iShared
iShared solves data integrity, manageability and performance problems by consolidating servers and storage with the "Branch Office in a Box.". This provides secure, real-time data access for all remote users across the WAN. iShared can be used alone as a drop-in appliance or part of the iShaper software solution.

How does iShared work?

iShared optimizes application performance across the WAN by minimizing the amount of information travelling between the data centre and the branch offices. It then makes the data move faster. WAFS and TCP Optimization eliminate idle data transfers, which dramatically improves Microsoft-based application performances.
 
WAFS Acceleration

iShared Wide Area File Services accelerate the CIFS and NFS protocols, delivering high WAN performance for collaborative applications such as Microsoft Office. It eliminates redundant data transfers as well as CIFS/NFS messages traversing the WAN. iShared WAFS Acceleration features include:Data streaming, Read-ahead, File-aware differencing, Clustered I/O

TCP Acceleration

iShared swaps slow TCP with a transport protocol that is optimized for faster information transmission over the WAN. This improves response times for all TCP based applications. The iShared appliance also solves the problem of remote responses suffering from latency by acknowledging messages locally. The large window sizes ensure that data is delivered more efficiently than through small transmissions.
 
Data reduction

iShared optimizes bandwidth by cutting back on redundant and unnecessary data travelling across the network. File-aware intelligence tracks changes at the file and application level for faster response and highly economical bandwidth use.

Dictionary-based Compression reduces data on the wire by tagging data streams on both appliances and uses. This diminishes unnecessary data transactions over Wide Area Network links.

About the Author:
Krista Melamies is an IT-student in Helsinki who has lots of experience in writing technical reviews, product descriptions and product feature analysis of new solutions such as iShared.