What is WAN optimization and how is it accomplished?
In the Taneja Group, we consider the area of WAN optimization as just one technology within a larger umbrella of services, which we call wide area data services. Within wide area data services there are actually several technologies. WAN optimization is one and it’s typically inline compression or a deduplication of a stream of data that you’re sending over a WAN. So, this optimizes your bandwidth or reduces your traffic, and gives users at remote locations more performance or reduces the amount of data you’re transmitting to remote locations. Under that umbrella, we also have wide area file services (WAFS), which is a term that the Taneja Group coined back in 2004. WAFS optimize CIFS, NFS, MAPI, and other protocols with deduplication, compression and sometimes caching, all tuned specifically for those protocols. WAFS allow remote users to access file data and some application data, like Exchange or email systems, across a WAN, at local area network (LAN) speeds. This is done very tran
