Cable load balancing can be effectively performed using products like Fatpipe’s WARP, and its MPVPN or IPVPN products for multiple locations. The cable modem can be aggregated to a DSL line (again a lower reliability but low cost higher bandwidth line) without the need of an ISP for aggregation. DSL and Cable lines cannot be bonded using BGP. So, the alternative is to use FatPipe’s Router Clustering technology, which does not require BGP or a box at the central office of the telco.

Another way to get reliability and redundancy to a cable line is to use local wireless technology. Wireless can be of two types high speed wireless of up to 11 mbps, to low speed wireless using standard 3D wireless products from ATT, Sprint or Verizon. FatPipe has the ability to bond wireless modems of all varieties into one ‘fatpipe.’

While bonding and load balancing cable modems is relatively easy using FatPipe, it is necessary to have Quality of Service (QoS) feature when using any of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services over the cable lines. QoS enables to prioritize traffic so that critical high-end applications such as VoIP or video can be given higher priority. This ensures that these types of traffic are routed first. The latency between VoIP packets gets significantly reduced and the voice quality is better. When sending multiple VoIP sessions over the same cable line, make sure that you are providing adequate bandwidth for the VoIP sessions. QoS ascertains that the bandwidth is allocated for VoIP when needed, with the rest of the bandwidth being used for other low-priority traffic.

Load balancing multiple cable lines may depend on the load sharing by other cable users on the same cable. Typically cable can be 10 Mb/s or 100Mb/s. However, that bandwidth has to be shared by multiple users, and when many users get on the same shared network, then the bandwidth available for any user goes down. In such as case, make sure you do have QoS, so that your VOIP and video traffic get higher priority. Cable load balancing over multiple cable providers obviously, enables you to get better load balancing, however, you may not find multiple cable providers in the same neighborhood. If they are not available, then DSL or T1 lines can be used.

When using cable load balancing with DSL or T1, there is the additional advantage of working with multiple last mile connections, and hence better redundancy to the Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity. The same is true for last mile wireless connections as a higher degree of reliability can be obtained for your network. This is because the data connection for wireless is on the side or top of your building, while the cable connection is at the basement. If a backhoe were to cut the cable, your wireless line will always remain connected.

When hosting servers using cable modems, the uplink speed is lower than the downlink speed, and hence necessitates multiple cable connections. However, if cable is being used for data backup, then it is essential to have a second DSL or T1 to ensure that the backup does not fail during the process. FatPipe’s MPVPN and IPVPN products make certain that the backup continues, even if a line fails, by automatically failing over to the second line. This is especially important for data mirroring.

Wireless Load Balancing

Wireless load balancing is a technology area that calls for a close scrutiny of the functions. It is easy to install two wireless devices to point to an ISP and get technically double the bandwidth. The devices must be separated by a certain distance to prevent interference. In most cases, multiple devices can be installed at two ends of a building for low interference. When using multiple wireless providers it is important to ascertain which provider provides higher speeds and accordingly set up the load balancing algorithm on the load balancing device.

To load balance wireless modems and failover multiple wireless devices, you need a Fatpipe WARP for single locations, and Fatpipe MPVPN or IPVPN for multi-location or intra-corporate communications. Fatpipe works with wireless modems and bonds them to land line routers for t1/T1 lines or other modems such as cable or DSL modems. Since modems do not respond to BGP programming, FatPipe’s aggregation method eliminates the issue.

A Network Layer Firewall is a device that is designed to prevent unauthorized access, thereby protecting the computer network. It blocks unauthorized communications into the network and only permits authorized access. Network Firewalls are also used in certain cases for limiting outside access from the users within an internal network. Network Layer Firewalls are available as software, hardware devices, and as a combination of both. They can be configured on the network to manage traffic by appropriate functions such as encryption, decryption, proxy and permissions. This process is executed between various security domains upon which the data traffic traverses, and is based on set of rules/protocols. Network Firewalls are capable of protecting the internal networks of businesses, educational institutions or homes from external intrusions.

