Today at Citrix Synergy, the conference where cloud computing, networking and virtualization meet, Citrix announced NetScaler CloudConnectors, an innovative new solution that seamlessly extends the traditional networking footprint beyond the four walls of the enterprise datacenter to points of presence all over the world – creating a true end-to-end “service delivery fabric.” This end-to-end service delivery fabric enables enterprises and internet app and content providers alike to apply a new class of transparent, and easy to deploy, hybrid networking solutions for web, SaaS and mobile applications at the Internet’s “last mile.” NetScaler CloudConnectors are the first solutions in the industry to knit on-premise and off-premise capabilities into a seamless fabric delivering two to three times better optimizations than standalone solutions. Citrix also announced new updates to Citrix CloudBridge, a solution that sits at the “back door” of enterprise datacenters, making it easy for them to connect to extra capacity in the cloud in the most secure, optimized way possible.

As the industry transitions from the PC Era to the Cloud Era, today’s modern enterprise is extending its in-house applications to add support for a myriad of SaaS, cloud and mobile services that are extremely dynamic and provide a rich, highly interactive and highly personalized user experience. In the Cloud Era, even the desktop itself is virtualized, and services are delivered from off-premise cloud datacenters, over the internet, to a diverse set of devices that are chosen by the user. In this new era, IT infrastructure must provide a new class of service delivery capabilities that apply traditional application delivery acceleration, security and availability options to any cloud service, delivered from any cloud, to any user. NetScaler CloudConnectors define the new class of hybrid solutions that will be the norm for cloud service delivery in years to come.

Citrix also unveiled the first of its new connectors, the NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN. This offering will provide a hybrid solution that optimizes network links between the datacenter, and the Internet’s “last mile”. NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN is offered in partnership with Cotendo, a leading provider of advanced cloud acceleration and cloud delivery network (CDN) services. NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN is offered alongside services offered by Cotendo, a leading provider of advanced cloud acceleration and cloud delivery network (CDN) services.

What’s New

NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN offers the following benefits:

• Accelerates Dynamic Mobile, Web and SaaS apps: As applications become more dynamic, an increasing proportion of user requests must transit all the way to the data center origin, putting the network link between the CDN PoPs and the data center on the “critical path”. CloudConnector for CDN applies symmetric TCP optimizations, data compression and data deduplication techniques to mitigate latency between the data center and the CDN PoPs, accelerating application response time by up to 5 times.
• Reduces Network Bandwidth Requirements: The same techniques used to mitigate latency and accelerate response time also dramatically reduce data volumes out of the data center. NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN cuts bandwidth needs by up to 95 percent, even for dynamically generated content.
• Preserves Security: For applications where security and privacy are paramount, NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN preserves full data encryption between the CDN PoPs and the origin data center.
• Maintains Transparency: NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN is entirely transparent to in-house applications, SaaS providers and application end-users. Moreover, all off-premise infrastructure is operated and maintained by Cotendo entirely as a service.

New Release of Citrix CloudBridge

Citrix also showcased enhancements to Citrix CloudBridge, making it even easier for enterprise customers to tap into extra capacity in the cloud in a secure, optimized fashion. New enhancements to CloudBridge include:

• IaaS “Cloud Catalog” within NetScaler: Leading cloud providers worldwide will be “pre-certified” for supporting CloudBridge. This provides enterprises a validated list of cloud data centers worldwide that can be easily tapped for additional capacity.
• Simple, “One-sided” Setup: Wizard-driven automation between CloudBridge and leading cloud providers makes it easy for enterprises to extend their networks from entirely within the CloudBridge user interface.
• CloudBridge Citrix Ready Program: Citrix also launched a Citrix Ready certification program, enabling any cloud provider to certify its cloud as “Citrix CloudBridge ready.”

Pricing and Availability

NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN will be available in November 2011. Available as a hybrid solution, NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN requires two components:

• An option added to the NetScaler MPX, VPX or SDX appliance running in the enterprise data center. SRP for this option starts at $5,000.
• A service offered and sold by Cotendo. SRP for this service starts at $500/month.

Additional NetScaler CloudConnectors for optimizing HDX and for hybrid security solutions will be available in 2012.