DX Application Acceleration Platforms
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.
Based on the unique DX Framework, the DX platform greatly improves the end-user experience by delivering content quicker. It also solves IT budget, high-availability and security requirements through a combination of centralized services on a single device that include:
- Server load balancing
- Global server load balancing
- SSL encryption and termination
- HTTP compression and application security
The DX platform has scaling options in both functionality and performance for any business environment. Working with other Juniper solutions such as the WX/WXC application acceleration platforms and the Secure Access SSL VPN, the DX platform provides fast, reliable and secure access to applications and services over a single network, thus empowering the distributed enterprise.
A Multi-function Platform for the New Data Center
The DX application acceleration platforms offload core networking and I/O responsibilities from web and application servers to improve the performance of web-based applications, increasing productivity of local, remote and mobile users. The DX platforms also simplify and improve the data center architecture by incorporating the functionality of multiple point products, including server load balancers (SLBs), web accelerators, SSL terminators and cache and proxy servers, into a single platform. By incorporating critical security functionality and providing unprecedented Web performance and application availability in an easy-to-manage, flexible appliance, the DX application acceleration platform is proving to be the cornerstone of the new data center.
The DX HTTP Data Stream Architecture
Next-generation data center acceleration requires the ability to understand and manipulate HTTP/S data streams with high real-world performance. Neither packet-based, kernel-only nor "deep packet inspection" technologies employed by load-balancing products are capable of providing the level of performance or range of functionality required for optimal performance of Web-enabled applications.
Juniper's highly optimized approach employs both kernel-mode and application-space technologies working in combination to provide the best HTTP engine for multifunction application acceleration. With this engine, the DX application acceleration platforms natively speak and understand all of the intricacies of the application protocol (HTTP/S), functioning as a full HTTP/1.1 proxy.
The DX Application Acceleration Platform is a Comprehensive Solution
In contrast to packet-based approaches, the DX platform's HTTP data-stream architecture natively understands the intricacies of HTTP/S, and provides the power to secure, optimize and rewrite every request and response all the time. Real-world production deployments prove that Juniper delivers the features, flexibility, and performance enterprises need from an application acceleration platform.
Performance: Speed User Access, Increase Application Capacity
With Juniper DX application acceleration platforms, time to access business-critical web-enabled applications is typically cut in half, which can mean a dramatic boost in application usability and acceptance-especially for remote and branch office users. The DX platforms optimize and compress all outgoing web data in real time without adding latency. Content fidelity is maintained, bandwidth use is dramatically reduced, and users experience faster page loads regardless of their location or network connection. The DX platforms also increase the capacity of applications by serving as a transaction broker, managing all connections and requests between servers and users. The DX platforms maximize available server and network resources, freeing server CPU for other tasks and yielding up to a 10x increase in server/application capacity.
Security: Internal firewall for the Transaction Zone
The "internal firewall" functionality provided by DX application acceleration platforms delivers the security enterprises need in the critical transaction zone where web-enabled applications reside. The DX platforms support one-way or end-to-end SSL, delivering secure content faster than a server can deliver clear text. The DX platforms authenticate users, secure data and connections, and protect servers from DOS and SYN Flood attacks. The DX platforms also provide the security-boosting features of native protocol communication and total content manipulation, enabling powerful, flexible and adaptable security capabilities in the enterprise data center.
Availability: Maximize With ActiveN
Juniper DX application acceleration platforms provide full Layer 4-7 server load balancing functionality, supporting deployment of multiple applications and server clusters behind a single DX platform. The DX platform performs non-synthetic network, server, and application health checking.
Unique to the DX platforms is the ability to deploy in an ActiveN mesh configuration, enabling up to 64 DX platforms to process traffic for the same or different Virtual IP addresses. With ActiveN, it is only necessary to add one box at a time to increase scalability or failover protection, as opposed to the pair of boxes and network redesign required to scale active-standby or active-active configurations.
Scalability: Incremental Functionality
The DX application acceleration platform offers a highly scalable solution that grows and evolves with the business, dramatically reducing data center overhead.
Users can initially deploy a single DX platform to provide server load balancing (SLB) and SSL termination functionality. As demands increase, additional functionality such as HTTP acceleration, compression, protocol scrubbing, 3G caching, global server load balancing and AppRulesTM adaptive content processing can be added via simple license upgrades. Businesses get the benefit of powerful new functionality, without the cost and complexity of adding multiple point products to the data center.
Management: Insight Through Real-Time Information
With more than 200 real-time statistics, Juniper DX application acceleration platforms provide extensive detail on all inbound and outbound traffic. Historical data is easily time-sliced from seconds to years via online graphs, simplifying capacity planning, trending and troubleshooting of application and network issues. By front-ending all servers, the DX platforms easily enable Web logging data consolidation, easing management and freeing additional server resources.
The DX platform's role-based administration streamlines device management, limits user authority to specific areas, and greatly increases user accountability. Complete system, administration and audit logs provide detailed administration records.
Flexibility: AppRules Control Environment
The Juniper Networks AppRules control environment is a user API that enables changes in application behavior without altering the application itself. Through the AppRules interface, users can chose from a list of predefined optimization rules or create their own custom "if-then" rules that transform, update, append, prepend or delete request or response headers or POST data or even return content itself whether it is HTML, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets, XML or other formats.
For example, AppRules can be used to automatically secure application requests and responses, enabling instant security with no performance degradation, and no time-consuming or costly application rewriting. Or, the AppRules feature can be used to check the accuracy of every response and take configurable action to resolve failures, maximizing application availability.
Compatibility: Comprehensive Product Portfolio
As part of the larger Juniper product portfolio, the DX platforms contribute to a complete secure and assured application delivery system for today's distributed enterprise. Working with Juniper's high-speed, high-availability core and edge routers, as well as its SSL VPN and firewall/VPN solutions to provide secure remote access and the WX/WXC application acceleration platforms for WAN optimization, the DX platforms deliver the critical data center acceleration component that enables businesses to build secure, high-performance global networks that meet their constantly escalating demands.
