Riverbed's Newest Features
A very innovative company, Riverbed constantly improves Steelhead and WDS technologies. Some of the newer ones include:
- page parse and pre-fetch
- metadata acceleration (304 “not modified” fast response)
- enhanced URL learning (parallel page requests)
- DNS caching to improve web response time
Page Parse and Pre-Fetch
When a client pulls down a dynamic web page, the page is parsed for embedded objects such as scripts or images. The Steelhead appliance then goes and pre-fetches those objects to avoid waiting for sequential HTTP requests and acknowledgements, cutting down on round trips over the WAN.
Metadata Acceleration
When a client sends an request for a web page, the client-side Steelhead appliance can determine if the web page has been modified since it was last requested and if not (this is what generates the 304 response), it will notify the requesting client that they can pull the web page from their local browser cache. This eliminates the roundtrip for all users requesting that content in an office.
For Oracle shops, an optional module designed to optimize Oracle 11i Jinitiator socket mode traffic has been enhanced to include HTTP acceleration. Both can be unscrambled so that data de-duplication and transport layer methods can be applied for increased optimization. The improvements target the Oracle
E-Business suite of applications, particularly Oracle forms traffic and reporting.
Enhanced URL Learning
Riverbed enhanced URL learning to provide support for parallel page requests, an approach which minimizes the number of round trips to service a given web page request. When retrieving a web page, HTTP serially requests each object on the page, which can result in significant latency in presenting the web page. A Steelhead appliance can “learn” which objects are associated with a given web page, and submit a single request for all of them when that page is requested.
DNS Caching
With caching support, the Steelhead can service many DNS requests directly without having to go out across the network. This cuts the number of round trips required to service DNS requests, improving response time.
Taken together, these enhancements mean further acceleration for ERP, CRM and CMS applications in such environments as those based on SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft/JD Edwards, Siebel CRM, Microsoft SharePoint and Outlook Web Access.
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