Accelerate And Secure Data Replication With F5 WAN Optimization

By Fred Johnson, Ujjwal Rajbhandari, and Puneet Dhawan

Application availability, data center capacity,and business continuity can all depend on the timely movement of applications and data between remote sites. The low throughput and long data transfer completion times typical of wide area networks (WANs) can make remote WAN replication difficult or even impossible. Additionally, the need to meet regulatory and compliance standards—including controlled access to and encryption of replicated data—is often a paramount consideration for enterprise storage administrators.

With these challenges in mind, Dell and F5 have completed proof-of-concept(POC) lab testing to demonstrate how organizations can help accelerate and secure Dell EqualLogic PS Series Internet SCSI (iSCSI) storage area network (SAN) replication over WANs using version 10.1 of the F5 BIG-IP WAN Optimization Module(WOM). By overcoming the effects of limited bandwidth, high latency, and packet loss, WOM technology helps to dramatically increase throughput, reduce replication completion times, and enhance bandwidth utilization and efficiency. When taking into account the costs of WAN bandwidth, equipment, and administration,these performance advantages can quickly lead to bottom-line savings.