Blue Coat Integrates Optimized Video Delivery with WAN Optimization to Enable Corporate and Internet Video for New Era of Communication

Top Quote Protects Against "Video Floods" and Allows Pervasive Use of Video Inside the Corporate Network to Transform Communication and Business Processes. End Quote
  • (1888PressRelease) November 25, 2010 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), the technology leader in Application Delivery Networking, today announced its Blue Coat® ProxySG® WAN optimization product now fully integrates Optimized Video Delivery, including the world's first capability to "stream-split" video delivered live with Adobe® Flash® technology. With stream-split technology, a single video stream can serve a large number of viewers in each location, enabling video scalability, providing quality viewing and freeing bandwidth on the Wide Area Network (WAN) for other business-critical applications.

    Blue Coat Optimized Video Delivery utilizes a combination of stream-splitting and caching technologies to prevent "video floods" that are caused when Internet video saturates a company's WAN or Internet gateway and keeps other applications from performing properly. At the same time, Optimized Video Delivery also allows companies to expand the use of video internally for business content, training and communications without increasing bandwidth capacity. Optimized Video Delivery automatically minimizes bandwidth impact and improves user experience for the following types of video traffic:

    • On-demand video internal to the company or from the Web
    • Live streaming video from internal sources or from the Web

    "Companies want to use more live video internally and also need to contend with video from the Web, but both can undermine networks," said Joe Skorupa, Research VP, Gartner. "Video caching and stream-splitting are two important technologies that help enable the adoption of video in the enterprise while managing its impact on the WAN or Internet gateway."

    Live Web video has been growing at a substantial rate. According to a new report from Telegeography, streaming media now accounts for 18 percent of worldwide Internet traffic, and, together with other video-heavy applications, comprises 52 percent of worldwide Internet traffic. Many television stations around the world offer live video streams, and a growing number of Web sites allow users to stream live video directly from their mobile phones to users.

    External video on the WAN frequently consumes 30-60 percent of the bandwidth at various times, frequently slowing or even stopping business-critical applications from functioning properly. Traditional WAN optimization solutions that rely on general-purpose acceleration technologies alone are not enough to remedy sluggish or incapacitated application performance in branch offices resulting from heavy video traffic.

    At the same time, as external video compromises the performance of their business-critical applications companies want to use more live and on-demand video internally for training, communication, teambuilding and other purposes. Making such content available to employees in branch offices remains a challenge for many organizations given the constraints of an already-overburdened WAN.

    The Blue Coat WAN optimization solution with Optimized Video Delivery helps companies perform key tasks, including:

    • Distributing or scaling live video events and CEO or executive chats throughout the enterprise by reducing them to a single video stream for each branch office that is "split" at the remote site to serve all employees in that office
    • Transparently and automatically adding branch office viewers to an existing stream for a live video event already in progress
    • Providing cached "video on demand" for both Internet and corporate video, that dramatically reduces WAN traffic and serves content instantly from remote site video caches
    • Enabling enterprise content delivery networking (eCDN) to pre-populate large media files to branch office locations during off-peak periods
    • Minimizing the impact of "video floods," where employees watching live video events over the Web (e.g. breaking news, major events) saturate WAN links and prevent business-critical applications from operating. Through an "optimize but control" approach, that first reduces bandwidth via caching and stream splitting, and also provides QoS controls to contain traffic for assured performance of mission critical applications
    • Utilizing smart Web policy to help companies to distinguish their own YouTube channels and other Internet-based business video channels from broader consumer and recreational offerings

    Blue Coat "send once, serve many" stream-splitting includes support for Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) on the Adobe Flash Platform and Microsoft Windows Media MMS- and RTSP-based streaming media. This capability scales video and reduces the strain on the most constrained portion of enterprise networks-the Internet gateway or WAN link.

    In addition to optimization and delivery of live video, ProxySG appliances can optimize, scale and minimize the impact of on-demand video from the Web or internal sources. On-demand video, including progressively downloaded video using the Flash Platform such as YouTube, is stored or "cached" locally at the branch office after the first person requests it. Subsequent viewers can access the content locally without impacting the WAN. In addition, internal content can be distributed automatically, typically at night when network usage is low, to avoid straining the WAN during peak business activity.

    "With the pervasiveness of video, companies need a way to protect their networks from being overrun, as well as a way to effectively distribute video for business purposes," said Nigel Hawthorn, VP EMEA Marketing at Blue Coat Systems. "Blue Coat takes a comprehensive approach to WAN optimization, realizing that simply applying acceleration to email or file access while ignoring video will not ensure that business-critical applications perform well across the enterprise."

    About Blue Coat Systems
    Blue Coat Systems is the technology leader in Application Delivery Networking. Blue Coat offers an Application Delivery Network Infrastructure that provides the visibility, acceleration and security required to optimize and secure the flow of information to any user, on any network, anywhere. This application intelligence enables enterprises to tightly align network investments with business requirements, speed decision making and secure business applications for long-term competitive advantage. Blue Coat also offers service provider solutions for managed security and WAN optimization, as well as carrier-grade caching solutions to save on bandwidth and boost the end-user Web experience. For additional information, please visit www.bluecoat.com .

    FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems' expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems' products. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems' business are set forth in the Securities and Exchange Commission reports filed by Blue Coat Systems, including but not limited to the risks described in the most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading "Risk Factors."

    Blue Coat, ProxySG and the Blue Coat logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Blue Coat Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

    For more information, please contact:

    Manal Abi Rafeh
    Regional Marketing Manager ME & Turkey
    Blue Coat Systems ME
    Telephone: +971 4 3911620
    Fax: +971 4 3911635

    Media Contact:
    Colin Saldanha
    PR Consultant
    PROCRE8
    Dubai - UAE
    GSM: +971 (50) 6400762

    ###
space
space
  • FB Icon Twitter Icon In-Icon
Contact Information