Many organizations today with large distributed networks are taking advantage of the significant trends of network consolidation and server virtualization to improve delivery of applications while reducing costs. By removing servers and applications from branch offices and consolidating in data centers, network administrators are able to achieve a number of business benefits that include lower capital equipment cost, decreased support and management costs, and better auditing and compliance.

Core network services (CNS) such as DNS, DHCP, IPAM, RADIUS, TFTP, NTP, and HTTP are critical to every network. As remote offices in distributed organizations reduce the number of servers at the location there is an increasing need to provide these network services on an existing platform through the use of server virtualization technology. Infoblox Virtual Appliance software running on Riverbed Steelhead appliances allows network administrators to continue to support critical services in branch offices while simultaneously reducing server infrastructure and remote management complexity.

Together, Infoblox and Riverbed provide organizations with an integrated solution that combines core network services with WAN optimization to improve application performance and availability at the branch office while lowering costs. Some of the specific benefits of Infoblox Virtual Appliance software on Steelhead appliances include:

Infrastructure Consolidation

• Remove general purpose servers from branch offices while retaining local delivery of core network services
• Reduce capital and administrative costs through a centrally managed virtualized instance of Infoblox core network services technology

Application Performance

• Eliminate DNS Latency across WAN links and ensure application availability
• Improve performance of all applications (email, web, intranet, VoIP, etc.)

Local Survivability and Disaster Recovery

• Guarantee network access in event of WAN outage via local DHCP
• Provides a fault tolerant environment to ensure continuous availability of DHCP address assignment for network access

Server Virtualization

• Receive the benefits of centrally managed Infoblox NIOS running in the virtual environment of a Steelhead appliance
• Leverage existing Riverbed platforms in key locations