Packeteer Goes Small with WAN Optimization Appliances

Published: March 18, 2008

by Alex Woodie

Packeteer last week launched a new line of wide area network (WAN) optimization appliances, the PacketShaper 900, which is designed to fit into space-constrained environments. Despite its small size and modest cost, the PS900 line of network appliances provides enterprise-strength network monitoring, shaping, acceleration, and compression capabilities, the company says.

Packeteer's new PS 900 line includes two devices, the PS 900 and the PS 900 Lite. Both provide full visibility and control over all seven layers of the network stack, allowing network administrators to withhold bandwidth for noncritical applications like FaceBook, while giving priority to critical applications like ERP systems. Overall, the devices recognize more than 500 applications.

The PS 900 supports up to 5,000 IP flows across 256 classes of traffic and 10 active tunnels. The PS 900 Lite provides slightly less control: only 4,000 IP flows across 64 classes and five active tunnels. Both devices support networks with speeds up to 2 Mbps.

"The PS900 packs major muscle into a small chassis for hot-rod performance," says Roy Agostino, vice president of marketing at Packeteer. "PS900 brings the full visibility, policy control, acceleration and performance of our larger PacketShaper solutions down to size for those places where a larger appliance won’t do."

Pricing begins at $3250 for PS900 and $2250 for PS900 Lite. For more information, see www.packeteer.com.

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