DBAM
EP600 - Network Computing Review
Network
Computing reviews the DBAM EP 600's WAN acceleration abilities.
What's
the need for optimisation?
Optimising existing underperforming WAN links is a far more cost-effective
response than throwing extra bandwidth at them. However, many appliance-based
solutions are aimed at big businesses and have price tags to match.
UK based DBAM Systems has developed its own optimisation products and
along with extreme value, its family of EP (exbander precision) appliances
deliver an unbeatable range of features.
The
DBAM product on test
For testing we used an EP600 as our head office appliance and an EP60
for the remote site. Management is via DBAM's Precision Start Java-based
app and this opens with a tidy interface and a step-by-step installation
guide. Deployment is remarkably simple as the EP600 automatically connects
to the EP units at the remote offices, requiring no user intervention
whatsoever.
To test performance we
used the lab's resident Network Nightmare WAN simulator and configured
it for a 2Mbps E1 WAN link with 40ms latency. With the simulator positioned
between the appliances, we added a Windows Server 2003 R2 system on
one side configured with file, IIS and FTP services plus Kerio MailServer
to provide mail services. On the other side we connected another Windows
server system to act as a client and used a 4.8MB PowerPoint presentation
to test a variety of scenarios.
The
results
With optimisation disabled, copying the file from the server took 60
seconds and
with the EP600 in the mix and the file cached, the same task took less
than a second. Remotely opening the file at the client using PowerPoint
took 63 seconds, but with the file cached this was reduced to 9 seconds.
Mailing the test file from the client as an attachment with no optimisation
took 192 seconds and with optimisation activated, this was reduced to
only 2 seconds. FTP and HTTP downloads of the test file took 37 and
22 seconds respectively, but with optimisation functioning, these both
fell to around 1 second. The EP 600 clearly delivers in the performance
stakes and we found deployment a remarkably simple process. However,
the sheer level of features impressed us the most as there's no other
optimisation solution on the market that comes close to DBAM at this
impressive price point.
More
than just optimisation
The DBAM EP600 also offers a very high level of traffic shaping capabilities
where it can prioritise traffic based on parameters such as network
ports, protocols, applications and URLs. During testing we could even
monitor individual IM conversations and use the EP600 to replace unacceptable
words or phrases. The connection process is determined simply by the
applications the remote office is accessing and where they are located,
and so the appliances will automatically link up with each other.
Download the full Network
Computing article here: DBAM
EP600 Review.
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