Array Hits the Accelerator

LAS VEGAS -- Startup Array Networks Inc. has unveiled a new TM-X application accelerator product, here at the Networld+Interop conference.

The product is designed to sit in front of data-center servers and speed up Web traffic. It combines SSL acceleration, compression, TCP optimization, caching, firewall, and server load balancing, all in a single box.

Array's biggest challenge will be putting its recent turbulence behind it. Last year the company had to undergo significant restructuring after overreaching itself in an attempt to break into new markets. Sunil Cherian, Array's director of product management, says, "We had expanded too much into new product lines we went into network-based data monitoring."

Specifically, this meant ditching the company's Security Reconnaissance (SR) series of products, which recorded network traffic.

The restructuring also involved some pretty big job losses. Last year the company cut around 25 jobs, approximately a quarter of its original workforce.The Campbell, Calif.-based company also has plenty of competition. It is putting the TM-X up against offerings from F5 Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV), claiming that it removes the need to employ different products from the vendor's Big-IP product range.

Some like the move. The latest application accelerator effort looks an attractive proposition for data-center managers, according to R. Lynn Nye, who is president of analyst firm APM Advisors.

He says, "If you wanted to get a similar offering from F5, you would have to buy more hardware."

Despite repeated requests from NDCF, F5 did not comment on Array's announcement.

The launch is also further evidence of Array's renewed commitment to its core competencies – application accelerators and SSL VPN products.The TM-X is also designed to fill out the Array portfolio of accelerator products. The big difference here is speed. With a throughput of up to 450 Mbit/s, the TM-X sits between the 100-Mbit/s TM-C and the high-end, 800-Mbit/s TM product.

Then there is the difference in footprint. Although it offers more than half the throughput of the TM, the 1U TM-X is a third of the size of the 3U TM.

Nye believes that the launch spells good news. "This means that there is a different price point for entry for what they need – there's increasing customer demand for application acceleration devices."

Array Networks also used the show to announce a software upgrade across its application accelerator range. This includes monitoring and reporting, network address translation, port forwarding, and disaster-recovery enhancements.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum0