WAN
WAN
A wide area network or WAN is a computer network covering a wide geographical area, involving a vast array of computers. This is different from personal area networks (PANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs) or local area networks (LANs) that are usually limited to a room, building or campus. The most well-known example of a WAN is the Internet.
WANs are used to connect local area networks (LANs) together, so that users and computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in other locations. Many WANs are built for one particular organization and are private. Others, built by Internet service providers, provide connections from an organization's LAN to the Internet.
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WAN Related Products
McAfee UTM Firewall (formerly Secure Computing SnapGear) is a complete office network-in-a-box Internet security appliance for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs). It features wide-area networking tools that you would normally only see with enterprise-class devices. Because the last thing SMBs need is another single-purpose security appliance to add to their network.
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The Inter-Business Vault enables the creation of secure instant wide area networks (WANs) for connecting enterprises with partners, customers and sub-contractors over the Internet - enabling them to exchange information as if they have deployed a shared WAN, but without actually doing so.
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3e-527 Access Point featuring 802.11a/b dual mode with integrated 8 port switch and wireless bridge. The 3e-527 combines the benefits of advanced access point features with an integrated 8 port switch in one secure case, built to withstand the rigors of harsh environments. The user management interface is designed to allow quick set up and installation. A key feature is the ability to auto-detect multiple bridges.
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The AirGuard 3e-527S-2 is the only wireless communications server engineered specifically for public transportation and emergency vehicle operation, featuring 802.11a/b/g dual radios with an integrated 8 port switch. The 3e-527S-2 allows all of your vehicle-based equipment to exchange data with back-end systems while the vehicle is parked at a depot or other location with WiFi wireless broadband access.
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The Blue Coat SG810 Series represents the ultimate in a 1U rackmount proxy appliance platform. The 810 series is purpose-built, providing flexible control with wire-speed performance with up to 4GB of memory and 1.2TB of disk capacity. Utilizing a custom, object-based OS with integrated caching for performance, organizations can advise, coach and enforce granular policies down to individual users.
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With the same protection and acceleration features found Blue Coat's enterprise-grade SG8100 Series platform, the Blue Coat SG510 offers an affordable rack-mountable appliance solution for small enterprises and branch offices which have direct access to the Internet.
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As part of the industry's leading high-performance networking solution, the Juniper Networks DX application acceleration platform delivers a complete data center acceleration solution for Web-enabled and IP-based business applications.
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The Juniper Networks WX platforms provide distributed enterprises with a cost-effective solution for accelerating applications over the WAN. Based on the unique WX Framework, which integrates all the elements required to optimize application performance, the WX platforms help high-performance businesses improve application response times, maximize WAN performance and control and prioritize key applications.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Services Gateway 5 (SSG 5) and Secure Services Gateway 20 (SSG 20) are purpose-built security appliances that deliver a perfect blend of performance, security and LAN\WAN connectivity for small branch office and small business deployments. Traffic flowing in and out of the branch office can be protected from worms, Spyware, Trojans, and malware by a complete set of Universal Threat Management (UTM) security features including Stateful firewall, IPSec VPN, IPS, Antivirus (includes Anti-Spyware, Anti-Adware, Anti-Phishing), Anti-Spam, and Web Filtering.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Services Gateway 140 (SSG 140) is a purpose-built security appliance that delivers a perfect blend of performance, security, routing, and LAN\WAN connectivity for medium sized branch offices and business deployments. Traffic flowing in and out of the branch office is protected from worms, Spyware, Trojans, and malware by a complete set of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security features including Stateful firewall, IPSec VPN, IPS, Antivirus (includes Anti-Spyware, Anti-Adware, Anti-Phishing), Anti-Spam, and Web Filtering.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Services Gateway (SSG) 300 Series represents a new class of purpose-built security appliance that delivers a perfect mix of performance, security and LAN/WAN connectivity for regional and branch office deployments. Traffic flowing in and out of the branch office is protected from worms, Spyware, Trojans, and malware by a complete set of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security features including Stateful firewall, IPSec VPN, IPS, Antivirus (includes Anti-Spyware, Anti-Adware, Anti-Phishing), Anti-Spam, and Web Filtering.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Services Gateway 500 Series (SSG) represents a new class of purpose-built security appliance that delivers a perfect mix of performance, security and LAN/WAN connectivity for regional and branch office deployments. Traffic flowing in and out of the branch office is protected from worms, Spyware, Trojans, and malware by a complete set of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security features including Stateful firewall, IPSec VPN, IPS, Antivirus (includes Anti-Spyware, Anti-Adware, Anti-Phishing), Anti-Spam, and Web Filtering.
