blogs.riverbed.com

WAN Optimization, Security, and the Federal Market

For the typical enterprise customer, selecting a WAN optimization vendor usually starts with identifying solutions that do a good job accelerating the applications they care about, are scalable, and can be seamlessly deployed within their IT infrastructure.  For the government customer, there is arguably an even more important consideration that goes above and beyond speed, scalability, and simplicity and that is security.  There are 3 key security considerations for government organizations selecting a WAN optimization vendor.

1.  The existing secure infrastructure must not be weakened

Features need to be in place that ensure that as WAN optimization devices and/or software is deployed, additional security risks are not introduced. 

For example, Riverbed offers the ability to SSL encrypt the traffic between Steelhead appliances.  In addition to encrypting the traffic in flight over the WAN, Riverbed also offers the ability to encrypt the chunked data that is stored on the Steelhead appliance for optimization.  Up to 256 bit AES is supported.  The result is that with Riverbed, you get an end-to-end WAN optimization solution that is secure.

2.  You must be able to accelerate secure applications

Federal organizations that have deployed web-based applications that are SSL-encrypted, have encrypted Exchange email, or have applied SMB-signing to their file sharing environment to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks are often forced to make the trade-off between application acceleration for security.  For many WAN optimization vendors, they will simply pass this traffic through unoptimized or worse, will ask the customer to turn off security so they can achieve acceleration.

Riverbed has done a tremendous amount of engineering work to optimize and accelerate these encrypted environments.  With Riverbed, Federal organizations don't have to turn off SSL encryption, Exchange encryption, or SMB signing.  You get to have your cake and eat it too.  Accelerate your applications, while maintaining a secure environment.

3.  Must comply with federal security standards

Large government organizations, civilian agencies, and militaries deploy IT equipment that runs on networks, in data centers, in office buildings, and even in tents or vehicles to support a military endeavors.  This equipment must not only be secure, but it must comply with federal security standards including FIPS, Common Criteria, and JITC.  These federal security standard requirements are often extended to WAN optimization devices as well.

Riverbed has invested a large amount of resources to ensure that our products meet these Federal security standards.

If you are interested in finding out more about how Riverbed has been selected by government agencies around the world to accelerate applications, optimize bandwidth, consolidate IT infrastructure, and optimize disaster recovery, while doing it securely, please drop me an email.

Bob Gilbert
bob@riverbed.com

Video - Steelhead Mobile Demo

Bob Gilbert demonstrates Riverbed's WAN optimization solution for mobile workers.

Steelhead Mobile 3.0 - The Riverbed Prancing Horse?

Since the year 2000 Ferarri has won six  Formula 1 Drivers' Championships, seven Constructors' Championship, and four FIA GT2 Championships but those awards pale in comparison to the impact the company's famed prancing horse icon has when it pulls up to an intersection of a crowded city street.  While only an erudite few may know who Michael Schumacher is or other details from the storied brands recent success, virtually everyone who sees the distinctive Italian cars recognize them as the ultimate driving machines.   Whether a Ferrari is built for the track or the street it is understood that what makes these cars so highly coveted is the understanding that the singular vision of every model they produce is unmitigated performance.  The Riverbed product family share these characteristics as both the Steelhead Appliance and Steelhead Mobile are powered by the same Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS) which is what makes today's announcement of the release of Steelhead Mobile 3.0 so exciting.  Steelhead Mobile 3.0 gives IT managers the opportunity to simplify their network infrastructure by offering a single solution to the problems that plague performance 

Whether in the office or on the road, improved integration with the Steelhead appliance allows workers to bring even more of the benefits of the Riverbed Optimization System with them wherever they go. Speed is no longer a barrier to mobility with new protocol optimizations, expanded platform and operating system support, and client developments that improve the performance of the entire Riverbed Technology deployment.  With this release we introduce:

    • Acceleration for Windows 7 and 64-bit Systems
    • Web Applications – up to 20X to 60X faster
    • Branch Warming – Enhanced acceleration for your entire Riverbed deployment.

