Bringing LAN-like file delivery to WANs

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
08/10/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* A look at an increasingly popular technology, wide-area file
  services (WAFS)
* Links related to Networking Technology Update
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus:

Bringing LAN-like file delivery to WANs

By Deni Connor

Gold's Gym had been asking its network and end users to do some
heavy lifting. End users trying to work together across 40 gyms
and three corporate offices were using e-mail to exchange files
and faced the challenge of keeping track of changes to different
versions, as well, says Kurt Koenig, IT manager for the fitness
company in Falls Church, Va.

But that system wasn't sustainable, Koenig says. He wanted to
relocate files previously housed at each location to a centrally
accessible data center in Columbia, Md. To make the transition,
he turned to an increasingly popular technology called wide-area
file services (WAFS), designed to provide LAN-like file delivery
across WANs.

"We now have one G: drive with national access, so no matter
where users are, they can get to their data quickly" he says.

Gold's is using a WAFS product from Availl Software, one of a
number of vendors in this market, which also includes Brocade,
Cisco and Swan Labs. WAFS products come in the form of software,
which runs on file servers, and appliances.

WAFS works by reducing the "chattiness" of Microsoft's Common
Internet File System ( CIFS
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/788.html> ) and the
Unix/Linux Network File System ( NFS
<http://www.networkworld.com/details/781.html> ) protocols. It
also works by decreasing the latency of WAN communications by
eliminating much of the round-trip traffic caused by opening and
closing files. CIFS and NFS were designed to work in LAN
environments where latency is low.

"The CIFS and NFS file protocols are extraordinarily chatty,"
says John Henze, director of product marketing for the Caching
Services Business Unit at Cisco. "These files consist of
hundreds and hundreds of synchronous, short byte-length messages
that go back and forth before any payload is actually sent,
causing high latency and low throughput. This differs from on
the LAN where you have virtually no latency."

For more on WAFS, how it works, what its benefits are and more,
go to: <http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080805-wafs.html>

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

Storage networks get help from WAN accelerators
04/25/05
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/042505-wafs.html

Expand Networks adds WAFS support
08/01/05
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080105-expand.html

Why WAFS could be critical to performance
07/12/05
http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate4738

Antidote for 'chatty' protocols: WAFS
03/14/05
http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate4739

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. New York courts find security in IP video
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080805-ip-video.html?t5>

2. Microsoft settles with 'Spam King' for $7 million
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate4740>

3. German bank launches new system to combat phishing
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate4741>

4. Anti-spyware firm warns of massive ID theft ring
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080505-id-theft.html?t5>

5. Crashing the 'Net
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2005/080805buzz.html?t5>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact:

Deni Connor is a Senior Editor at Network World covering
storage, Unix, Novell, Macintosh and IT in Healthcare. You can
reach her at dconnor@nww.com
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Akamai
Download the Network World Special Report: Accelerating
Web-based Applications: Managed Services Offer Benefits Without
Infrastructure Headaches

Look at most companies and you'll find one thing in common, a
move to Web-enable mission critical applications. A new breed of
managed services, aimed directly at accelerating performance and
availability of Web-based applications, helps companies attain
their goals of profit and growth - no matter how far or wide the
audience they are trying to reach. Learn how Web-based
applications can allow your company to boost the bottom line.
Download this Special Report today!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109902
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