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LinkProof is a multi-WAN switch that lets you maximize the effectiveness of your WAN by bypassing bottlenecks and service-provider outages, managing bandwidth consumption, and letting you decide which links are used for which applications and when. It’s the only on demand solution that fits your current and future WAN link load balancing needs and lets you effortlessly add, manage and load-balance multiple ISP connections while you mix-and-match VPNs, private and public links for back-up or in response to growing bandwidth needs.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Access 2000 (SA 2000) SSL VPN enables small- to medium-sized companies to deploy cost-effective remote and extranet access, as well as intranet security. Users can access the corporate network and applications from any standard Web browser. The SA 2000 uses SSL, the security protocol found in all standard Web browsers, as a secure access transport mechanism. The use of SSL eliminates the need for client-software deployment, changes to internal servers, and costly ongoing maintenance.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Access 4000 (SA 4000) SSL VPNs enable mid-to-large-sized organizations to provide cost-effective remote and partner extranet access from any standard Web browers. Based on the award-winning IVE platform, the SA 4000 appliances feature rich access-privilege management functionality, that can be used to create secure customer/partner extranets with no infrastructure changes, no DMZ deployments, and no software agents. This functionality also allows the enterprise to secure access to the corporate intranet, so that different employee and visitor populations can utilize exactly the resources they need, while adhering to enterprise-security policies. Built-in compression for all traffic types speeds performance, and SSL acceleration is available via a software license for more demanding environments.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Access 6000 (SA 6000) SSL VPN appliances is designed for medium to large enterprises and features best-in-class performance, scalability, and redundancy for organizations with high-volume secure access and authorization requirements. The SA 6000 hardware platform is designed to scale to the largest enterprise deployments and to optimize application delivery, with available options that include redundant hot swappable hard disks, power supplies and fans, as well as GBIC-based multiple Ethernet ports for redundant or meshed configurations. The SA 6000 appliance also features a state-of-the-art SSL acceleration chipset to speed CPU-intensive encrypt/decrypt processes, as well as built in compression for all traffic.
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The Juniper Networks Secure Access 6000 SP is the industry's first SSL VPN platform with comprehensive virtualization designed to enable Service Providers (SPs) to deliver network-based SSL VPN services to multiple enterprises of any size from a single appliance/cluster. Combining Juniper Networks expertise in working with Service Providers with the industry-leading Instant Virtual Extranet (IVE) platform, the Secure Access 6000 SP platform provides SPs with a sophisticated, end-to-end virtualization framework that is optimized for highly available and highly scalable network-based SSL VPN managed services.
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AEP Net is an independently assured encryptor that protects IP traffic across networks. AEP Net provides both data confidentiality and source authentication for network traffic enabling high confidence Virtual Private Network (VPN) communications. AEP's solution has a proven track record of protecting National and International classified networks.
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The AEP Net Remote extends the security, functions and features of AEP Net into the remote access domain. Like its big brother the AEP Net Remote provides both data confidentiality and source authentication for IP network traffic.
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The new Alteon Application Switches feature performance leadership and on demand scalability coupled with sophisticated load balancing capabilities including filtering and traffic management provide optimised networks uncompromised performance and value.
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WAN Related Industry News
Network managers have to do more with less IT Staff will have to be smart to support more network traffic without a corresponding increase in resources Many network managers in the UK will have to cope with a growing burden on their WAN without any increased investment in network bandwidth this year, according to a study published on Monday.
While tighter financial controls are forcing IT departments to keep a lid on network costs, cost-saving measures elsewhere may be putting more strain on th......
[more] FatPipe Beats Service Disruptions When an accidental fiber-optic cable cut disrupted businesses in greater Boston, Ardais, a clinical genomics company based in Lexington, Mass., lost connection to its service provider for nine hours. That’s when the company decided it had to add a second connection to avoid any further downtime. (For more on Ardais, see Capturing Clinical Information, Bio-IT World October 2003).
Service outages, while sporadic and of varying length, have a great impact on Arda......
[more] CyberGuard Breaks New Ground with Introduction of SG560 Security/WAN Appliance CyberGuard Corporation, a global provider of security solutions that protect the critical assets of the largest and most complex information networks for Global 2000 enterprises and government organizations, today announced the release of a feature-rich, compact, network security and Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity device designed to secure small and medium businesses and the small branch offices of larger compa......
[more] IPsec dead by 2008, says Gartner The IPsec protocol that has served remote access so well for the last decade is now in its death throes, Gartner has prophesised.
In a new report, it predicted that by 2008, the use of IPsec will have been swept away by its younger technological rival, SSL, for much of the market. By that year, two-thirds of teleworking remote access employees - and 90 percent of casual access users - will have adopted SSL.
In the last three years, SSL has attracted three mill......
[more] Viruses still main threat to UK firms Department of Trade and Industry survey finds that viruses are still causing headaches for enterprises Companies seeking to contain security incidents should concentrate on viruses, according to the Department of Trade and Industry's twice yearly Information Security Breaches survey. The telephone survey of 1,000 companies, led by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, fingers viruses as being the cause of over half of the worst security incidents hitting UK firms in t......
