Expand Networks (www.expand.com), a leader in wide area network (WAN) application acceleration and positioned in Gartner’s Leaders Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers 2007, today announced plans to release a Virtual WAN (VWAN) Optimisation version of its Accelerator Operating System (AOS) that supports seamless integration into the virtual IT infrastructure for both the datacentre and the remote branch. In addition to supporting the enterprise’s virtual IT infrastructure, this capability will complement Expand’s existing strengths in the server-based computing market and allows for a seamless integration into Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI).

Virtualisation in the datacentre is becoming the IT infrastructure of today’s enterprise. A consensus of industry analysts project that upwards of 60 percent of all enterprises will implement some form of virtualisation within the next three years. Key VWAN implementation essentials include a VWAN optimisation appliance, management tools, utilities for high availability and shared storage.

The demand for virtualisation is driven by pressures to reduce datacentre and operation costs and the drive towards greener IT. Cost savings include increased server utilisation, decreased down time, reduced OS licensing fees, shorter deployment cycles and significantly reduced and easier management. Physical server consolidation lowers power and cooling usage and reduces the carbon footprint by up to 80 percent for a greener IT environment.

“Given Expand’s strategic direction and our analysis of the current market trends, we have developed the essential core architecture to support our virtualisation initiative. In addition, Expand’s modular and open architecture enables us to provide a full virtual solution that doesn’t rely on specific hardware. In line with this trend, our VWAN optimisation roadmap supports the enterprises’ strategy for moving to a pure virtual datacentre infrastructure,” said Efi Gatmor, CTO, Expand Networks. “Initially, our VWAN optimisation deployment will be done on VMware ESX and VMware Server platforms, offering the strength and flexibility of virtualisation in an easy to install, configure and manage package. In the future, other virtualisation platforms will be supported.”

In parallel with Expand’s physical accelerators, the VWAN Optimisation solution will continue to provide the same superior acceleration performance along with the ability to handle significantly more users over the same WAN connection to ensure priority for business critical applications. By adding the branch office virtualisation solution, enterprises can further reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve their return on investment (ROI) and realise a performance gain regardless of the platform. In addition, VWAN enables Expand to provide its solution in hostile and harsh environments where an appliance deployment is not feasible.

“With the marketplace and enterprises making the natural migration towards virtualisation for their IT environment, VWAN optimisation has become a must-have technology,” said David White, VP of Business Development, Expand Networks. “The great thing about Expand’s virtualisation solutions is the ease of integration with OEM and SI partners. No matter what businesses our customers are in, Expand is in a unique position to offer a choice to use a proven appliance or to move to a virtual environment without making overhauls to their network.”