Remote Site Rapprochement

It's been established that WAFS and WAN optimization, two distinct ways of speeding up the delivery of data to remote sites, have lots in common (see WAFS vs WAN Optimization: No Contest). Now, it looks as though they'll soon live under the same roof.

Indeed, remote sites, a divisive force in corporate storage networks, are set to become the unifying platform for WAFS and WAN optimization. In the foreseeable future, the concept of separate gear for both functions will be pass. Instead, WAFS and WAN optimization will both be absorbed into routers, SAN switches, disk arrays, and even servers as checklist software features.

Skeptical? A glance at recent news heralds this coming scenario. For one thing, the handful of viable WAFS and WAN optimization companies are being quickly scapped up by large equipment vendors, and not for peanuts, either.

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) started the trend by purchasing Actona, a WAFS vendor, for $82 million late last year (see Cisco Acts on Actona). Earlier this month, Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) announced a funding alliance with WAFS vendor Tacit Networks Inc. (see Brocade Invests in Tacit). Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) then revealed an OEM deal with Riverbed Technology Inc., a startup claiming to have features of both WAN optimization and WAFS.

In case anyone needs further proof that big players want this stuff, Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR) has committed $337 million to the purchase of Peribit Networks Inc., which makes WAN optimizers (see Peribit Deal: More to Come). That move set off flurries of speculation that Cisco was scouting for another optimization startup, which materialized in Cisco's May 26 announcement of a plan to buy FineGround Networks for $70 million (see Cisco Chomps FineGround).Why would Cisco want WAN optimization when it's already got WAFS? The answer is that both are needed to sustain optimum throughput to remote sites.

Here's why: WAFS, which focuses on caching data, can only add to the compression and protocol tweaking that WAN optimization entails. One augments the other.

One supplier that now offers both, Swan Labs Corp., claims customers that were getting tenfold performance improvements with the company's WAN optimizer now get twice that with the WAFS capability Swan Labs recently added via its acquisition of Pivia (see Swan Labs Picks Up Pivia).

Other suppliers agree. "We see the categories of WAN optimization, WAFS, and applications acceleration coalescing into one supercategory," writes Alan Saldich, VP of product marketing at Riverbed.

And that supercategory is the focus of big infrastructure players. After all, when it comes to remote offices, the name of the game is equipment consolidation – and a reduction in operational support. In today's tight-fisted IT environment, that pitch can sell routers, Fibre Channel switches, servers, and other remote-site gear.The numbers speak for themselves. The union of WAFS and WAN optimization appears to be worth close to a half-billion dollars to the two top router makers and the leading SAN switch supplier (as in $82 million + $337 million + $7.5 million = $426.5 million, inside of one month).

Bottom line? The days of standalone WAFS or WAN appliances are numbered. These technologies are being picked up quickly by larger players. In this month's Byte and Switch Insider report, "WAFS and WAN Optimization: No Contest," we ponder the two technologies, examining what they do and why they fit together.

— Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch

The report, WAFS and WAN Optimization: No Contest, is available as part of an annual subscription (12 monthly issues) to Byte and Switch Insider, priced at $1,350. Individual reports are available for $900. For more information, or to subscribe, please visit: www.byteandswitch.com/insider0