Network Layer Firewalls are also known as Packet Filters. Data packets are not permitted to pass through the firewalls if they do not adhere to the set of established rules. The rules may be default or defined by the network administrator. These devices function at a low level of the TCP/IP protocol stack. Network layer firewalls are categorized into Stateful and Stateless firewalls.

In Stateful Firewalls, information about the active sessions is maintained and used to accelerate packet processing. The existing network connections are based on various attributes such as the connection’s validity at current phase, Source Internet Protocol (IP) address, Destination IP address, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), etc. Based on the Firewall’s state table, connection matches are made. When the data packet matches with the existing connection, then it is permitted to pass without being subjected to further processing. But if the data packet and the existing connection do not match, then it will be re-evaluated as per the rules for new connections. Stateless Firewalls consume less memory space, thereby quickening the pace for simple filters that need less time to filter than looking up a session. They are also required to filter stateless network protocols where there is no session involved. They are nevertheless incapable of making complex decision depending on the communication stage to which the hosts have arrived.

As a general rule, the decisive factors for Network Layer Firewalls are the source and destination addresses and the ports of IP packets. An example of a tradition Network Layer Firewall is a router, which cannot make complex decisions regarding origin and destination of data packets. Technological improvements have made modern network layer firewalls more advanced with the capacity to constantly maintain internal information on the connections that pass through them. These devices operate by routing traffic directly through them, which necessitates an IP address block that is validly assigned or a private Internet address block. Network Layer Firewalls provide speed and transparency to users.

he advent of Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Internet have brought tremendous changes to current business practices. As the business segment is progressively reliant on WANs for business processes, there comes the need for technology and technological solutions that can accelerate WAN performance. WAN acceleration is a vital factor for ensuring business continuity. According to a Forrester report “The WAN Traffic Compression Market in 2005,” WAN performance was considered to be among the top five issues faced by the managers of enterprise IT infrastructure at companies whose revenue were more than $1 billion. This emphasizes the importance of acceleration of WAN applications. Read the rest of this article »

The paradigm shift in recent times is characterized by the letter ‘e’ preceding most of the normal business activities, for instance, e-commerce, e-mail, e-governance, among others. While hard copy will be around for a long time, its importance has diminished with the advent of networks and their linkages. There are infinite technological improvements in all fields, and a virtually created new world of opportunities. While the world is becoming ‘electronic’ it is essential that businesses are equipped with the right technology solutions and gadgets to survive in the highly competitive global business era. A WAN is the global network for information transaction and WAN Redundancy is an indispensable constituent.

Network traffic is rapidly increasing due to the amount of data transfer, information sharing, and other web-based applications. This invariably results in network congestion and the performance of single WAN connections add to the list of potential weak spots in global network architecture. Large enterprises need WAN redundancy and multiple WAN connections to keep their business processes going forward without interruption. Redundancy may be defined as the secondary backup system, which takes over seamlessly in the event of any of the WAN failing connections or system outages and executes similar functions as the primary system. WAN Redundancy is primarily a back up system over a network setting, which enables continuous ‘uptime’ and undisrupted flow of business operations.

A WAN is capable of extensive scalability, which makes it distinct from a Local Area Network (LAN). A Redundant Wide Area Network can reach the intended destination with relative ease and with no disruptions, be it network outage or system failure. While WAN Redundancy is the core, there are enhanced technology solutions available in today’s market place that offer high levels of reliability, security, and bandwidth management coupled with ease of deployment. FatPipe Networks is a pioneer in providing WAN optimization solutions, catering to the technology requirements of a broad clientele.

WAN optimization techniques can enhance the performance of WANs and offset latency and other technical issues. High data throughput and WAN Redundancy are crucial factors that determine business continuity in organizations. Delays in transmission of data result in low throughput, which in turn can have a profound impact on productivity and profitability. Redundancy in WANs helps businesses to avert disruptions in network services. With WAN Redundancy in place, when there is a network outage, the system immediately switches over to the active WAN link and load balances if more WAN connections are present.

WAN Redundancy is integral for enterprises to run mission critical applications over the Internet. The ubiquitous usage of the Internet demands that the systems constitute a robust and secure WAN infrastructure, which is capable of high availability. It is essential for large enterprises to give due importance to WAN Redundancy while planning business strategies. One of the salient features of WAN Redundancy is that there is ‘uninterrupted service’ or ‘constant uptime.’

