ApplianSys
Encyclopedia
ApplianSys, founded in 2000, is a privately held venture capital
-backed technology company based in London
, United Kingdom
. It designs, builds and markets Internet server appliance
s that are deployed in more than 80 countries. Forrester Research
have listed ApplianSys as being a key vendor in the worldwide IP Address Management market, with its DNS engine used in a third of all GPRS networks.
, DHCP and IP Address Management), CACHEBOX (Web cache
, Proxy Server
, WAN Optimization
and Content Filtering
) and VOIPBOX (VOIP Acceleration).
All products are offered in 1U
Rackmount or Small Form Factor
formats. They are configured via secure web interfaces, with central management console appliances available for large scale deployments.
They are typically deployed in a 'hidden master' configuration, with the management appliances running on a separate secure network to the DNSBOX100 series appliances that handle queries. A VPN is then used between the appliances for zone transfers.
Management appliances use a combination of open source and proprietary software, developed by ApplianSys and Nixu.
According to IDC
's 2007 IPAM report the average DNSbox customer manages 15,000 IP addresses.
CACHEBOX is a dedicated web caching proxy appliance with models targeted at Education, SME, Corporate/Governmental and ISP
markets. Five models are currently available:
All models feature content delivery network
support, allowing sites such as YouTube
that use multiple back-end servers to be effectively cached. ApplianSys's licensing model does not restrict by number of users or throughput supported by each device.
CACHEBOX's caching engine employs code from the Squid project.
Customer types include:
When deployed, VOIPbox appliances create tunnels between one another. VOIP traffic is then carried over the tunnels, subject to techniques including bandwidth shaping, Quality of service
, header compression and optimisation
. Audio data itself is not compressed, allowing call quality to be retained.
It enables for example, a 128K ADSL line that would otherwise carry 3 G.729
calls to handle up to 28.
operating system
that has been developed from the ground up with appliance use in mind. All products make use of industrial grade compact flash that in most cases stores both the OS and configuration files, minimising or removing reliance on non solid state storage for reasons of both performance and reliability.
After initial deployment using a VGA or serial console, all configuration of ApplianSys products is performed via a secure web interface.
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
-backed technology company based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It designs, builds and markets Internet server appliance
Server appliance
A server appliance is a computer appliance that works as a server. It is designed so that the end-user does not need to understand the details of the operating system or the commands associated with it. Server appliances have their hardware and software preconfigured by the manufacturer. The...
s that are deployed in more than 80 countries. Forrester Research
Forrester Research
Forrester Research is an independent technology and market research company that provides its clients with advice about technology's impact on business and consumers. Forrester Research has five research centers in the US: Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York, New York; San Francisco, California;...
have listed ApplianSys as being a key vendor in the worldwide IP Address Management market, with its DNS engine used in a third of all GPRS networks.
Products
ApplianSys' portfolio of appliances include more than 20 models split across a range including DNSBOX (DNSDomain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
, DHCP and IP Address Management), CACHEBOX (Web cache
Web cache
A web cache is a mechanism for the temporary storage of web documents, such as HTML pages and images, to reduce bandwidth usage, server load, and perceived lag...
, Proxy Server
Proxy server
In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
, WAN Optimization
WAN Optimization
WAN optimization is a collection of techniques for increasing data-transfer efficiencies across wide-area networks. In 2008, the WAN optimization market was estimated to be $1 billion , and it will grow to $4.4 billion according to Gartner, a technology research firm.The most common measures of...
and Content Filtering
Content filtering
Content filtering is the technique whereby content is blocked or allowed based on analysis of its content, rather than its source or other criteria. It is most widely used on the internet to filter email and web access.- Content filtering of email :...
) and VOIPBOX (VOIP Acceleration).
All products are offered in 1U
Rack unit
A rack unit or U is a unit of measure used to describe the height of equipment intended for mounting in a 19-inch rack or a 23-inch rack...
Rackmount or Small Form Factor
Small form factor
A small form factor is a computer form factor designed to minimize the volume of a desktop computer. For comparison purposes, the size of an SFF case is usually measured in litres. SFFs are available in a variety of sizes and shapes, including shoeboxes, cubes, and book-sized PCs...
formats. They are configured via secure web interfaces, with central management console appliances available for large scale deployments.
DNSbox
The DNSbox range was launched in 2001. It is divided into 4 series:- DNSBOX400: DNS, DHCP & IP Address Management (IPAM)
- DNSBOX300: DNS & DHCP Management
- DNSBOX200: DNS Slave/Recursive Resolver & DHCP Server (for use with DNSBOX400 series)
- DNSBOX100: DNS Slave/Recursive Resolver & DHCP Relay (for use with DNSBOX300 series)
They are typically deployed in a 'hidden master' configuration, with the management appliances running on a separate secure network to the DNSBOX100 series appliances that handle queries. A VPN is then used between the appliances for zone transfers.
Management appliances use a combination of open source and proprietary software, developed by ApplianSys and Nixu.
According to IDC
International Data Corporation
International Data Corporation is a market research and analysis firm specializing in information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology. IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group...
's 2007 IPAM report the average DNSbox customer manages 15,000 IP addresses.
