F5 launches optimization portal

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DENISE DUBIE ON NETWORK OPTIMIZATION
08/30/05
Today's focus: F5 launches optimization portal

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* F5's free Application Optimization Resource Portal
* Links related to Network Optimization
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Ciena
WAN Optimization for Enterprise Applications

Today VPNs and VLANs can satisfy web, Email and file transfer
requirements. Is it reasonable to expect them to handle
storage, XML and/or VoIP traffic, too? Download Ciena's white
paper on 'WAN Optimization for Enterprise Applications" to learn
how new traffic can affect your network and how you can
proactively meet these diverse demands efficiently today and for
tomorrow.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=111759
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SEVEN TIPS FOR MANAGING STORAGE

Considering adding to your storage arsenal or upgrading what you
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an RFP, and what you need to do before, during and after a
change in your storage environment. Click here for more:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=111573
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: F5 launches optimization portal

By Denise Dubie

F5 Networks wants to help customers understand how technology
can optimize the performance of Web applications, so the company
is hosting an online resource designed to let customers test
compression, acceleration and caching technologies for free.

The F5 Application Optimization Resource Portal provides
visitors with a repeatable set of tests that display how the
technologies available in F5's Big-IP product line can improve
performance. The site also includes capabilities to compare
application performance and speeds against real-world
performance metrics, application-specific deployment guides, and
tools to help analyze cost savings, F5 says.

"Customers can run their own sites through the portal's
compression calculator, and it can simulate performance from
anywhere they are logging in," says Erik Giesa, vice president
of product management at F5. "We created these repeatable tests
and publicly available tools to help customers see the benefits
and cost savings they could realize."

The site utilizes the Gomez Performance Network
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop6090>, a third-party tool
for analyzing application performance under real-world
conditions, F5 says.

F5 says it plans to add more resources online such as tools to
measure latency improvements, analyze what type of traffic is
flowing over networks, and test the benefits of using TCP
acceleration, compression and caching technologies.

While the free online resource could be seen as a ploy for F5 to
get more customers, Giesa says the company hopes visitors will
see it as an educational tool at their disposal.

"We've seen research that shows more than over 85% of systems
out there aren't using these types of technologies to lower
their costs and improve their performance," he says. "This
portal isn't operating in a vendor lab, it's real-world
scenarios in which customers can calculate their performance."

The portal is here <http://www.f5.com/solutions/AppOpt.html>.

More information on the Gomez Performance Network can be found
at <http://www.gomez.com/>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Google dives deeper into networking
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop6091>

2. 2005 salary survey
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop4030>

3. Intel-Cisco deal may be big for Wi-Fi
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop6092>

4. VoIP season about to heat up
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop6093>

5. Cisco aims to simplify switch mgmt.
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop6094>

Today's most-forwarded story:

Google dives deeper into networking
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop6095>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Denise Dubie

Senior Editor Denise Dubie covers network and systems management
for Network World. Reach her at <mailto:ddubie@nww.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Ciena
WAN Optimization for Enterprise Applications

Today VPNs and VLANs can satisfy web, Email and file transfer
requirements. Is it reasonable to expect them to handle
storage, XML and/or VoIP traffic, too? Download Ciena's white
paper on 'WAN Optimization for Enterprise Applications" to learn
how new traffic can affect your network and how you can
proactively meet these diverse demands efficiently today and for
tomorrow.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=111758
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Network Optimization newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/accel/index.html
_______________________________________________________________
The Rise of MultiService Networks

Leading analysts believe that voice over IP over Wi-Fi, or VoFi,
is going to become a core driver of WLAN installations moving
forward. Find out how multiservice networking fits in.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=111533
_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE
IT STAFF SHORTAGE LOOMING

Outsourcing. Automation. Downsizing. The industry has been awash
in unemployed IT pros. But experts are now predicting an IT
staffing crunch is just around the corner, and the implications
for U.S. technology innovation are sobering. What might be
causing the shortage and what might need to be done to prevent
it? Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnetop5878>
_______________________________________________________________
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