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Radware AppDirector

Intelligent application delivery controller for data center optimisation delivering advanced Layer 4-7 policies, application acceleration services, integrated security and bandwidth management to eliminate traffic surges, server bottlenecks, connectivity disconnects and downtime for ensured business continuity.

 

The AppDirector™ intelligent application delivery controller (ADC) enhances the delivery of applications over IP networks by bridging the gap between applications and the networks.

Radware combined its next-generation, OnDemand Switch multi-gigabit hardware platform with the powerful capabilities of the company's APSolute™ operating system "classifier" and "flow management" engine. The result - AppDirector - enables accelerated application performance; local and global server availability; and application security and infrastructure scalability for fast, reliable and secure delivery of applications over IP networks.

By optimising server infrastructure resources and enabling seamless consolidation and high scalability, AppDirector drives productivity and return on investment. In addition, AppDirector expands the comprehensive set of application acceleration, optimisation and security services provided by Radware's Application Delivery (ADC) solution.

On Demand, Scalable Solution Addressing Current and Future ADC Needs

AppDirector is powered by the innovative OnDemand Switch platform. OnDemand Switch, which has established a new price/performance standard in the industry, delivers breakthrough performance and superior scalability to meet evolving network and business requirements. Based on its on demand, "pay-as-you-grow" approach, no forklift upgrade is required even when new business requirements arise. This helps companies guarantee short-term and long-term savings on CAPEX and OPEX for full investment protection. Radware's OnDemand Switch enables customers to pay for the exact capacity currently required, while allowing them to scale their ADC throughput capacity and add advanced application-aware services or application acceleration services on demand to meet new or changing application and infrastructure needs. And it does it without compromising on performance.

Optimised Server Utilisation and Application Performance

AppDirector uses advanced Layer 4-7 policies and granular application intelligence for end-to-end business-smart networking. AppDirector aligns server infrastructure operations with application front end requirements to eliminate

• Traffic surges
• Server bottlenecks
• Connectivity disconnects
• Downtime

This assures application access, full application continuity and redundancy. AppDirector enables fine tuning of network behavior based on granular application-specific classification of packets to optimise traffic flows for a wide range of enterprise applications such as BEA, Citrix, Oracle, SAP and other web-based applications including support for VoIP, streaming media and secure LDAP applications.

Performance Acceleration Services

AppDirector provides end-to-end performance acceleration of Web- and SSL-based applications for all end-users types such as desktops, PDAs and smart-phones.

AppDirector's acceleration technologies include SSL offloading, Web compression, caching, TCP optimisation and bandwidth utilisation control for fast application and transaction response times and the best Quality of Experience (QoE) across various media types (e.g., cellular connections, wireless networks, broadband connections).

By offloading SSL and persistent functions (processor- and server-intensive operations) from servers, AppDirector frees server CPU to handle additional requests, thus eliminating the need to buy additional hardware to support application processing requirements.

This application accelerator handles centralised, multi-device application and SSL management which:

• Reduces the complexity and the cost of managing SSL server infrastructure through centralised, tamper-resistant certificates/key protection and management
• Significantly reduces Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) card deployment costs while preventing attackers from gaining access to sensitive information (e.g., keys and certificates) contained in the module
• Reduces OPEX of installing and managing certificates on each and every server
• Simplifies maintenance and troubleshooting
• Centralises monitoring of SSL performance
• Provides complete reporting and auditing of configuration changes required for regulatory compliance

Integrated Application-level Security

Radware ADC solution's comprehensive security capabilities provide

• Intrusion prevention from wide range of application-level attacks
• Behavioral-based Denial of Service (DoS) protection
• Web Application Protection and Compliance
• Web Services and XML Security
• Bandwidth management and access control

AppDirector's fully integrated intrusion prevention and unique behavioral-based DoS protection insulates data center applications and server resources against application-level attacks and zero-day DoS attacks. In addition the ability to control multistep secure socket layer (SSL) processing provides enhanced security of HTTP, FTP and SMTP over SSL.

When AppDirector is used in conjunction with AppWall, this combined ADC solution provides the industry's most comprehensive security solution while eliminating traditional security/performance trade-offs. AppWall provides unified and automated protection against known and unknown Web application attacks worms, platform exploits and network attacks, ensuring secure and continuous on-line business activity. In addition, it also enables PCI compliance which is a must for most online businesses.

Global Redirection for Faster Response Times

Radware's innovative architectural approach to global re-direction is the only solution guaranteeing transaction completion and fast response times across multiple data centers in support of business continuity and disaster recovery plans. This solution, which is integrated with the local redirection module in the same box, includes

• Patented proximity and load measurement for best site selection
• Widest range of redirection methods (DNS, HTTP, RTSP, SIP and patented global triangulation redirection) which guarantees session persistency and transaction completion
• Patented triangulation redirection provides global redirection for any IP-based service

By solving the problems of DNS-only solutions, AppDirector lets customers create true global networks while ensuring maximum uptime and optimised service delivery to globally dispersed users.

QOS Bandwidth Management and Traffic Shaping Determine Priorities

AppDirector supports a variety of bandwidth management and traffic-shaping capabilities to enforce Quality of Service (QOS) policies. These rules ensure that all network elements provide the required priority to specific application or user traffic so service level agreements (SLAs) can be met, with latency-sensitive and business-critical applications receiving priority.

• Automatic application discovery for over 40 common enterprise applications plus support for user-defined classes provides administrators with full visibility on application's bandwidth consumption, streamlining enforcement of bandwidth management policies.
• Diversified set of QOS algorithms including RED/WRED/WFQ and class-based queuing (CBQ) guarantees bandwidth allocation for premium users and critical applications, and end-to-end bandwidth management and policy enforcement.
• Bandwidth management per user/sessionallows setting granular policies that control bandwidth consumption of each and every user within a class of traffic, without setting individual policies.
• Hierarchal bandwidth management gives administrators a powerful and flexible tool for dynamic bandwidth allocation in complex environments.

Virtual Data Center Application Delivery

VirtualDirector, Radware's application delivery optimisation solution for the virtualized data center, provides real-time dynamic allocation of data center resources based on business events, ensures optimal user experience and improves response time. The solution aligns virtual data center operations with business policies while optimising the use of virtual resources to further generate CAPEX and OPEX savings.

vAdapter, Radware's easy to deploy, operational tool, ensures that any change in the virtual infrastructure (VI) -- impacting ADC configuration -- is automatically synchronized with the ADC in real-time without manual reconfiguration of the ADC or coding any complex scripts. It guarantees the full availability and maximum performance of virtualized applications by preventing configuration errors, eliminating scripting and reducing risk.

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