Cloud Computing

Two new cloud-based solutions are being introduced by IT performance firm Riverbed Technology to deliver anytime, anywhere IT performance to globally connected enterprises, without modifications to their current communications. This, combined with Riverbed’s (News - Alert) award-winning WAN optimization and visibility portfolio, will provide highly-efficient, secure and accelerated IT for both applications and storage in public cloud environments.

The two solutions – Riverbed Cloud Steelhead and Riverbed Whitewater – will be demonstrated at a webcast cloud launch event today in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area, as well as London. Cloud providers Amazon, AT&T, BT, EMC, Nirvanix and Orange Business Services are also taking part in the global launch alongside Riverbed, while Riverbed customers AVST (News - Alert), International Justice Mission, Pump Solutions Group and Razorfish, will share their real experiences using the new solutions in public cloud environments.

The Riverbed Cloud Steelhead was built to both speed the move of data to the public cloud, as well as advance performance for cloud-hosted applications by allowing for instant access to that data and applications from any location. Initially integrated with Amazon EC2 and Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), Cloud Steelhead v1.0 guarantees flawless cloud integration through the Steelhead Discovery Agent. A new form of transparent cloud interception, the Steelhead Discovery Agent promises WAN optimization that can be used in highly automated, virtualized environments where an actual location of a customer’s serve may alter at any point in time. In addition, it offers a subscription-based pricing model enabling cloud-like economics for WAN optimization, as well as a Riverbed Cloud Portal for easy-to-deploy portal-based management and simple cloning, allowing administrators to use current Cloud Steelhead settings to quickly transport new Cloud Steelhead instances.

The Cloud Steelhead received a positive review from partner Orange Business Services (News - Alert). "Cloud Steelhead provides Orange Business Services with an extension to its existing successful Enterprise Application Management service,” said Richard Heaps, head of product management for Consulting & Solutions Integration at Orange. “Customers can now seamlessly transition to cloud-based applications and benefit from the same application performance and capabilities that they enjoy today.”

A cloud storage catalyst targeting backup and select archive workloads, the Riverbed Whitewater appliance allows for an easy-to-use and proficient means to retrieving offsite data to cloud storage environments run by EMC, Atmos, AT&T (News - Alert) Synaptic Storage as a Service, and Amazon S3.

Riverbed Whitewater is also receiving industry support in its acceleration of globally connected enterprises. "As companies continue to focus on accelerating growth and reducing costs, many are turning to cloud storage to gain the efficiencies their business demands,” said Mike Feinberg, senior vice president of EMC (News - Alert) Cloud Infrastructure Group. “As the foundation for building internal and external clouds, EMC Atmos is designed to simplify service providers' and enterprises' ability to build and deliver cloud storage solutions to their customers. Together, Riverbed Whitewater and EMC Atmos accelerate cloud storage for enterprise data protection and offer cost effective and secure backup and recovery solutions.”

With many global enterprises consolidating their IT resources into private clouds and moving their data farther from users at the edge, Riverbed is widely depended upon to understand, optimize and consolidate their IT infrastructure.

 “IT organizations at globally connected enterprises are charged with delivering highly efficient and secure IT, while still providing a rich experience to end users at the edge,” said Eric Wolford, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Riverbed.  “Private and public clouds offer the promise of efficiency and flexibility, but come with performance barriers caused by the distance between users and their data. Riverbed helps deliver flexible, accelerated performance without requiring IT organizations to make changes to their current architecture. And, as new vendors and approaches are adopted, Riverbed will be there to deliver the performance that enterprises require in simple, easy to deploy and manage solutions.”

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet copy editor. Previously she was assistant to the editor at The Darien Times, a weekly newspaper in Darien, Conn., where she edited submissions, did page layout and design and helped manage the newspaper's website. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Tammy Wolf