What is WAN optimization and how does it work?
WAN optimization eliminates redundant transmissions of data. It stages data to local caches and compresses it. Furthermore, there’s a data deduplication element that eliminates the transfer of redundant data across a WAN. With deduplication, once it identifies something it already has, it will just send a reference to it instead of the entire byte sequence, which allows you to send a lot less data across the wire, while keeping the transmission coherent. The compression aspect of WAN optimization will look for data patterns that can be represented more efficiently. So deduplication and compression are combined. Essentially, it allows you to send a lot more information across the WAN without using a lot of bandwidth by optimizing what you are sending. How does data deduplication play a part in using disk backup for disaster recovery? Data deduplication is very similar to WAN optimization. At the disk level, it recognizes identical data segments and creates references and pointers to it.
