Expand Rolls Out New WAN Accelerator Appliances

Expand's portfolio of Accelerator appliances uses data-compression algorithms to boost WAN capacity without requiring bandwidth increases.

The vendor's new Accelerator appliances incorporate its latest software upgrade, Accelerator Software Version 5, which adds a modular architecture that identifies and gives priority to mission-critical application traffic.

"Before they would take all the data that came in, compress it and send it on. Now you can prioritize within the pipe so you can speed up and control applications a little bit better," said Brian Plendl, president of AccuWare, a solution provider in Blaine, Minn. Customers that have implemented Expand's current products have seen 400 percent to 500 percent improvements in application response times, Plendl said.

With the new software, scheduled for general availability in June, Expand's appliances provide application-specific acceleration through plug-ins available for a variety of protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, TCP and FTP.

New branch-office products include Accelerator 4020, which supports WAN speeds up to 4 Mbits per second and 50 private virtual circuits, and Accelerator 4820, which supports WAN speeds up to 6 Mbps. Available now, prices start at $5,495 and $4,495 respectively.

For the data center, Expand is launching Accelerator 6840, which supports WAN speeds from 2 Mbps to 45 Mbps and up to 500 remote sites. The appliance is slated to ship in June with prices starting at $24,995.

Expand is also launching Accelerator Server, a Linux-based software-only accelerator that runs on standardized server blades. Accelerator Server provides the same functionality as Accelerator Software version 5 but offers more flexibility it is separated it from Expand's appliance platform.

"This is good news for our channel partners that can bundle hardware sales with software sales," said Pedro Colaco, vice president of marketing at Expand, Roseland, N.J., which sells through a channel-only strategy.

Accelerator Server is slated to ship in June starting at $3,495.

Application traffic management is becoming critical as customers roll out an increasing number of Web-based applications over the WAN, Colaco said.

"Over the next 12 months, there's going to be a dramatic [increase] in the amount and sheer volume of traffic being delivered to branch offices," Colaco said, noting that deployments of VoIP and video-over-IP, CRM, ERP and sales-force automation applications to branch offices are on the rise.

Expand is currently recruiting solution providers to fill out its channel, which includes about 350 partners worldwide, about 100 of which are in the United States.

"One of the challenges we have is educating the marketplace. We're not even considered for some projects because people just don't know us, so we're looking for channel partners that can evangelize," Colaco said.