To learn more about these exciting new features and to try it for yourself, check out What's New With Steelhead Mobile to give your organization Ferrari like performance everywhere!

Accelerate 2010 - The Riverbed Performance Summit

We're getting deeper into planning Accelerate 2010 - The Riverbed Performance Summit. Our plans are to include a jam-packed agenda with lots of technical hands-on time and technical architecture discussions.

A few of the topics that we are considering are:

- Designing faster disaster recovery
- Building private cloud infrastructure
- Accelerating virtualization

But, I'd rather hear from YOU in terms of what you'd like to hear and work on during this conference.

What's on the top of your mind? What topics would you like to see on the agenda to ensure that Accelerate 2010 is on your calendar?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

The difference between a lightning bug and lightning bug - linking access and performance with mobile workers

The advent of "internet everywhere" is reflective of the interconnectedness of global business and like laces in a shoe serves to draw the world and business opportunities closer, while simultaneously increasing competition. Supporting workers while they are away from the office and looking to capture these opportunities can be the difference between IT acting as a competitive edge and IT acting as an impedance to business success. The difference between the two is not merely access but performance.

Forrester Research Analyst Chris Silva recently wrote a piece on the ZDNet Blog "It's Flue Season: Connect and Optimize Your Workers" about the importance of considering both access and performance when supporting mobile workers. Composed at 30,000 feet while on a flight from St. Louis to San Diego Chris's experience working over a 5.5 miles in the air is by no means unique and underscores how varied the locations are where work is gets done.  As he points out, continuity of operations and disaster recovery plans only focus on access and not performance, when in truth access and performance are two sides of the same coin. Both are equally to important consideration to ensure that mobile workers operate as effectively away from the office as they do when they are in it.  

Workers maybe able access resources from variable locations, but when away from their carefully architected IT environments they face inconsistent connection types, costs and user volumes, low bandwidth links (eg 3G data cards) which are easily overwhelmed by application usage, and high latency all of which conspire against mobile worker performance. Silva refers to mobile WAN optimization products like Steelhead Mobile playing a crucial role in bridging the gap between merely allowing someone to work away from the office and enabling them to perform. As our always on society introduces greater competition between firms and the threat of any interruption in work demands well designed business continuity and disaster recovery plans Steelhead Mobile and its ability to ensure both access and performance become even more crucial.  

I thought that Chris Silva did a fantastic job articulating this point and encourage everyone to read this and all of his posts on the ZDNet site. For more information about how Steelhead Mobile can help you provide your mobile workers with both the access and performance that they need when they are away from the office check out http://www.riverbed.com/products/steelhead_mobile/

New Steelhead Mobile Innovations

Riverbed announced a new product and enhancements to Steelhead Mobile yesterday.  We've expanded our offering to allow organizations from small-to-mid-size businesses (SMBs) to the largest global corporations allowing their mobile workforce with LAN-like access to corporate files and applications.

Here's a look at the new features...

Steelhead Mobile Controller Virtual Edition:

The Steelhead Mobile Controller Virtual Edition (SMC-VE) provides enterprise-grade acceleration for SMBs or larger organizations that have a small number of mobile workers interested in implementing strategic deployments of Steelhead Mobile.  SMC-VE is a virtual package deployed on the Riverbed Services Platform (RSP), a virtualized platform that provides customers with the capability to run up to five additional services and applications in a protected partition on the Steelhead appliance. By running SMC-VE within the RSP, Riverbed offers enterprises the opportunity to obtain all of the same benefits of Steelhead Mobile while eliminating the need to purchase additional hardware.  Enterprises can purchase as few as 10 initial licenses, up to a total capacity of 100 licenses, to make it easier to cost-effectively target mobile users in environments where the additional scale of the SMC is unnecessary.

Increased Steelhead Mobile Controller Capacity

In addition to reaching smaller organizations with the SMC-VE, Steelhead Mobile 2.1 also extends the reach of the Steelhead Mobile Controller (SMC) appliance by increasing the total license capacity for the largest enterprises.  The SMC is now capable of managing 2x as many licenses as before, for a total 4,000 licenses without any new hardware.

