A virtual machine is a tightly isolated software container that can run its own operating systems and applications as if it were a physical computer. A virtual machine behaves exactly like a physical computer and contains it own virtual (ie, software-based) CPU, RAM hard disk and network interface card (NIC). An operating system can’t tell the difference between a virtual machine and a physical machine, nor can applications or other computers on a network. Even the virtual machine thinks it is a “real” computer. Nevertheless, a virtual machine is composed entirely of software and contains no hardware components whatsoever. As a result, virtual machines offer a number of distinct advantages over physical hardware.
Virtual Appliances are pre-built software solutions, comprised of one or more Virtual Machines that are packaged, updated, maintained and managed as a unit. Unlike a traditional hardware appliance, these software appliances let customers easily acquire, deploy and manage, pre-integrated solution stacks. This speeds up time to value and simplifies software distribution and management.
aCelera is a complete software-only solution for WAN optimization. aCelera runs within a virtual machine infrastructure such as VMware ESX or ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V and reduces all IP-based traffic response time across a WAN by as much as 95%.
Yes. aCelera VAs are hardware agnostic and can run on any Intel 64 bit CPU with VT (virtualization technology) or AMD 64 bit CPU with AMD-V support.
Yes. aCelera VAs are hypervisor agnostic and run on VMware ESX or ESXi 4.0, ESX or ESXi 3.5, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XEN
aCelera VAs can be managed by a multitude of tools including those available from VMware, Microsoft as well as Certeon’s own CMS.
Yes, for example a Data Center aCelera VA can run on VMware and a remote location aCelera VA can run on Hyper-V.
If desired, aCelera VAs can be purchased and pre-loaded on multiple off-the-shelf hardware platforms and configurations including Dell and IBM. By default, these systems also include VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisors. In addition, Certeon will help you size the appropriate server based on bandwidth and scalability requirements for each location.
aCelera can accelerate any and all TCP-based application delivered over the WAN including email, file shares, and web applications (both HTTP and HTTPS).
aCelera Client Software can be used in both instances.
aCelera VAs are better positioned and should be used for acceleration to remote locations (10> people). While both products share the same code base, a dedicated virtual appliance will provide better acceleration because it has the ability to see all WAN traffic flowing to and from the branch and thus optimize cross-user and cross-session traffic.
Yes, Fail-to-Wire NICs ensure continuous network operations, albeit without acceleration, should a VA fail. These are both supported and encouraged for in-line deployments. aCelera also support HA capabilities within hypervisors such as VMware high availability (VM-HA) which automatically starts a VA when one fails.
aCelera VAs are used for general WAN optimization. aCelera Sync ,a subset of the aCelera platform, is a standalone product used for SAN backup and replication across the WAN.
One of the advantages of a software solution is that it can be deployed very easily across the network. In some cases, aCelera can be set up in 30 minutes or less in two locations. Depending on the size of your network and the number of locations, it may take longer.
First, aCelera virtual appliances are software which runs on industry standard servers, workstations or laptop running industry standard hypervisors. Closed hardware appliances do not give customers the choice of hardware platform to run on, or the ability to upgrade the appliance by adding CPU, memory, or storage. Most appliances require a “fork-lift” upgrade if you want more performance or scalability.
Second, aCelera is a true virtual appliance and as such seamless integrates into virtualized infrastructures and can take advantage of any of the system resources and management within the virtual environment, whereas, closed hardware appliances run “light instances” of hypervisors and cannot leverage the ease of deployment, scalability, and manageability that a virtual appliance can.
There are a number of other advantages that aCelera has by leveraging virtualization which are described in detail in the aCelera architectural white paper.
aCelera Virtual Appliances for WAN Optimization and Application Acceleration Whitepaper
This white paper provides an overview of Certeon's aCelera software-based WAN optimization and application acceleration virtual appliances. It includes descriptions of the overall aCelera architecture and the entire family of aCelera virtual appliances and software including: aCelera, aCelera Client, aCelera Sync, and Certeon System Management. It also includes real-world performance results in a variety of application environments, including backup and recovery.
Register to download this white paper.
Logically, the aCelera VA sits in the data path of communication between remote offices and the data center. Traffic may either be intercepted by aCelera directly in an in-line deployment or redirected to aCelera by routers employing Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP) or Policy Based Routing (PBR). In a virtualized environment, even the routers themselves may be VAs.
Inline Deployment
Yes, aCelera can be preconfigured on a hardware server with a choice of hypervisor (VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, or XEN). Certeon is a reseller of Dell PowerEdge and IBM System x servers.
aCelera for servers
aCelera Client for workstations and laptops
aCelera Sync for backup and recovery environments
The aCelera Client is software that can be installed on any Windows XP or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit) machine.
Pricing and licensing is user-based. Check with your Certeon sales director to get specific pricing, or you can email to .
aCelera Sync is priced and licensed to support up to three locations; a primary and up to two replication site locations.
The number of VAs that can be supported simultaneously is dependent on available system resources. So theoretically, there is no limit to the number of aCelera VAs that can be supported. Practically, the number supported will depend on the amount of system CPU, memory, and storage that is available.
Yes, in fact, this is one of the unique benefits of aCelera, it can coexist with any type and number of other VAs (again dependent on system resources).
Yes, all aCelera products are VMware Ready certified.
Yes, Certeon has a Web/GUI-based management console called the Certeon Management Console (CMS). CMS provides configuration management for aCelera virtual appliances. aCelera appliances can also be managed via virtual machine management systems such as VMware VirtualCenter and Microsoft SCCM.
Certeon will preconfigure aCelera on a VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyer-V system for you.
Customers have reported that application response time and backup and recovery windows with aCelera solutions have seen an 95 percent improvement which, in many cases, is superior other acceleration solutions. Network bandwidth savings with aCelera tend to be higher (> 90 percent) because Certeon does not restrict bandwidth as part of its pricing/licensing structure as do other providers. aCelera excels other hardware solutions in scalability because as a virtual appliance, it can support up to 50 percent more accelerated connections than a hardware appliance. This is due to the fact that aCelera can leverage the system resources of the virtual machine.
The biggest difference with Certeon software WAN optimization solutions is that it is priced competitively against hardware appliances and in many cases, against adding more bandwidth. The initial investment in aCelera solutions is 50 percent less than hardware appliances and the overall savings of CAPEX and OPEX costs can be as much as 60 percent when considering savings in bandwidth purchases and management costs.
Yes, you can have a 30 day evaluation of any aCelera product and if you do not have a virtualized system, Certeon will provide you with one. Contact to schedule your evaluation.