FatPipe Networks, as a technology solutions leader is the inventor and patent holder of router clustering technology. FatPipe devices allow multiple and varied connections to ISPs. They take disparate connections (DSL, T1, ISDN, T3, Cable Modem, Wireless, ATM etc.) and dynamically load balance across the lines. FatPipe technology also facilitates failing over of network traffic to available lines if any of the connections fail. The WAN infrastructure is strengthened and FatPipe provides the highest level of reliability and redundancy for inbound and outbound IP traffic. WAN efficiency is thus increased and businesses improve productivity.

With companies expanding their business operations to the ends of the globe, WAN links become lifelines of the communication process. Critical applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), etc., require a robust WAN infrastructure and high bandwidth availability. It is crucial to accelerate application performance across the WANs to ensure business continuity, which is the core of businesses. High throughput and productivity in business operations will be possible when the WAN links are stable and provide continuous uptime. WAN monitoring methods considerably analyze the state of the Internet connections, the availability of the WAN links, and seek to upgrade the same through reliable WAN monitoring software.

WAN monitoring is an imperative because it checks the WAN links that hold responsibility for connectivity. Connectivity is commonly between different branch offices of a large enterprise, different companies sharing resources and applications, remote locations, etc. Poor WAN links invariably result in failure of Internet connectivity, which ultimately lead to losses in productivity and revenue for the companies, and dissatisfaction to the clientele. WAN Monitoring software generally performs the following monitoring functions that would alleviate these issues:

1. WAN Link Availability Monitoring
2. WAN Link Performance Monitoring
3. WAN Traffic and Utilization Monitoring

OpManager is one of the most widely used network management software products used for effective WAN monitoring. WAN link availability can be monitored with OpManager - the faulty link can be traced and the failure point can be examined even if it is within the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) network. This WAN monitoring software is also capable of WAN Link Performance Monitoring, which measures the latency levels. Assessing latency levels will greatly help to determine if bandwidth has to be increased, since certain applications require high bandwidth utilization. The factors that determine latency are the transmission medium’s speed, transmission delays, such as those caused by routers or modems, the topology of the WAN, and the distance between the source and the destination.

Monitoring the Wide Area Network traffic and bandwidth utilization can also be done with the aid of WAN monitoring software. Although WAN needs vary pertaining to different types of businesses, the requirement for high application performance is found in just about all businesses. Employing WAN monitoring software, WAN optimization techniques, and other application delivery procedures will enable to further performance of the WANs.

Business continuity has emerged as a key area of business and it is the Internet that keeps the communication process going, and the businesses themselves. The onset of new technology has invigorated the marketplace with market leaders determining standards and directions to be adopted to keep in pace with a highly competitive global market. Many technology leaders have carved a niche market with unique strategy implemented on their product and service applications. FatPipe Networks is a most sought after technology leader as a specialist in WAN optimization solutions and the pioneer and patents holder of router clustering technology. FatPipe provides the highest levels of optimization, reliability, security and acceleration of Wide Area Networks. Its products are deployed in mission critical and highly secure WANs for redundant and fast Internet access.

WAN Monitoring appliances comprise advanced features such as automatic line failover, dynamic load balancing of IP traffic, site-to-site and unit failover capabilities, which substantially increase the efficiency of Wide Area Networks. Efficient monitoring systems constantly monitor the response time of each dataline and intelligently choose which one to send the traffic on. This saves time, and also enables maximum bandwidth utilization. Companies are able to deliver information efficiently through such WAN optimization devices and enhanced features, which drastically reduces WAN latency. Monitoring of WANs reduces the risk of disruption of vital services such as email, critical ERP applications, video conferencing, VoIP etc. This results in a robust WAN infrastructure, continuous uptime, integrity, and business continuity.

