SkyX eradicates latency to speed up remote backups

Packeteer's updated systems will help enterprises connect their datacentres with backup systems

Application acceleration specialist Packeteer has launched upgraded systems for connecting primary datacentres with backup systems over a wide-area network.

Upgraded client software was also unveiled to give mobile users faster access to central email, web and file-sharing applications, and faster backup to remote storage.

Packeteer said its new SkyX Accelerator 750-622 hardware fully utilised the available capacity on OC12 WAN connections, which normally have a theoretical capacity of 622Mbit/s. According to Packeteer, backing up 100GB of data over a regional OC12 WAN link typically takes 11 hours, but this drops to under 30 minutes with the SkyX Accelerator 750-622. The vendor said data is transferred 200 times faster over transcontinental links.

Product marketing director Mark Urban said, “The major roadblocks for faster disaster recovery and backup have been slow data transfer speeds due to TCP chattiness and WAN latency over high-capacity links; the SkyX Accelerator 750 removes these.”

Packeteer has also upgraded its iShared Mobiliti client software to version 7.0, which includes the new SkyX technology for automatic backups. When online, the software automatically caches files in central datacentres, so if the WAN link goes down, users still have offline data access.

The SkyX Accelerator 750-622 is available now in a 311Mbit/s and a 622Mbit/s version, priced at $52,000 (£27,000 + VAT) and $60,000 (£31,000 + VAT) respectively. Pricing for existing SkyX Accelerator users depends on current licensed transfer speeds.

Mobiliti 7.0 is currently in beta. Commercial availability is scheduled for March, and will be free to existing Mobiliti users.