Tolly Report: Citrix NetScaler 9.1 nCore Outperforms F5 BIG-IP v10.

Across a suite of tests, Citrix NetScaler exhibited dramatically lower latency than F5 BIG-IP.

Application Security:
Solutions for PCI and More

The PCI Security Standards Council is an open global forum for the ongoing development, enhancement, storage, dissemination and implementation of security standards such as PCI-DSS for account data protection.

Citrix® NetScaler® is an integrated Web application delivery controller appliance that functions as an application accelerator through caching and HTTP compression, provides advanced traffic management through Layer 4-7 load balancing and content switching, and includes application security via a Web application firewall and SSL VPN. NetScaler further off loads application and Web servers to ensure application availability, increased security through SSL, and server consolidation.  It reduces the TCO of Web application delivery, optimizes the user experience and makes applications run five times better. NetScaler’s parallel processing nCore™ technology leverages multi-core processors to provide unprecedented performance and scalability for even the most challenging web applications. NetScaler appliances are available in three editions running on a wide ranging array of hardware platforms for any throughput need-from 500 Mbps through 18 Gbps.

Learn about nCore technology

Deployed in front of Web servers, NetScaler application delivery controller models combine high-speed load balancing and content switching with application acceleration, content caching, SSL acceleration, network optimization and application performance monitoring in a single built-for-purpose hardware platform.  Unlike other approaches that require multiple point products, NetScaler is an all-in-one appliance that is easy to deploy, configure, and operate with AppExpert Visual Policy Builder GUI-based tools, AppExpert Templates, and multiple wizards.

All the extensive application delivery functionality of NetScaler can now be obtained in a virtual appliance. Organizations of any size can deploy NetScaler VPX on industry standard servers anywhere in the data center.  NetScaler VPX enables load balancing, application acceleration, application security and server offload to become virtual appliance-based services that can be easily and dynamically deployed; on-demand and anywhere in the datacenter. Whether installed on a single server or across all cloud computing datacenters.

Learn about the NetScaler VPX virtual appliance

Reduce TCO with an all-in-one appliance that takes the load off of over-burdened networks. By offloading servers from things they don’t do well, such as HTTP compression, caching, SSL encryption/decryption, and repetitive network processing functions, NetScaler provides server consolidation to save on server costs by up to 80 percent. When combined with in-memory caching that delivers dynamic content directly, Citrix NetScaler application accelerators delivers more applications to more users with a dramatic reduction in servers and network devices. It also allows you to deploy new Web 2.0 applications without massive infrastructure changes.

Optimize the user experience by accelerating web application performance by 5X or more. NetScaler sends traffic to the right server with intelligent content switching and leverages advanced multi-level HTTP compression for the best possible performance and greatest network bandwidth savings. Dynamic content caching instantly delivers frequently requested content directly from NetScaler to further enhance the user experience. End-user experience monitoring enables you to monitor the application performance at the user to measure the total benefit of NetScaler acceleration capabilities.

Secure Web apps by utilizing an advanced Web application firewall to block application attacks and protect sensitive information from unauthorized access. Day zero attack protection and integrated XML security prevents the loss of valuable corporate and customer data, and aids in compliance with regulations such as PCI-DSS. Comprehensive AAA capabilities, married with a powerful distributed denial of service (DDoS) shield, allow secure remote access while preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Ensure apps are always available by dynamically responding to changing workloads. NetScaler provides overload sense and response to optimize use of server resources even with unpredictable traffic.  Through workload virtualization, capacity is activated automatically to reallocate resources, and add or subtract back-end capacity in response to traffic volume without interrupting the application or application user.  Layer 4-Layer 7 load balancer functions ensures 100 percent uptime for all users and makes sure there is no single point of failure.  Global Server Load Balancing ensures that applications are available to all users worldwide, and forms a key element for disaster recovery strategies.