Load balancing is the process of distributing data across a computer network to maximize network efficiency from a link loading perspective. Multi WAN load balance stands for the WAN load balancing functionality among disparate WAN connections. Reliability and redundancy are achieved when load balancing with multiple components. When distributing data over a network by load balancing, it is possible to avert a deluge of data from clogging any single network connection. Multi WAN load balance can help in saving considerable amount of time and also provide stable and redundant WAN connectivity.

Application performance is accelerated when using a WAN load balancer. Providing a single Internet connection from many servers is one of the common applications of WAN load balancing. This functionality is oftentimes called as a server farm. Few of the generally load balanced systems are popular websites, big Internet Relay Chat networks, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites with high bandwidth, NNTP servers and DNS servers. A typical WAN load balance mechanism offers the following functions: the load balancing function (wherein requests are distributed among different servers to avoid overloading of a particular server); resilience, where in the event of failure in a server, the requests are redirected to the other servers; scalability, where the addition of more servers improves the overall performance.

WAN load balancing is an advanced managing solution, which when applied with appropriate devices, enables optimal resource utilization, response time or throughput. Load balancing aids in making applications more scalable. WAN Load balancing can be implemented with hardware, software or both. The primary reason behind computer server clustering is a WAN load balance function. Multi WAN load balancing increases the available bandwidth due to its ability to simultaneously use multiple links. It provides load balancing for different ISP and WAN links, which are aggregated, and facilitates fault tolerance for the Wide Area Network through failover. Hence, there is secure Internet connectivity, stable external connection, and dependable quality of transmission.

High availability, i.e. absolute operational continuity, is an important feature in Multi WAN load balancing. This is crucial to companies for ensuring consistent service. A busy or slow WAN leads to frustration and customers have a low quality experience. Major telecommunication companies employ load balancing to avoid network congestion on specific links. A WAN load balancer shifts traffic from one path to another, thereby reducing transit expense across external networks and improving network reliability.

A WAN load balancer makes working on redundant communication links easier. For instance, with Multi WAN load balancing in a company setting, Internet access will be made available even if any one of the connections fail. This improves network connectivity and enables companies to continue without failures. Protection against network outages is critical and companies look to reduce the same. Multi WAN load balance when used with standard technology devices, yield sound results and ensure connectivity at all times.

Several methods are used to perform WAN load balancing. A WAN load balancer employs different methods to select the appropriate server in the server farm and direct access requests. A combination of load balancing methods is used to enhance functionality. Round robin, weighted, least connected, fastest route, mixed, and deterministic are few of the distribution methods. A method that does not necessitate hardware or software is round robin DNS. A far more efficient technology that allows users to control the method of load balancing is technology offered by a leading edge technology provider FatPipe Networks.

FatPipe technology solutions, is widely deployed in many companies that require the highest level of WAN integrity and uptime. FatPipe offers a refined, flexible solution for WAN redundancy and dynamic load balancing of both inbound and outbound data traffic. WAN load balance is achieved with relative ease as FatPipe technology enables dynamic load balancing across multiple lines and substantially increases the efficiency of WANs. This technology is agnostic to both provider and type of dataline.

FatPipe devices constantly monitor the response time of each dataline and intelligently choose which one to send the traffic on. This saves time, and also results in maximum bandwidth utilization. Companies are able to deliver information efficiently through such WAN optimization devices and enhanced features such as WAN load balancing or multi WAN load balancing. The need for high availability WANs requires high-end technology products such as those developed by FatPipe, as information and communication are the keys for survival and a robust WAN infrastructure is the catchword here.

The capability of a system to automatically switch over to a backup or redundant system in the event of a network outage or technical snag is called as WAN failover. This technology effectuates a redundant WAN, which is the backbone of business continuity. In simple terms, WAN Failover is the switch over from a primary system to a backup system upon the failure of an active system. A WAN backup unit considerably reduces operational risk.

WAN Backups minimize revenue loss, employee productivity loss, and critical infrastructure loss due to network outages. Due to large amounts of data transfer, information sharing, and other web-based applications, there are large quantities of network traffic. This constantly results in network congestion and necessitates a redundant WAN to overcome the weak spot. WAN failover has the capacity to make the network resilient to breakdown. When there is a failure of any of the active WAN lines, it is possible to switch over to the other WAN lines with the aid of failover WAN.

