Riverbed

Hi,

I see a lot of Network diagrams with Riverbeds installed, usually at remote locations with slow WAN Links for example. What is the specific purpose of the Riverbed hardware and are they pre-configured or can they be configured via CLI/GUI?
I don't have any experience with them at all.
Thanks

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Comments

ajs1976

they are network accelerators. they take certain types of traffic and compress it to so that more data can move across the WAN link faster.

Its been a few years since I have looked into them and I don't work with them at my current job, so I don't know how they are configured.

DevilWAH

yes they can be configured both via CLI and Web interface I believe (I have not used Riverbeds but have used other wan acceleration products.

They can work by normal compression of data, but more often by caching data locally. So if multiply users request the same file for example it is only sent across the link once. In fact it is a bit more intelligent than the file level and works at the bit level. So if one use has requested fileA when a second user comes along and requests fileB, if there are parts of the files that have the same bit structure, it will only send the differences and the file can be recreated at the far end. This differers from normal compression, as fileA could have been sent 2 days before fileB, but still be used to reduce duplication of traffic. The Appliance at both end of the link have identical indexed caches so they can see what the other side already has, and can simple send a reference to an area of the cache rather than the data its self.

Exactly how they work and what profrmance you get depends on model, and different manufactures implement them in different way. But the y all do the same thing, reduce the amount of traffic sent across a link by avoiding duplication where possible.

http://www.riverbed.com/us/products/technology/

you can find out more about the key technologies and how they work there.

control

Thanks a lot. Didn't realise the kit was as clever as it was. Makes sense as to why they are situated where they are.

jibbajabba

We only seem to use them for reporting purposes (overkill much ?)

lsud00d

jibbajabba wrote: »

We only seem to use them for reporting purposes (overkill much ?)

lulz really?

Going through a POC ATM, they do excellent with optimization!

jibbajabba

lsud00d wrote: »

lulz really?

Going through a POC ATM, they do excellent with optimization!

To be fair - it seems to be a sort of POC as well - maybe they are just gathering information before pulling the trigger - not sure

Akaricloud

Exactly what everyone else has said.

As a real world example we use them between international offices. Since international bandwidth is expensive and higher latency we're able to get much better speeds and throughput at a lower overall cost. The caching can be extremely benefitial with data being transfered internationally.

unclerico

Make sure you do your homework on WOCs because, like Cisco, Riverbed may be the best known product, but there are a few other options that are just as good if not better for a fraction of the price.