Last week, we announced a new software version (version 10.2.x) as well as new hardware platforms (the x800 Series) for our APV Series application delivery controllers. The new APV x800 Series physical appliances (APV1800, 2800, 5800, etc.) offer industry-leading performance across multiple metrics, 40 Gig-E interfaces, and enhanced SSL performance. Depending on the model, performance has been improved in the 40- to 50-percent range over that of the APV x600 Series.
While the new x800 Series offers clear advantages, the APV x600 dedicated appliances (APV1600, 2600, 3600, etc.) have been our flagship load balancer platforms for more than seven years, and are deployed worldwide by customers large and small. Because the x600 Series has such a loyal and widespread following, we will continue to offer and support it and its software versions well into the foreseeable future.
Both product series offer options for high-performance processing of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) transactions, though the x800 Series includes an option for ECC for the smallest model, the APV1800. The latest software versions for both product lines (10.2x and 8.6.x) include some important new features and capabilities, including:
Enhanced SSL Intercept and DDoS Protection
A number of enhancements have been added for the SSL Intercept capability, which is used to decrypt SSL-encrypted traffic to allow third-party security devices full visibility. In addition, the DDoS protection capability, included at no additional charge, has been enhanced with machine learning of traffic patterns to detect anomalous traffic that may indicate an attack. Automatic (based on machine learning) or manual setting of threshold values is supported, and a host of other new features are also included.
Global Server Load Balancing
To further expand the APV Series’ support for data centers that include private, public and cloud resources, new capabilities support multi-site redundancy and geographical routing for optimum server performance. Other new features support mixed health checks across diverse servers, and improved resolution services.
For APV x800 Series Only: Secure Application Access and AAA
The new hardware architecture and software version 10.2 has allowed us to round out our vision for end-user security vis-à-vis cloud-based applications. It has become increasingly common for enterprise applications to be hosted in the cloud, which reduces overall costs but comes with a price for employees. Managing strong passwords across dozens of web apps can quickly become a daunting prospect, and can even hinder productivity.
With Array’s SAA and AAA, users can securely log on just once, and gain access to all the applications that they’re authorized to use. The APV x800 Series and v10.2 software work together with AAA servers using multiple protocols, and multiple AAA methods can be used to enhance security through crosschecking prior to authentication.
What It Means for You
If you’ve currently deployed our APV x600 Series load balancers, you can expand your deployment with additional x600 models without concern – they’re still available, and will be supported for years to come. You’ll still get the high performance, features and capabilities you rely upon, and, where possible, we’ll continue to add new enhancements.
If you’re interested in the new x800 Series with even higher performance, we’ve included two options – each system includes a partitioned hard drive to allow you to run either version 8.6 you’re familiar with, or the new version 10.2, which will be our main development focus going forward.
With either option, Array application deliver controllers offer you the very best in availability, scalability, performance, security and control.