A redundant WAN will allow for fault tolerance in the network architecture, which enables the system to avoid data loss and downtime and continuing the functions even when failure occurs. Technology has grown over the years offering devices and solutions such as firewalls, routers, etc. to provide support to WANs. Large enterprises always use multiple WAN connections so that WAN Backup is available at all times. With failover WAN, there is no downtime in systems and the process flow is smooth. Innovators of technology such as FatPipe Networks provide advanced solutions for redundant WANs. FatPipe devices allow multiple and varied connections to ISPs. They take disparate connections (DSL, T1, ISDN, T3, Cable Modem, Wireless, ATM and EU standards such as E1 and E3 etc.) and dynamically load balance across the lines. This is an essential feature for WAN backups.

The Internet has become the indispensable mode for communications and commerce. Both large and small enterprises depend on WANs to conduct their businesses. These companies require systems that support a strong and secure WAN infrastructure, with WAN failover options. A redundant WAN will facilitate ‘high availability’ and provide continuous Internet connectivity. Failover WAN or Redundant WAN considerably maximizes WAN application performance across the Wide Area Networks. High data throughput, which is effected by WAN Backup methods, enables the avoidance of delays in data transmission. This eventually yields higher productivity in businesses.

FatPipe Networks, a technology leader, has developed unique solutions, which provide high levels of redundancy and availability for the WAN infrastructure and also enable maximum bandwidth utilization. FatPipe products achieve aggregated speed, redundancy, and failover by bonding any combination of T3, T1, DSL, Cable, ISDN, or Wireless connections. FatPipe’s patented WARP technology intelligently senses the active link when failures occur and will automatically failover the active traffic.

FatPipe products have an array of advanced product features including automatic line failover, dynamic load balancing of IP traffic, site-to-site and unit failover capabilities, which substantially increase the efficiency of WANs. WAN Backups driven by FatPipe products positively impact business continuity of companies since it ensures the highest levels of redundancy, reliability, speed, fault tolerance for mission-critical applications.

Improving application delivery performance across Wide Area Networks is of paramount importance and WAN accelerators assist in that function. With enhancement in technology, applications can be accessed anytime and anywhere. WAN Acceleration technology enables businesses achieve speed and gain access to data and applications similar to LANs (Local Area Networks). Data and other application can be accessed across the enterprise networks from anyplace. By accelerating WAN traffic, there is the facility to work in ‘real time’ and collaborate with users all over the globe. In a corporate or enterprise setting, real time collaboration is effectuated among users in several branch offices.

The Wide Area Networks encounter three primary problems: high latency levels, lower bandwidth, and garrulous protocols. These problems are addressed through WAN acceleration techniques. Other labyrinthine network problems are eliminated through acceleration and optimization. Internet users utilize a variety of applications everyday, including information sharing, email messages, document management, customized applications, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for sharing files across a shared network, and many others. The throughput of user-oriented applications is substantially improved by WAN acceleration appliances.

In order to accelerate WAN performance, applications are subjected to optimization. As a superset of Wide Area File Services (WAFS), WAN optimization addresses issues such as SSL-encrypted ASP and Intranet applications, and Multimedia e-learning applications. Generally, networks are optimized through techniques such as compression, QoS, TCP optimization, etc. There are also component techniques effectuated by WAN optimization, which subsequently accelerate WANs. They are management of bandwidth, WAFS, CIFS proxy, HTTPS Proxy, media multicasting, and Web caching. Industry standards employ acceleration and optimization utilities, which are compliant, transparent, and integrated to the network.

Businesses today run mission critical applications over the Wide Area Networks; it is crucial that application performance is accelerated. Large enterprises seek to consolidate the infrastructure while considerably improving application delivery. WAN acceleration devices greatly improve transmission speeds with zero disruption in applications. The flow of data transport is optimized particular to the WAN environment. Network congestion is efficiently handled and data throughput increased, making the WAN more adept. One great advantage is application specific acceleration, which aids in reducing unnecessary message transmission by suppression, caching and validation of data and metadata.