[more] PatchLink Issues Patch Tuesday Preparation Guide PatchLink Corporation, the global leader for security patch and vulnerability management solutions, today issued comprehensive best practice guidelines to help organizations prepare for what has become a notoriously stressful IT day, Patch Tuesday. While Patch Tuesday is often the cause of many late nights testing and applying patches, organizations face a continuous onslaught of vulnerabilities and patches that can adversely affect IT infrastruc......
[more] Devices let admin staff fine-tune app delivery Blue Coat is upgrading its Mach5 application acceleration architecture for its SG series of WAN optimisation appliances. This will allow more granular bandwidth management to improve quality of service (QoS).Blue Coat vice-president Nigel Hawthorn said, "This gives IT managers the option to base prioritisation decisions on business processes rather than the normal recourse to servers and protocols."For instance, if users are running Oracl......
[more] SSL traffic clogging WANs, says vendor An increasing percentage of WAN traffic is now SSL-encrypted, which is posing problems for WAN optimisation systems, according to a survey of over 1,300 IT professionals. According to the survey, sponsored by Blue Coat Systems, 53 percent of enterprises have SSL-enabled applications now, 45 percent plan to use them over the next year, and for 35 percent, SSL already represents at least a quarter of their WAN traffic. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed sai......
[more] Firms face disaster over WAN bottlenecks Two-thirds of large enterprises don't have enough bandwidth to replicate or backup their remote sites in an emergency, according to a survey of IT managers and directors. IT managers simply don't have enough bandwidth to meet the demands of their disaster recovery plans, and most of them will find a big chunk of their sites isolated in a disaster, according to the report, produced by Forrester Consulting, and commissioned by F5 Networks. But the answer m......
[more] Blue Coat Upgrades SG Appliances The new SGOS software makes WAN optimisation ready for mainstream enterprise deployments. Blue Coat Systems, a company in secure content and application delivery, has announced a major software upgrade for its family of SG appliances for WAN optimisation. The software release makes WAN optimisation ready for mainstream enterprise deployments by enabling it to integrate with existing network infrastructure and operations, provide expanded clustering and failover o......
[more] Korea Stock Exchange Selects Blue Coat for WAN Optimization Blue Coat SG Appliances Accelerate Critical Applications Two Times Faster, Reduce Bandwidth Consumption 400-500 Percent Blue Coat Systems the leader in secure content and application delivery, today announced that the Korea Stock Exchange (KRX) has deployed Blue Coat(R) SG(TM) appliances to accelerate critical applications across its Wide Area Network (WAN) while reducing overall bandwidth consumption. The solution has solved significan......
[more] FatPipe WARP Helps Internet Business Achieve Always-Up Internet Availability to Customers and Retailers The Internet business Shoplocal announced this month that it has attained Internet reliability and redundancy, thanks to FatPipe Networks, (www.fatpipeinc.com) the inventor of router clustering devices for reliable, redundant and high speed Internet WAN connections. Shoplocal is an online shopping and advertising company made up of more than 200 affiliate media, search and shopping sites that......
[more] FatPipe Networks Is Granted a 5th Patent for Wide Area Network/Internet Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery FatPipe Networks(TM), the inventor and multiple patents holder of WAN optimization, redundancy and security products, announced today that it has successfully secured its fifth patent. The US patent number 7,269,143 protects the "tools and techniques used to combine routers to increase concurrency and redundancy in external network access," such as the Internet and other W......
[more] Blue Coat: We Grow One Packet at a Time As enterprises become even more distributed and even more applications are delivered over an IP address, the need for more speed and application visibility becomes even more paramount. It's quite a market opportunity for vendors, and Network equipment vendor Blue Coat Systems has a plan to capture a big chunk of it, thanks in part to its recent acquisition of Packeteer. During a recent interview, Blue Coat CEO Brian NeSmith said he is confident that his......
[more] Juniper's New WXC Appliances: 'More Box For The Money' Juniper Networks Monday added three new appliances to its WXC application acceleration platform, offering higher disk capacities and performance in a smaller form factor. According to Juniper, the three additions—the WXC 1800, WXC 2600 and WXC 3400 appliances—give solution providers more options in offering their customers more scalable, modular and cost-effective application response across the WAN for uninterrupted and accelerated applicat......
[more] BT deploys Blue Coat ProxySG appliances to protects its corporate network from Web 2.0 threats The use of social networking sites has soared over recent years, with an estimated 64 million people worldwide using the technology for both social and work related purposes. For many employers, an outright ban of such sites is simply not realistic and a growing number are now actively embracing the use of networking sites and other Web 2.0 tools such as P2P (Peer to Peer) and Wikis in order to encoura......
