WAN optimisation and application acceleration firm Packeteer has introduced a modular version of its PacketShaper appliance designed to lower initial purchase costs for enterprise branch offices.

The PacketShaper 1400 Lite base unit offers basic WAN optimisation features for $1,500 (£791 + VAT), but customers can add more advanced acceleration tools at extra cost.

“In retail environments, for example, where there are low-cost circuits like DSL or MPLS-type WAN links with DSL backup, previous [PacketShaper] products were deemed too expensive,” said Packeteer country manager for UK and Ireland, Mike Hemes. “This is a simple entry-level device that sits and monitors the link, but allows customers to add packet shaping and control, then compression and app acceleration, when and if required.”

Hemes argued that most other WAN optimisation vendors offer little more than basic traffic monitoring tools. These focus on network rather than application-level packet analysis, and do not guarantee application performance or pick up undesirable content.

“Malicious applications can sit in web browsers that use port 80, or go through web-based applications, making them difficult to spot if the appliance only monitors IP addresses or port numbers,” Hemes said.

A report on the global WAN optimisation market compiled by research company Infonetics earlier this year found Packeteer was the market leader in revenue terms.