Application Layer Lotus Notes Optimization

Steelhead Mobile now offers application-layer optimization for Lotus Notes for mobile workers, giving Notes users the chance to be productive anywhere. Developed directly with IBM to optimize email, calendaring, and web, Steelhead Mobile provides performance gains of 18x or more for Lotus Notes.  Together with the Lotus Notes application layer acceleration introduced in RiOS 5.5, Riverbed is the only vendor with a complete Lotus Notes acceleration solution for both mobile and remote office workers.

The security, speed, and simplicity of Steelhead Mobile further extend the benefits of Riverbed optimization and acceleration leadership to the mobile worker for organizations of any size. Use these great new features to enable improve application performance, and minimize management overhead.

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How Teleworkers are Like the Dallas Cowboys

Telework, like the metrics system and professional soccer all seem to be perpetually projected as the next big thing in the United States.  While FC Dallas tattoos are not yet quite as prevasive as those supporting the Dallas Cowboys, telework has exploded from promising idea to common solution to the speed and execution demands facing modern businesses. 

Mobility has become so mainstream that according to the recent study "WorldatWork Telework Trendlines 2009” commissioned from The Dieringer Research Group, the total number of employees that telework at least once a month is greater than the entire population of Canada (33.7mm vs 33.56mm). Today Network World Associate New Editor Ann Bednarz highlighted a number of the findings from the report as well as discussed the the crucial role that Mobile WAN optimization solutions can play in ensuring the success of a telework program.

Since workers are becoming just as effective away from the office as they are in it I can only wonder what will come next: speed limits in KPH or $3mm MLS Cup Ad Rates....

Steelhead Mobile?

The California Department of Fish and Game takes a different approach to making steelhead's mobile at the Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival...

(Photo courtesy of Riverbed Sr. Product Marketing Manager Nik Rouda)

Five Stars No Service - Hotel Broadband Falling Behind Home Network Speed

A mint on the pillow and a "complimentary" robe may be relics of a bygone era hotel stays but that does not mean that today's business travelers are any less demanding of their homes away from home than their predecessors when they are on the road.  While hotels tout beds with names like "Heavenly" and  "Serenity", they provide little comfort to a mobile worker sentenced to connectivity hell.  A good nights sleep maybe crucial for a successful day, but getting work done while away is an even bigger priority for most itinerant road warriors. 

The New York Times recently featured a story on how hotels are struggling to cope with the increasing strain that business travelers are putting on their networks.  The article pointed out that until recently the vast majority of hotels were supporting guests with 1.5mbps T1 lines that offered inferior performance to most homes cable modems (usually 3-5mbps).  Even as hotels rush to upgrade their links, this highlights one of the many challenges confronting mobile workers striving to operate away from the office, locations where variable speed links that are easily overwhelmed by multiple users. 

Steelhead Mobile offers a solution to the challenges of location and link by maximizing bandwidth.   By eliminating redundant data from crossing the network and streamlining transportation and application layer requests Steelhead Mobile allows mobile workers to control the uncontrollable.  The result, less time in progress bar purgatory and more "Sweet" dreams.  

The Next Generation of Mobile Worker Acceleration

Safety first.  As security concerns become more pervasive, the pursuit of a bulletproof network has become the holy grail for IT managers at organizations of all sizes.  Unfortunately, in their quest for unassailable data security performance often suffers, leading to cries for revolt by users and perhaps an even bigger problem than the one that was just resolved.  Fortunately, with today’s introduction of Steelhead Mobile 2.0 the coveted combination of security and performance is no longer a myth, but a reality that is already being enjoyed by over 15% of Riverbeds existing customer base. 

