Blue Coat Systems has announced new virtual WAN optimization appliances that it says will be valuable to VARs wrangling with server virtualization and branch office challenges. As noted in this Channel Web story, rather than create a virtualized environment for consolidating branch office applications, Blue Coat has instead virtualized the appliances themselves to run on industry servers.
“The Proxy SG Virtual Appliances operate in VMware vSphere environments, meaning they’re also compatible with Windows Server, various unified threat management, intrusion prevention and VPN functions, and line-of-business applications that vSphere supports. According to Blue Coat, it worked closely with VMware to get the ProxySG certified VMware Ready, meaning it’s been officially validated by VMware for use in VMware virtual environments.
“The appliances come in four different models. VA-5s support up to 10 concurrent users, VA-10s support up to 50 concurrent users, VA-15s support up to 150 concurrent users, and VA-20s support up to 300 concurrent users. The software is priced by subscription, and the VA-5 models start at $1,110 a year.”
