Optimize application performance across the WAN. Minimize the amount of data travelling between your data centre and branch offices, and then make that data move faster.

iShared WAFS accelerates CIFS and NFS protocols, delivering high WAN performance for collaborative applications such as Microsoft Office. Eliminate redundant data transfer as well as hundreds—even thousands—of CIFS/NFS messages traversing the WAN. Fully complies with industry-standard CIFS/NFS file sharing protocols.
iShared's WAFS Acceleration features include:

• Data streaming
• Read-ahead
• File-aware differencing
• Clustered I/O
  

iShared Performance Impact

iShared WAFS and TCP Optimization eliminate redundant data transfers, dramatically improving Microsoft-based application performance.

Improve response times for all TCP based applications by swapping out traditionally slow TCP with a transport protocol optimized for faster data transmission over WAN connections. Messages are acknowledged locally—no need to wait on remote responses suffering from latency. Large window sizes ensure that data is delivered much more efficiently than through small transmissions. Also, eliminate TCP "slow start" with iShared connection pooling for quick flow ramp up.

Make the most of precious bandwidth. Stop resource misapplication by cutting back on redundant and unnecessary data travel across the network.

• File-aware Data Reduction
  Update changes only instead of duplicating entire files. File-aware intelligence tracks changes at the file and application level for faster response and highly economical bandwidth use.
• Dictionary-based Compression
  Transmit references to repetitive data blocks rather than the data blocks themselves. Dictionary-based Compression reduces data on the wire by cataloguing data streams with a small tag on both appliances and uses such tags to eliminate redundant data transfer over WAN links, achieving compression ratios of up to 200:1.

For certain application protocols like CIFS, MAPI and HTTP, application specific data reduction & latency optimization techniques provide amplified benefits by using in-depth knowledge of application patterns and protocol heuristics.

Due to the increasing demands in data security, particularly in business sectors retaining sensitive information, a need for more secure data storage at remote branch locations is required. The iShared data store encryption feature provides a superior level of security to cached data housed on branch appliances, preventing compromise of sensitive data in the event of physical theft or decommissioning of appliances.

Centrally manage IT services and ensure data integrity locally without compromising performance. iShared brings the power of the data centre to the branch office while extending added availability and security to the entire enterprise.

As the pioneering Wide Area File Services (WAFS) technology, iShared provides real-time, read-write global access to files over CIFS/NFS across the WAN. iShared WAFS technology is built on a true distributed file system, and utilizes branch office caching, as well as latency and bandwidth optimizations such as data streaming and aggregation, read-ahead, file differencing, and wide-dictionary compression that provide the following benefits.

Access native Windows Print, DNS/DHCP, Domain Controller and other IT services locally to avoid relaying over the WAN. Leverage enterprise web caching services of Microsoft ISA Server 2004 embedded on iShared appliances. Offload SMS secondary site server, distribution/management point functions on iShared appliances that provide for local storage & distribution of software packages, enabling a single point of branch office administration.

Keep your most popular branch office applications up to date. With a quick check at data centre for changes, commonly used applications are promptly updated and opened.

Replicate data centre autonomy at the branch office. Local data management ensures data integrity and scalability without WAN vulnerability.

• Distributed Filesystem
  Extend the safe haven of the data centre to the branch office. Asynchronous write-back, full-meta data caching and synchronous logging to RAID disks brings rich LAN-like user experience while ensuring data integrity and availability. End users are shielded from WAN outages of up to several days, allowing full disconnection support under these conditions. End-to-end security standards like SMB signing/IPsec are retained by iShared's unique proxy architecture.
• Single-instance Storage
  No data "mirroring" needed on data centre appliances. For LAN like access to data centre, data is cached only on branch office appliances unlike network-level optimization solutions that require WAFS data to be cached at both ends of the WAN.
• Transparent Pre-Population
  iShared's agent-less flexible policy-based pre-population engine allows IT managers to pre-load data on branch appliances for improved file access performance and optimized use of WAN bandwidth. Files/Folders can be selected for pre-population by location, type, and user access patterns, and jobs can be scheduled to occur during off hours when WAN utilization is low.

Keep business moving when disaster strikes by ensuring systems stay up and running.

• Appliance Redundancy: High Availability
  Enjoy high availability with no single point of failure. Configure redundant iShared systems in the data centre—or at the branch office—so one system takes over should the other system fail. The redundant system copies the active system in its idle time, staying up to date in the event it's called upon.
• Site Redundancy: Disaster Recovery Support
  Mitigate effects during disaster recovery by deploying iShared appliances at redundant data centres. iShared Disaster Recovery (DR) technology allows post-disaster operation that is transparent to branch office users and preserves user performance by leveraging cached data on branch office appliances.
• Hardware Redundancy
  Ensure business continuity with iShared RAID and redundant power/cooling capabilities. In the event of a failure, these hardware redundancies provide for seamless operation until the replacement parts are in place.