Application Acceleration Products?

All,

Has anyone ever implemented an application acceleration product in order to enhance web based applications on remote sites out with the Data Centre.

We have had alot of complaints over the last year or so with JD Edwards Oneworld's performance outwith the Datacentre where the JDE web server runs on a cluster. After reading a bit about this on the web it seems to indicate that an every day router can't give the level of QOS required for todays web based clustered applications over the WAN.

I am in line for a job move to manage the network in order to irradicate issues such as this and monitor our WAN/LAN and IPT phone system. This will be one of my tasks, to improve JDE performance along with some other applications that access data over the WAN.

I've done some research on application acceleration and it appears that there are a couple of options:

1. Expand networks appears to be the market leader in this type of device http://www.expand.com/

2. Go down the Juniper route http://www.juniper.net/products_and_services/application_acceleration/

I'm in the very early stages of investigation at the moment therefore looking for anyone that can help me out here based on personal experience before I investigate further & pitch it to the IT Director.

Basic overview of infrastructure
We run an IPT phone system and all enterprise applications are clustered in the data centre (no regional backups required where on site secretary is responsible for putting the tape in at night woohoo lol) and each remote office accesses local files and printers from a Novell branch office server. We have 2000 users and are projected to double in the next 5 years.

JD Edwards and Crystal Enterprise are our 2 most business critical applications and are both web based and hosted in the data centre. JDE is our main target to improve performance.

EDIT***JDE and a few others run on an Oracle database

Thanks for any responses

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Comments

DW [banned]

I know JDE just a little bit...

Boy you got your work cut out for you...

It has been a while since I had to deal with a JDE / OneWorld Network. So Orlacle is your Database.

Hmmm...

And they blame the network for performance right?

1. What is the budget to deal with this? - You mention apps to help out.

- Knowing what I know today and remembering the issues of yester-year... A Sniffer would be used to ensure I am fighting the right issue.

- What the routers that have to deal with the QoS and what do the remote sites have for routers?

- Have you considered Packeteer or QoSWorks - but it would be helpful on both sides of the links.?

- If you got JDE, then you got a budget... So you should be able to get the capital resources you need to get the job done.

The elements needed to solve this problem:

1. A Network Guru - who understands how applications interact with the network and knows or is willing to learn quickly, and I mean like the time it takes to hop off a building and go splat, QoS.

2. That Network Guru needs to understand an Oracle Network from an Application-Centric vantage point.

3. You'll need your Oracle DBA's and your OneWorld Implementation Team and Project Managers close at hand - cause if you look hard enough, they are going to be on top of the biggest rock you need to solve the problems.

4. It would be helpful to ensure the Servers are well-built and that the Installation you are dealing with is flawless.

5. The Network Infrastructure Services are also a potential area for "serious" concern.

<<<< Did you notice their are a lot of pitfalls that have nothing to do with the network yet >>>>

You know why? Right?

JDE is an Application.

Oracle is a DataBase

The people using the application are sending sql queries for the most part back to the database.

And getting the queried data back.

If the database is at issue there are problems.

If the network plumbing is sick - take name resolution for instance - you got issues.

If the the appliation and data structures (data dictionary) is imperfect (and my money it that it is) and is a cause for latency you can have problems... big ones... ok... the BIGGEST ONES...

Then we can talk about pipes for bw and qos and who is peter who is going to rob paul...

See what I mean?

This can get serious... with a quickness...

malcybood

Although there will be one, budgets have not been discussed, it will be an ongoing investigation until it is resolved

Something I missed is that the performance within the data centre where the server is located in the server farm is acceptable. It is our remote sites that run 2MB ADSL x 200 and small Cisco SOHO 91 series routers but typically only have 1 - 4 users and our regional offices x 14 that run a 2MB cellstream link running a mix of 2500/2600s with up to 60 users.

I am pretty sure that the Oracle/JDE structure is good due to the performance being okay in the Data Centre head office for approx 300 users. I'm guessing this issue is due to either poor configuration or should I say lack of the QOS we have on our kit which makes me wonder if we have the kit capable of doing the job, this or placement of the server not being in the correct network module.....As you say I am aware that this will be a mammoth job to resolve

Switches in the regional offic es that run the IPT phone system are Nortel Baystack 460-24T and 470-24T's.

Thanks for all of the suggestion and I will definately explore some of the avenues that you've suggested.

Can anyone advise if they have ever used a Juniper solution to improve application acceleration over the WAN or any other similar solution such as the accelerator from Expand Networks mentioned in my first post?

mucho appreciato