Amplify.net's iSurfJanus-RX family supports multiple public and private WAN lines of different access technologies and applies automatic route expediting, dynamic load balancing, and backup of inbound and outbound traffic flows.

by Wayne Kawamoto [July 10, 2002]

Amplify.net recently announced the launch of its iSurfJanus-RX ("RX") family of Secure Multi-Homed Route Expeditors, which may appeal to SMEs (small to mid-sized enterprises) and companies that have multiple remote branch offices. The products are designed to be interoperable with existing infrastructure equipment.

According to the company, its iSurfJanus-RX family supports multiple public and private WAN lines of different access technologies from a single or multiple ISPs and apply automatic route expediting, dynamic load balancing, and backup of inbound and outbound traffic flows. For privacy and intrusion protection, the RX provides VPN and firewall plus transparent recovery from line failure or malicious attacks.

To increase network capacity and WAN throughput, the iSurfJanus-RX's traffic management function promises to deliver consistent network performance and efficiency. The company says that its dynamic bandwidth management and traffic shaping capabilities guarantee the delivery of mission critical and latency-sensitive applications and offers a near instantaneous return on investment depending on the existing enterprise network infrastructure and the iSurfJanus-RX model installed.

The company's family of iSurfJanus-RX Secure Multi-Homed Route Expeditors for Business promise to offer the following:

Resiliency
According to the company, iSurfJanus-RX delivers resiliency that exceeds that of T1 multiplexing at a fraction of the cost. The RX family of products may provide outbound and inbound backup to a primary link, typically an existing T1 or Frame Relay line, by adding up to two inexpensive connections such as DSL, cable, wireless, and Ethernet, which can replace existing low-speed ISDN or analog backup solutions. Also, link activity monitoring and embedded DNS may be used to detect, notify, and automatically redirect inbound and outbound network traffic in the event of a line failure. These features should offer added reliability with a "multi-homed" capability that supports multiple ISPs without the need for ISP cooperation.

Capacity
The iSurfJanus-RX is designed to be a cost-effective solution for expanding network bandwidth capacity and optimizing throughput by aggregating several public and/or private WAN links and seamlessly balancing inbound and outbound traffic load, even when multiple ISPs are involved. Rather than incurring the expensive costs of high-speed Frame Relay, iSurfJanus-RX may enable businesses to optimize recurring monthly WAN connectivity costs by combining inexpensive, high-speed broadband connections with traditional Frame Relay or T1 lines.

Security
In addition to resiliency and capacity, the platform integrates security. Stateful firewall and full VPN functionality, including IPSEC 3DES encryption, may provide the security measures needed for conducting private company business over the public Internet. To ensure continuous network operation under malicious attacks, iSurfJanus-RX offers a transparent DDoS (distributed denial of service) active recovery feature that is not only designed to detect and mitigate hostile network traffic, but also redirect normal network traffic to unaffected links without manual intervention.

Quality
For good network utilization, iSurfJanus-RX features dynamic traffic management functions that should monitor and profile traffic patterns. This may enable network managers to adjust bandwidth, in real time, to the specific requirements of each WAN link.

"Enterprises that rely on the Internet or intranets to conduct their business face two main challenges today: they must be able to efficiently and effectively protect their broadband infrastructure and they must be able to ensure reliable connectivity," said Ron Westfall, Principle Analyst for Broadband Infrastructure at Current Analysis. "Integrated solutions like Amplify's iSurfJanus-RX are poised to alleviate the pain experienced by enterprise subscribers in maintaining reliable and secure broadband services."

"As enterprises endeavor to leverage the flexibility, ubiquity and relatively low cost of the Internet, they need to address several key challenges surrounding performance, security and backup," said Charles Mather, Analyst for Telechoice. "Amplify.net seeks to tackle both these issues through their iSurfJanus-RX product line by integrating bandwidth management and network security and resiliency functions into a single platform."

Availability and pricing
Amplify.net recently announced the immediate shipment of its iSurfJanus-RX family of Multi-Homed Route Expeditors, after the successful completion of a series of customer trials since its debut in March.

According to the company, the RX received overwhelming acceptance from numerous early customer deployments for its ability to facilitate a "fail safe" WAN (Wide Area Network) access and expanded bandwidth environment through its backup and dynamic WAN load balancing using combinations of DSL, T1, Fractional DS3, and wireless connections.

List prices start at $3,495.

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