Noted tech blogger, David Greenfield, posted a thorough evaluation recently on the news that Blue Coat (News - Alert) has upgraded its MACH5 to become “the industry's first IPv6-compatible WAN optimizer.”

Blue Coat “deserves kudos for pushing the market and delivering a WAN optimizer suitable for the IP protocol of the future,” Greenfield said, adding that “with the depletion of the IPv4 addresses, the MACH5 is bound to gain some attention.”

WAN optimizers, as Greenfield said, “have long supported tunneled IPv6 over IPv4, but the MACH5 is the first WAN optimization appliance to accelerate native IPv6, and then some. The MACH5 is actually a very sophisticated IPv6 application layer gateway (ALG), providing IPv6 connectivity, security and optimization in a single device. Yet it's precisely its sophistication that raises questions around device scalability and price.”

Earlier this month it was reported that Blue Coat announced that its Blue Coat ProxyAV family of appliances now supports the Trend Micro (News - Alert) anti-virus engine. “Blue Coat now supports five leading anti-virus engines on its ProxyAV appliances, giving organizations the flexibility to choose the solution that best addresses their specific requirements and preferences,” company officials said.

ProxyAV appliances enable organizations to scan 100 percent of content and work in conjunction with ProxySG appliances to provide comprehensive Web security at a company's Internet gateway without compromising network performance.

Greenfield called the device “a logical move” for Blue Coat, which has “long championed the adoption of IPv6 technology, particularly at the endpoints first.” He quoted Qing Li, Blue Coat's chief scientist, saying “organizations have invested heavily in v4 applications and services as a complete and comprehensive business solution, so they won't migrate them to v6 overnight."

What's “less clear,” Greenfield said, is the market need for an IPv6 WAN optimizer among enterprises: “While government institutions have adopted IPv6, leading consultancies such as the Gartner (News - Alert) Group are recommending that organizations do not migrate their desktops to IPv6 until sometime next year.”