CACHEbox
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
markets. Five models are currently available:
- 210, 220 and 230 models are high performance 1U rackmount appliances used primarily in ISP and network cores. They employ technologies such as Solid State DrivesSolid-state driveA solid-state drive , sometimes called a solid-state disk or electronic disk, is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data with the intention of providing access in the same manner of a traditional block i/o hard disk drive...
to support more than 2,500 HTTP requests per second. Multiple devices can be clustered together (using protocols such as CiscoCiscoCisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
's WCCPWeb Cache Communication ProtocolWeb Cache Communication Protocol is a Cisco-developed content-routing protocol that provides a mechanism to redirect traffic flows in real-time. It has built-in load balancing, scaling, fault tolerance, and service-assurance mechanisms...
), offering high availability and scalability. - 050 and 100 models are used by schools, ships, branch and small to medium sized offices. Each support 400 HTTP requests per second and can connect to 200 series appliances upstream or operate independently. By use of energy efficient electronicsGreen computingGreen computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. In the article Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices, San Murugesan defines the field of green computing as "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers,...
(such as Intel AtomIntel AtomIntel Atom is the brand name for a line of ultra-low-voltage x86 and x86-64 CPUs from Intel, designed in 45 nm CMOS and used mainly in netbooks, nettops, embedded application ranging from health care to advanced robotics and Mobile Internet devices...
processors) they are able to operate quietly, drawing minimal amounts of power.
All models feature content delivery network
Content Delivery Network
A content delivery network or content distribution network is a system of computers containing copies of data placed at various nodes of a network....
support, allowing sites such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
that use multiple back-end servers to be effectively cached. ApplianSys's licensing model does not restrict by number of users or throughput supported by each device.
CACHEBOX's caching engine employs code from the Squid project.
Customer types include:
- ISP: Through discontinuation of NetApp's NetCacheNetCacheNetCache is a former web cache software product which was owned and developed by NetApp between 1997 and 2006, and a hardware product family incorporating the NetCache software.-History:...
in 2006 and PacketeerPacketeerPacketeer , founded in 1996 by Robert Packer and Brett Galloway, was an I.T. company based in Cupertino, California listed on the NASDAQ. Networking appliances focus on Application Traffic Management and optimization for wide area networks. They held at least 40 patents for various network...
's product line in 2008, Blue CoatBlue Coat SystemsBlue Coat Systems Inc. is a network security and network management company based in Sunnyvale, California, United States.It identifies itself as an application delivery network specialist...
's ProxySG is not only a cache, but also a UTMUnified threat managementUnified Threat Management is a comprehensive solution that has recently emerged in the network security industry and since 2004, has gained widespread currency as a primary network gateway defense solution for organizations...
, P2PFile sharingFile sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
control and WAN acceleration appliance. The addition of such features (that are more aimed at the corporate market and of limited use to ISPs) have increased the cost per URL/sec that can be cached. Conversely; CACHEbox is one of the only dedicated caches still available. - SME: CACHEBOX's use is widespread in developing nations where bandwidth is costly and scarce. Users on satellite internet links for example (where bandwidth is charged by the megabyteMegabyteThe megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
) can achieve full return on investment within months of deployment. - Education: Through strategic partnerships with content providers (such as PearsonPearson PLCPearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
), LEA and Regional Broadband ConsortiaRegional Broadband ConsortiumRegional Broadband Consortia were created in 2000, in the United Kingdom, under the auspices of what was then known as the Department for Education and Skills National Grid for Learning programme. The NGfL title was subsequently dropped in favour of 'ICT in schools' and more latterly is referred...
ApplianSys holds a large share of the UK education caching market. In 2005 it launched the BectaBectaBecta was a non-departmental public body ] funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, in the UK It was a charity and a company limited by guarantee. In the post-election spending review in May 2010, it was announced that Becta was to be abolished...
approved Protex content filtering service in collaboration with the East of England Broadband NetworkEast of England Broadband ConsortiumThe East of England Broadband Network is one of 10 Regional Broadband Consortia set up by the UK Government to help raise standards in teaching and learning by the use of broadband technology....
, who represent more than 2800 schools across 10 authorities. In 2006 it acquired the assets and customer base of its rival Freedom2 and has since expanded activity into the North American schools and college market.
VOIPbox
VOIPbox is a Voice Over IP WAN Acceleration appliance that allows internet links to carry many more calls than otherwise possible.When deployed, VOIPbox appliances create tunnels between one another. VOIP traffic is then carried over the tunnels, subject to techniques including bandwidth shaping, Quality of service
Quality of service
The quality of service refers to several related aspects of telephony and computer networks that allow the transport of traffic with special requirements...
, header compression and optimisation
WAN Optimization
WAN optimization is a collection of techniques for increasing data-transfer efficiencies across wide-area networks. In 2008, the WAN optimization market was estimated to be $1 billion , and it will grow to $4.4 billion according to Gartner, a technology research firm.The most common measures of...
. Audio data itself is not compressed, allowing call quality to be retained.
It enables for example, a 128K ADSL line that would otherwise carry 3 G.729
G.729
G.729 is an audio data compression algorithm for voice that compresses digital voice in packets of 10 milliseconds duration. It is officially described as Coding of speech at 8 kbit/s using conjugate-structure algebraic code-excited linear prediction .Because of its low bandwidth requirements,...
calls to handle up to 28.
Operating system
ApplianSys maintains its own hardened LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
that has been developed from the ground up with appliance use in mind. All products make use of industrial grade compact flash that in most cases stores both the OS and configuration files, minimising or removing reliance on non solid state storage for reasons of both performance and reliability.
After initial deployment using a VGA or serial console, all configuration of ApplianSys products is performed via a secure web interface.