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IT performance specialist Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD) announced new features and capabilities for its Optimization System (RiOS) that broaden the company’s support for enterprise applications. With RiOS 7.0, Riverbed has expanded its set of optimizations to include native support for HTTP video, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IPv6, and has extended its existing optimizations for virtual desktop infrastructure.
In addition, in RiOS 7.0 Riverbed has integrated Cascade Shark functionality into the Steelhead appliance to deliver on-demand packet capture and analysis, allowing businesses to use their Steelhead appliance for branch monitoring and troubleshooting. Riverbed offers optimization for delivery of video content with native stream splitting capabilities over HTTP. With stream splitting technology, also known as application layer multicasting, a single video stream can serve a large number of viewers in a particular location.
“The increasing adoption of technologies such as live video, UDP and IPv6 are helping change the way organizations do business,” said Lucinda Borovick, research vice president for the enterprise communications and data center networks services at IDC. “With this release, Riverbed is raising the bar even further by adding to its already robust list of optimizations for its Steelhead appliance by tackling these technologies that are often times bandwidth-intensive. By also adding embedded Cascade Shark functionality into the Steelhead appliance and quality of service (QoS) enhancements, customers have the tools to troubleshoot performance problems quickly and prioritize applications that are critical to business success.”
For on-demand streaming, customers can combine data streamlining to store on-demand videos in branch locations, QoS to prioritize bandwidth utilization and prepositioning to proactively improve users’ video experience. The live and on-demand optimization capabilities also leverage current partnerships with video content management solutions providers such as Polycom, Adobe, Qumu and MediaPlatform. In addition, Riverbed offers native stream splitting for Adobe Flash over HTTP. With stream splitting capability, organizations using Adobe Flash Media now have the option to deliver multimedia communication and collaboration solutions to remote employees for live broadcasts as well as videos on demand. Riverbed also offers stream splitting for Microsoft Silverlight for creating and delivering Internet business applications and media experiences on the Web.
The Riverbed Steelhead product family helps businesses optimize traffic. Currently, Riverbed customers can utilize Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop, VMware View, and Microsoft RDP and RemoteFX. To further enable organizations to adopt a virtual desktop infrastructure and enhance end-user productivity, Riverbed is delivering new capabilities in RiOS 7.0 with optimization for ICA (independent computing architecture) over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Additionally, a new client drive mapping feature enables organizations to optimize content accessed directly from a thin client, including thumb drives. The Cascade family of application-aware NPM solutions deploys in networks and provides integration with the Steelhead product family. With RiOS 7.0, Riverbed has extended that integration, allowing customers with Cascade Pilot to leverage Steelhead appliances in branch offices for on-demand packet capture and remote analysis.
“The integration of on-demand packet capture capabilities in RiOS 7.0 enables our organization to get more out of our investment in Steelhead appliances,” said Tim Kokes, systems engineer at Rudolph Technologies, a provider of process characterization equipment and software for wafer fabs and advanced packaging facilities. “We can now respond faster to performance issues at our remote sites without having to expand our hardware footprint, which also translates to secondary benefits including cost savings and fewer nodes to manage across our network. Also, some of the new optimizations in RiOS 7.0 provided us with improved performance for critical applications such as Microsoft Outlook.”