[more] Bluecoat Wan accelerator speeds up Kettering NHS' Pacs Kettering General Hospital has deployed network acceleration technology from Blue Coat to enable it to send large X-ray images electronically between sites using the NHS Picture Archiving and Communications System (Pacs). The Trust has used ProxySG wide area network optimisation appliance from Blue Coat to decrease the time taken to load Pacs images, such as CT scans and X-Rays, from minutes to second. X-ray images, which would have previou......
[more] San Francisco hunts for mystery device on city network With costs related to an alleged rogue network administrator's hijacking of the city's network now estimated at $1 million, San Francisco officials say they are searching for a mysterious networking device hidden somewhere on the network. The device, referred to as a "terminal server" in court documents, appears to be a router that was installed to provide remote access to the city's Fiber WAN network, which connects municipal co......
[more] Secure Web gateway for effective data loss prevention in an SSL world Businesses are increasingly moving to SSL-encrypted traffic on their network for greater security and data protection. In fact, in 2007, Enterprise Strategy Group estimated that SSL-encrypted application deployments had increased by 50 to 55 percent. However, more SSL traffic on the network inhibits the effectiveness of a data loss prevention solution. In response to this new application profile that favors SSL traffic, organ......
[more] What has happened to storage security? It would be an overstatement to suggest that the state of storage security has declined in the past year, but it's fair to say that it's lost some momentum. While everyone on the planet is now aware of privacy concerns and specifically the widely publicized risk of off-site tape loss, only a relatively small number of companies have acted to mitigate the situation. Certainly there have been technology advances, including the availability of tape drive e......
[more] Denbighshire secures net traffic with Websense Denbighshire County Council has upgraded to Websense’s Web Security Gateway to provide safe internet access to its 3,500 schools, libraries and corporate users. The primary concern of the council is to protect its network from web-based threats. In addition, the Web Security Gateway is expected to help the council get Government Connect Secure Extranet (GCSx) accreditation. GCSx accreditation is a private WAN which enables secure interactions betwe......
[more] Blue Coat helps Kettering hospital transmit images on WAN Kettering General Hospital has deployed Blue Coat Systems’ ProxySG appliances to transmit X-ray and MRI scan images to other healthcare providers through WAN. ProxySG appliances, built on SG operating system, provide a proxy platform architecture to protect web traffic and accelerate the delivery of business applications. The appliances have enabled the hospital to implement picture archiving and communications system (PACS). With PACS m......
[more] Getting network baselining right While simple in concept, network baselining is often misunderstood. Baselining involves recording network traffic and performance, saving it for future reference and/or reviewing it to see traffic patterns. Once baselines are saved, they can be used as a benchmark with which to compare other traffic patterns. The technique provides the network administrator insight into expected behavior on the network and subsequently, the ability to notice changes. People ofte......
[more] Adopting VOIP without unnecessary risk to your organisation For many years, voice over IP (VOIP) has held the promise of enabling the next generation of voice communications within the enterprise. Unfortunately, its adoption has been slowed; sometimes by the reality of poor performing WAN application, in other cases by perceptions that (VOIP) technology is not quite ready for the mainstream market. These problems, both real and imagined, have forced IT organisations and (VOIP) vendors to take a......
[more] How Does WAN Optimization Work? WAN optimization controllers (WOCs) can breathe new life into slow wide area network links, relieving congestion, speeding up file transfers and making applications more responsive. But how exactly do vendors like Riverbed Technology, Juniper Networks, Blue Coat Systems and Expand Networks get their devices to work their magic? To answer this question, consider the two fundamental problems that WAN links present: They have limited capacity, so they can beco......
[more] Blue Coat looks to streamline WAN optimization rollouts Blue Coat Systems is aiming for instant gratification with a new configuration wizard designed to help IT professionals get their ProxySG appliances up and running quickly. The streamlined setup executes a baseline WAN optimization configuration, including the ability to accelerate remote file access (utilizing CIFS), e-mail and Web-based applications. The wizard enables setup in less than a minute, says Carrie Oakes, vice president of......
[more] Juniper wraps remote types in security blanket Juniper has stretched its enterprise security mechanisms to better protect all those machines logging into corporate networks from remote locations. Dubbed Juniper Networks Adaptive Threat Management Solutions, the new offering automatically deploys anti-malware and anti-spyware tools to remote clients tapping the network via VPN, while affording additional protection by way of an updated intrusion-prevention system (IPS). And in an effort to ensure......
[more] Blue Coat launches new Virtual WAN Optimisation products WAN optimisation and security firm Blue Coat Systems today announced the launch of a new range of Virtual WAN Optimisation appliances designed to help firms consolidate their IT infrastructure and improve the delivery of business applications. Mark Urban, senior director of product marketing, explained that the new products will enable firms to meet a number of growing challenges in the enterprise space."As firms run more application......
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