution includes features that combine to provide superior visibility and control over campus networks:

• Traffic classification, including the latest in file sharing and streaming applications
• Sophisticated traffic management including prioritization, shaping, marking, filtering, peering control and steering
• Non-disruptive queue-based shaping and prioritization technology that secures quality for sensitive applications
• Network analytics, peering analysis and capacity planning
• Integration with Cisco’s Clean Access and ImpulsePoint’s Safe Connect for user management
• Location, device, and application-based usage management and control
• Security-based DMZ/quarantine services for abusive or infected users
• Peer-to-peer auditing capabilities for HEOA compliance and simplified DMCA response
• Bandwidth quota enforcement over multiple internet-enabled devices
• Departmental chargeback

If you haven’t already, view the Procera decision through the eyes of IT staff of VistaOne customer, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Procera Deep Packet Inspection has VCU Ready for Deep NCAA Run

By David Mackey

The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams are the surprising Cinderella team at this year’s men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. From “play-in” win over USC, they’ve muscled through 6-seeded Georgetown and 3-seeded Purdue to the Sweet Sixteen round. With all the buzz on campus, you can bet Internet traffic is through the roof. Is the extra streaming video and social media sapping the bandwidth from teaching and university business?

Before this school term, the VCU Technology Services department installed an appliance that has them as confident as the school’s round ball team. They upgraded from a maxed-out traffic shaper to the PacketLogic Smart Campus solution from Procera. They’re operating at 2 Gbps on their way to 10 Gbps.

They can zoom down to know what a single user is doing, where they accessed the network and what device they’re using. They also know in real-time what load is crossing the link and have plenty of tools to make adjustments before congestion causes performance problems. And they’ll have two years of accurate history to recognize trends, report to other departments and strategize infrastructure build-out.

Listen to VCU engineers talk about PacketLogic implementation, Procera and VistaOne in a video case study here. A sample:

Full VCU/Procera Case Study

Request a guided online demo of PacketLogic Smart Campus

Locally Cache YouTube and Facebook to Cut Internet Congestion

By Steve Inman

Since video now consumes close to 50% of most organization’s internet pipes, we’ve seen rising demand from our Customers for a cost-effective and operationally-effective way to cache video locally.

Originally we found a firm called Stratacache with a product called SuperLumin, which promises a purpose built solution specifically for social media; and moreover Facebook and You Tube. Their technology promises a unique ability to re-serve content locally even though the requested address of the Akamai servers hosting the content changes with every request. According to SuperLumin, this is a capability beyond what a traditional web object cache can perform.

A few months ago, we ran this notion by our friends and business partners at Exinda who were working on releasing a “single-sided” cache capability on their line of traffic shaping/WAN optimization appliances (Exinda calls it UPM: Unified Performance Managment). They assured us their product development also addressed the challenges of changing request addresses and could cache and deliver YouTube and Facebook locally as well.

That brings us to today when Exinda has made its single-sided cache generally available. We are very excited to bring this capability to our legacy EDU Customers who have converted recently to the Exinda platform. By all means they are hammered with video traffic. However we’re equally enthused about single-sided cache with our enterprise accounts. Many of them have also migrated from older PacketShapers that were providing visibility and shaping functionality on WAN links in addition to their internet feeds. Now with Exinda, we can provide a single device that provides visbility, shaping, WAN acceleration/optimization and a single-sided cache.

It’a a lot of fun solving real business problems that make folks’ lives better and save money. We are fortunate to have great, forward thinking partners like Exinda to go to market with. Take a look at the vdeo below. Its not a complicated concept, but the postive impact on end user experience, network congestion, and IT budgets is signifcant.

I like being surprised by innovation, WAN Optimization no exception!

By Steve Evans

I like being surprised by innovation.  Although I shouldn’t really be since innovation is everywhere.  At least it should be.  But I still like that feeling of finding something new.  This just happened to me when I clicked on the speakericon in Windows 7, and then on the mixer link.  What I found was that the mixer now has the ability to adjust volume settings by application.  What a fantastic innovation!  Previously in Windows XP, I could only adjust by sound source such as WAVE, MIC or SYNTH.  Now I can lower the volume of the system sounds while keeping the more interesting applications clearly audible.