Redline Adds Features To Web Application Accelerator

Redline Networks is adding new software features to its Web application accelerator appliances that will support increased availability and easier administration of enterprises' Web-based applications.

Release 3.3 of the software for Redline's T|X Web I/O Accelerators and its E|X Enterprise Application Processors is scheduled to be available March 15, according to the company. New features of the release include support for a self-healing mesh of up to 64 units acting as a single logical system; intelligent, graphical reporting of a wide range of system statistics; load balancing of HTTP/S, FTP, UDP and TCP protocols; and a content-routing system configurable for any combination of Layer 4 to Layer 7 traffic.

Craig Stouffer, Redline's vice president of marketing, said the new features let Redline's equipment provide "another level of availability" for enterprise Web applications.

"If you're running an SAP implementation, you've got millions invested in it and that application simply can't go down," Stouffer said. In Redline's mesh technology, if one or more back-end systems fails, traffic is instantly redistributed across the remaining units in the mesh, providing an uninterrupted experience for end-users making requests to a server.

The new software also supports Layer 4 and Layer 7 load balancing, which Redline said administrators can use to replace existing dedicated load balancers. Roy Johnson, chief executive officer of Redline, said the load-balancing support can help Redline gain traction in large enterprises, something that's always a challenge for startups."You've got to show a path that over time, [your equipment] helps get rid of other boxes," Johnson said, during a panel discussion at the Network Outlook conference this past week. Even as IT budgets increase, he said, most enterprises are still looking mainly for equipment that can produce "immediate ROI." Redline's accelerators, Johnson said, can also let enterprises get more performance out of the servers they do have, negating the need for additional server purchases.

Lori MacVittie, Senior Technology Editor for Network Computing, said the new features were a good addition to the Redline offerings (which she initially reviewed last year). However, MacVittie noted that Layer 7 routing is now a commodity, with wares offered from a long list of vendors, including F5, Foundry, Nortel, Extreme, Cisco, Radware, CoyotePoint, Netscaler and ArrayNetworks. And Redline's pricing (between $30,000 and $50,000 per box, depending on configuration) can be a bit steep for some mid-market customers, she said.

"It's going to be hard to compete in this space with established vendors like F5, Radware and Cisco," MacVittie said. "It's the value adds and the depth of switching based on payload that's going to be important in the next year as more and more content is exchanged via XML and the demand for more intelligent switches continues to grow."

The new software version is scheduled to be available immediately, according to Redline. Existing Redline customers, the company said, can contact their local sales office for a free upgrade to the new software version.