AppDirector - Server Optimization & Application Delivery Networking

AppDirector uses advanced Layer 4-7 policies and granular application intelligence for end-to-end business-smart networking. AppDirector aligns server infrastructure operations with application front end requirements to eliminate:

Traffic surges

Connectivity disconnects

Server bottlenecks

Downtime

This assures application access, full application continuity and redundancy. AppDirector enables fine tuning of network behavior based on granular application-specific classification of packets to optimize traffic flows for a wide range of enterprise applications such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, SAP and other web and SSL-based applications including support for VoIP, streaming media and secure LDAP applications. AppDirector is a powerful tool to optimize your server operations, through load balancing, consolidation and virtualization.

AppDirector provides end-to-end performance acceleration of Web- and SSL-based applications for all end-users types such as desktops, PDAs and smart-phones.

AppDirector's acceleration technologies include SSL offloading, Web compression, static and dynamic content caching, TCP optimization and bandwidth utilization control for fast application and transaction response times and the best Quality of Experience (QoE) across various media types (e.g., cellular connections, wireless networks, broadband connections).

By offloading SSL and persistent functions (processor- and server-intensive operations) from servers, AppDirector frees server CPU to handle additional requests, thus eliminating the need to buy additional hardware to support application processing requirements.

AppDirector handles centralized, multi-device application and SSL management which:

  • Reduces the complexity and the cost of managing SSL server infrastructure through centralized, tamper-resistant certificates/key protection and management
  • Significantly reduces Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) card deployment costs while preventing attackers from gaining access to sensitive information (e.g., keys and certificates) contained in the module
  • Reduces OPEX of installing and managing certificates on each and every server
  • Simplifies maintenance and troubleshooting
  • Centralizes monitoring of SSL performance
  • Provides complete reporting and auditing of configuration changes required for regulatory compliance

Radware's ADC solution is the only ADC that ensures undisrupted business continuity by protecting from emerging network attacks and application vulnerability exploitation – guaranteeing the complete protection and full compliance of networks and applications. By delivering a multi-layered security protection -- spanning behavior-based Denial of Service (DoS) protection, hardware-based DoS Mitigation Engine (DME), advanced service cracking protection, access control enforcement, Web Application Firewall (WAF) and Web Services Security – AppDirector is designed from the ground-up to address every security aspect. Security protection modules include:

AppDirector's fully integrated intrusion prevention and unique behavioral-based DoS protection insulates data center applications and server resources against application-level attacks and zero-day DoS attacks. In addition the ability to control multistep secure socket layer (SSL) processing provides enhanced security of HTTP, FTP and SMTP over SSL.

When AppDirector is used in conjunction with AppWall, the combined ADC solution provides the industry's most comprehensive security solution while eliminating traditional security/performance trade-offs. AppWall provides unified and automated protection against known and unknown Web application attacks worms, platform exploits and network attacks, ensuring secure and continuous on-line business activity. In addition, it also enables PCI compliance, which is necessary for most online businesses.

Radware's innovative architectural approach to global re-direction is the only solution guaranteeing transaction completion and fast response times across multiple data centers in support of business continuity and disaster recovery plans. This solution, which is integrated with the local redirection module in the same box, includes

  • Patented proximity and load measurement for best site selection
  • Widest range of redirection methods (DNS, HTTP, RTSP, SIP and patented global triangulation redirection) which guarantees session persistency and transaction completion
  • Patented triangulation redirection provides global redirection for any IP-based service

By solving the problems of DNS-only solutions, AppDirector lets customers create true global networks while ensuring maximum uptime and optimized service delivery through web server load balancing and other services, to globally dispersed users.

AppDirector supports a variety of bandwidth management and traffic-shaping capabilities to enforce Quality of Service (QoS) policies. These rules ensure that all network elements provide the required priority to specific application or user traffic so service level agreements (SLAs) can be met, with latency-sensitive and business-critical applications receiving priority.

  • Automatic application discovery for over 40 common enterprise applications plus support for user-defined classes provides administrators with full visibility on application bandwidth consumption, streamlining enforcement of bandwidth management policies.
  • Diversified set of QoS algorithms including RED/WRED/WFQ and class-based queuing (CBQ) guarantees bandwidth allocation for premium users and critical applications, and end-to-end bandwidth management and policy enforcement.
  • Bandwidth management per user/session allows setting granular policies that control bandwidth consumption of each and every user within a class of traffic, without setting individual policies.
  • Hierarchal bandwidth management gives administrators a powerful and flexible tool for dynamic bandwidth allocation in complex environments.

Ensuring optimal application delivery in the virtual data center

AppDirector inspects and handles traffic directed to virtual servers, using exactly the same capabilities as it does for physical ones. Therefore, the same rules and policies that are relevant to traffic in a physical data center also apply to traffic in the virtual data center, resulting in high availability, satisfactory service levels, optimized Quality of Experience and secured virtual applications.

Simplifying virtual data center operations

vAdapter™, Radware's easy to deploy, operational tool, ensures that any change in the virtual infrastructure (VI) -- impacting ADC configuration -- is automatically synchronized with the ADC in real-time without manual reconfiguration of the ADC or coding any complex scripts. It guarantees the full availability and maximum performance of virtualized applications by preventing configuration errors, eliminating scripting and reducing risk.