Since Farshchi began using the SR-50, he says response time has improved between three- and fivefold. In addition to adding the SR-50, Farshchi redesigned his application architecture to prevent a lot of information from moving back and forth to remote locations. "With the combination of the efficiencies we put in the applications and the new [Peribit] device, we are reducing our requirements for internal network bandwidth by 50 percent," says Farshchi.

Not having enough bandwidth also means CIOs can’t deploy new applications. In December 2000, Fairmont Supply, a distributor of industrial maintenance, repair and operating supplies in Canonsburg, Pa., began deploying a GUI-based ERP system. Five months into the project, John Floyd, Fairmont Supply’s general manager, realized he was going to miss a critical implementation deadline because the company didn’t have enough bandwidth to deploy the application over the existing frame-relay network. Fairmont’s consultant, Network Source One (NSO) of Detroit, recommended it use caching software from Expand Networks, a bandwidth optimization company based in Roseland, N.J.

Like Peribit’s SR-50, Expand’s Accelerator product line consists of a hardware- and software-based solution that uses patented algorithms to recognize recurring patterns of data flowing over the network and replaces those patterns with a smaller packet of data. Expand can also store data that gets repeatedly sent over the WAN locally so that it doesn’t have to continuously move back and forth over the network.

Using Expand’s technology, Fairmont has seen a 200 percent to 300 percent increase in throughput for its WAN protocols, according to Will Babinchack, NSO’s director of technical services. And locations that suffered with delays of as long as four seconds now enjoy less than two-second response times. Floyd says Fairmont saw a return on its investment within six to 11 months, depending on the installation location.

It’s important to note that while both of these solutions help to improve bandwidth over the WAN, they are actually deployed on the LAN. "These appliances are used at the boundary between a local area network and a wide area network," says Czubek. They manage bandwidth at the point where the high-speed Gigabit Ethernet LAN meets the WAN. "With the high-speed Ethernet LAN, very often you can throw bandwidth at the problem because it’s so inexpensive. On a WAN, throwing bandwidth at the problem is an issue because you’re paying a monthly fee and because it’s so expensive," he says.

Quality Approach

In the past, CIOs took draconian measures to control network traffic. They prohibited employees from surfing the Net between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. They blocked certain websites. They prioritized network applications so that high-priority apps would run quickly and steadily while low-priority ones would run slower. None of those measures completely solved the problem.