Blue Coat Builds a Big Content Cache for Service Providers

Blue Coat Systems introduced its next-generation CacheFlow 5000 appliance — delivering more than three times greater throughput and cache storage compared to the previous version — in the same compact, 4U footprint. The up-sizing is required by the strain of media-rich content traversing service provider networks, especially videos and large files.

The initial CacheFlow 5000 appliance, which was released in March 2010, leveraged caching intelligence to address the new wave of rich, dynamic Web 2.0 content, which previously had been difficult or impossible to cache. Blue Coat said it has seen success with this model as it now has nearly 50 service provider customers using the system. The appliance achieves on average 40-50% bandwidth savings on general Web traffic, according to the company.

Blue Coat also provides a “CachePulse” cloud service which delivers on-the-fly caching rule and instruction updates to deployed CacheFlow appliances to provide continued high bandwidth savings improvements.

The new release of the CacheFlow 5000 appliance adds a significant performance and capacity boost via new 64-bit software and hardware improvements. The new CacheFlow appliance also adds an option for 10GigE Fiber, in addition to existing copper, to support high-speed network interfaces.

“The new CacheFlow 5000 appliance represents a tremendous leap in performance for Web content caching and can dramatically improve the service provider’s ability to keep up with the unrelenting demand for Web video while changing its economics,�? said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems. “By combining caching intelligence with a new level of platform performance, the CacheFlow appliance will better prepare service providers for massive increases in their subscribers’ demand for content.�?http://www.bluecoat.com/

• In September 2010, Blue Coat announced that Alcatel-Lucent is reselling its ProxySG and CacheFlow appliances to Alcatel-Lucent customers worldwide — including tier-one telcos, managed service providers, regional ISPs and mobile operators. Blue Coat’s CacheFlow appliance reduces the strain of bandwidth-consuming dynamic Web 2.0 and video content by transparently caching such over-the-top content, providing bandwidth savings for carriers and a better experience for users.
• In 2002, CacheFlow, which originally specialized in network caching systems, changed its name to Blue Coat Systems and refocused its strategic direction on enterprise security appliances.