Blue Coat Targets Simplified WAN Optimization

Blue Coat Systems has taken the wraps off new operating system software for its SG WAN optimization appliances, promising to help businesses simplify integration of the devices into their networks while adding reliability and security features.

The vendor said the new software offers adding both transparent and translucent tunnel modes, which let the SG appliances pass along all Layer 4 and routing data to network management tools, firewalls and routers. To ensure high availability and continuity, the new software also supports dynamic clustering and failover without requiring an external controller. SG appliances can also be integrated into an existing environment to become part of the cluster.

On the security front, the SG appliances come with a "Digital Birth Certificate" and built-in encryption to simplify secure configuration by validating each point on the network, Blue Coat said. The SG appliances also can construct encrypted tunnels between various points to safeguard data.

Blue Coat is also rolling out new remote client software to push security, policy and application acceleration to the network endpoints. The first version targets performance acceleration for applications that use CIFS and TCP protocols.The company says the new SG operating system software and remote client will be available within the next seven days. The OS upgrade is free to existing customers; the remote client starts at $20 per user.