Resource Center

Architecture design firm dwp has adopted a WAN optimisation system from Silver Peak to accelerate file transfers and reduce infrastructure costs by 80 percent. The platform, Virtual Acceleration Open Architecture (VXOA), is now able to speed up transfers of AutoCAD-based files from days to minutes. According to dwp, it now takes only a few minutes to transfer 1 GB of data across the distributed enterprise, which includes 12 locations across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. There was an urgent need for dwp to lower its operating expenditure (OPEX) costs, which soared dramatically due to an increase in bandwidth costs necessitated by poor network connectivity between its data centre located in Bangkok and the various branch offices. In addition, link costs and latency were the highest between Bahrain and Bangkok.

To keep its virtual desktops functioning at high performance during its peak season, tax preparation firm SurePrep decided virtual WAN optimization would be the best way to share resources in service centers across the globe. SurePrep’s IT needs are unusual, because its resources are dedicated to making everything run flawlessly during a short period when tax season is in full swing. “Our peak season is five days a year,” said Will Hosek, SurePrep’s vice president of information technology. Hosek said SurePrep goes from about 50 servers during most of the year to more than 100 during tax season. The Newport Beach, Calif., company has a 200-seat service center in Irvine, Calif., and another 200-seat center in Mumbai, India. Both service centers run virtual desktops with Wyse Technology Inc.’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)-based thin clients.

Silver Peak Systems appliances can accelerate a wide-access network. Small boxes sitting on the network at a Symitar data center in Missouri are helping the core processor’s client credit unions improve internal efficiencies while the company works to wean its client base off traditional magnetic tape, the company said. The Jack Henry & Associates subsidiary is using the Silver Peak Systems appliances to accelerate its own wide-access network, allowing it to continue pushing out new products without weighing down the WAN, said Rick Phillips, Symitar product manager.

Networking can make or break a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) roll-out, as one business found out. The company, a global law firm, operates a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) wide area network (WAN) between its three global sites, supporting 7,000 staff. Approximately 75% of traffic on the network was Citrix, 20% was taken by print services, while the remainder was used by web and authentication protocols. Sometimes the Citrix client on users' desktops would not keep up with their typing due to congestion on the WAN. Given that the cost of upgrading links in certain regions can be around £250,000 per annum, the law firm could not justify buying more network capacity. Deploying quality of service (QoS) to prioritise Citrix traffic could work, but at the cost of slower print traffic. 

Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. turned to Silver Peak Systems Inc. wide area network (WAN) optimization appliances when it needed help moving large engineering files coast to coast for disaster recovery, choosing the startup over larger and better known competitors. Toshiba America's director of information systems, Leon Roberge, said Silver Peak's NX WAN acceleration devices outperformed Riverbed Technology Inc. in his evaluation, which surprised him considering Riverbed's reputation.