WAN Acceleration technology assists enterprises to run their organizations effectively. The main points of consideration are addressing the restraints caused by inadequate bandwidth, latency issues in networks, and application incompatibility. By using WAN accelerators, the WAN traffic is optimized in a transparent way. They integrate applications and networks thereby accelerating application performance. Streamlining data will enable maximum bandwidth utilization across WANs through optimizing WAN traffic. The data packets are delivered on priority basis and allocation of bandwidth based on application. This enables speed in transmission considerably bringing down the latency level and ensuring high data throughput. Companies deploy WAN acceleration and optimization products to efficiently manage processes without disruptions in network connectivity. Their ultimate goal is to meet business continuity standards.

Innovative technology solutions providers such as FatPipe Networks optimize Wide Area Network performance through a wide array of technology offerings that allow multiple connectivity to WANs. FatPipe devices provide the highest levels of WAN optimization, reliability, security, and bandwidth management. They provide dynamic load balancing and automatic failover capabilities, which increase the efficiency of WANs. FatPipe technology is flexible and can be easily deployed under varied conditions. It considerably enhances performance through strengthening the WAN, which is the backbone for connectivity. FatPipe products enable redundant and high speed data transfer through multiple internet connections, and enable WAN acceleration due to the increased bandwidth. Maximum bandwidth utilization is possible, which considerably accelerates the Wide Area Network performance and yields high throughput.

The network-linked community is reliant on the global information database and the Internet, to meet its growing demands in each hemisphere of life. Wide Area Networks (WAN), the most popular network, extends to a broad area and makes use of common communication links (telephone lines, wireless, microwave links, and satellite channels) to transmit data. A robust WAN considerably increases application performance and ensures business continuity. WAN Redundancy is a critical construct that is a pivot than ensures business continuity and general overall performance of networks. Read the rest of this article »

WAN Optimization

The growth of global networks and the popularity of Wide Area Network (WAN) shows no sign of abating and holds the key to unlocking the information pathway that connects the entire globe. A stable WAN infrastructure is now considered to be an imperative. To maximize the utility of WANs, optimization techniques have to be adopted to downplay the inherent weaknesses in network architecture while boosting the performance of WAN networks substantially. Read the rest of this article »

WAN Monitoring

The digital age is armed with a powerful weapon – the Internet – that is widely used to transmit mission-critical business applications for all business verticals, including financial, educational, healthcare, law firms, manufacturing, and others. Recent years have witnessed the mushrooming of companies and other businesses that are largely reliant on their Wide Area Networks (WANs) for general day-to-day business tasks and processes. Many Wide Area Network infrastructures get clogged with the amount of data traffic run at sites. To better manage WAN traffic and decrease bandwidth bottlenecking, one can employ a WAN monitoring system using efficient WAN monitoring software. Options such as accelerating, optimizing, and prioritizing the flow of data traffic is made available when WAN monitoring is executed. Read the rest of this article »

WAN Load Balancing

The new IT-enabled world is driven by revolutionary changes powered by advances in technology. The inception of a complete cyber environment necessitates enhanced network connectivity options. Businesses are increasingly reliant on the Internet for critical parts of their business operations. Companies require stable WAN connections to ensure business continuity, which is the backbone of development. In addition, there is a need for increased bandwidth and continuous ‘uptime’ regardless of outages that may occur. Such a scenario delineates the requisite for devices such as WAN load balancer, router, firewall, etc. to improve WAN performance. Large enterprises have multiple points of connection and WAN links to avert disruptions in connectivity. When multiple WAN connections are used, a multi WAN load balance function is employed. Read the rest of this article »

WAN Backup

Business continuity is a concept that has emanated as a pivotal point for businesses in the technological arena. Enterprises and government organizations consider business continuity and disaster recovery planning as necessary requirements. The Wide Area Network (WAN), a geographically distributed telecommunication network, enables users around the globe to effectively share and transmit data. It allows businesses to carry out information transaction and business operations. A robust WAN infrastructure is a prerequisite of companies to conduct their business without disruptions. WAN backups are set up in the network infrastructure of these companies to ensure support for business continuity. Read the rest of this article »