One of the things that makes the release of Steelhead Mobile 2.0 so exciting is that it highlights the true comprehensiveness of the Riverbed solution.  Since both the Steelhead Appliance and Steelhead Mobile share the same RiOS code features and functionality are virtually interchangeable.  Our secure socket layer (SSL) and HTTPS solution is a perfect illustration of this. We were able to bring the same patent-pending approach to secure acceleration that maintains the preferred trust model developed for the Steelhead appliance to Steelhead Mobile. This means that, for the first time, mobile worker can enjoy speed and security without the threat of a man in the middle attack or the vulnerability of having the private key leave the data center. 

In addition to highlighting the close integration with the Steelhead appliance Steelhead Mobile  2.0 also reflects Riverbeds continued commitment to its customers by directly addressing some of our their most common requests.  To better accelerate applications that are crucial for businesses on the go Steelhead Mobile 2.0 becomes the first wide-area data services (WDS) vendor to deliver protocol optimizations specifically for MAPI 2007 and Oracle Forms.  By working directly at the application layer, layer 7, we are seeing a profound improvement in performance for Exchange 2007 and Oracle E-Business Suite users.   We’re also introducing significantly greater license management flexibility through Enhanced Steelhead Auto-Detection and Link Based Licensing.  While we typically see around four users sharing a single license under our concurrent licensing model, the fact that organizations will now be able to use the local Steelhead appliance to accelerate traffic when a mobile worker returns to the office has the potential allow even more users to enjoy the speed and security of Steelhead Mobile 2.0 without purchasing additional licenses. 

This combination of SSL/HTTPS security, the speed of layer 7 application acceleration for MAPI 2007 and Oracle Forms, and the greater flexibility of license management introduced makes today an exciting day for the entire Mobile Team here at Riverbed and for Mobile Workers everywhere.  We hope that you'll join us in feeling the wind in your hair as you speed through your work wherever it takes you!

Experience with Steelhead Mobile Across Asia - Part 2

In my work for Riverbed I lead an interesting life, traipsing across the Asia-Pacific region and Evangelizing about the wonders and benefits of WAN Acceleration.

Call it what you will – Application Acceleration, WAN Optimization, Wide-Area File Services (WAFS), Wide-Area Data Services (WDS), etc – many terms exist to describe the functionality and benefits that appliances like the Steelhead product line from Riverbed Technology bring to organizations around the world.

Riverbed however is unique in the industry in offering a truly mature, stable, fully-functional product for mobile user acceleration, with the Steelhead Mobile PC client Acceleration software.

Riverbed at the Olympics

The Olympics stand alone.  Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Liu Xiang, on any given Wednesday these names, even the sports/events that they compete in would be frotunate to garner a write up in the mainstream media approaching the size of the text used in perscription drug ad warnings. For two weeks every four years it is a very different story.

Experience with Steelhead Mobile across Asia (part 1)

In the last month or so I have been traveling across most of Asia giving sales and technical updates to our partners around the region. Riverbed has a physical presence in 16 countries around Asia Pacific & Japan, and we are active in over 20 countries, often in several cities in each - so it's been a busy couple of weeks !

During the course of these travels, I've found myself presented with an incredibly wide variety of network connectivity situations - each presenting their own challenges. Some of these have been truly startling, so I thought I'd share a few anecdotes with you and relate how having Steelhead Mobile on my PC has saved me time and money in an obvious and demonstrable way.

For example, I was in sunny Makati city in the Philippines two weeks ago and needed to download some revised presentation content for my partner update session that afternoon.

Unfortunately, the only connectivity available to me at the time was a 56k dialup circuit. Remember those ? Back in the day, 56kbps was flying, but for me trying to download 20 Megabytes worth of Powerpoint from our US servers, with a deadline fast approaching, it was a nail-biting experience.

Luckily for me however the presence of Riverbed's Steelhead Mobile PC client Acceleration software saved the day. Not only did it compress the data from 20 Megabytes down to about 3, it also dramatically accelerated the transfer time so I could get the information I needed and make it to my appointment armed with the all latest information. What a lifesaver ! Without this technology, I may still be there downloading now.

The Soon to be Much Friendlier Skies

Not since Virgin Atlantic promised "more experience than the name suggests" have business travelers been as excited about how to occupy themselves while traveling a mile high in the sky.