Juniper Networks Enhances WX/WXC Application Acceleration Platforms, Delivering Performance and Security without Compromise

Juniper Networks Enhances WX/WXC Application Acceleration Platforms, Delivering Performance and Security without Compromise

Latest WX Software Supports Encrypted Traffic, Windows Vista; New WX Central Management System Software Integrates Content Distribution with WAN Optimization

SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 22, 2007 -- Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR), the leader in high-performance networking, today announced new software enhancements for the WX ^TM and WXC ^TM application acceleration platforms that fortify application security without compromising performance. Juniper also announced enhancements to the WX Central Management System ^TM (CMS ^TM ) that allow for the integration of content distribution and WAN optimization within a single platform. Through these latest innovations, Juniper will help customers to accelerate the deployment of new applications, enhance user productivity and gain IT infrastructure and management efficiencies across the extended enterprise.

Security Without Compromise

Juniper's WX/WXC platforms running the new WX software (WXOS) version 5.5 now include the new Application Flow Acceleration (AppFlow ^TM ) for SSL feature, which is designed to speed encrypted application performance by as much as 25X over the wide-area network while helping enterprises maintain end-to-end security of business-critical information. AppFlow for SSL accelerates and optimizes a broad array of secure collaboration, customer relationship management, financial accounting and other mission-critical applications from companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. By participating in the application's trust model, WX/WXC platforms deployed in the branch office and data center are able to fully optimize and accelerate SSL-encrypted traffic without requiring changes to either the client or server.

With the new WXOS 5.5, Juniper has also added transparent acceleration for Server Message Block (SMB)-signed traffic. SMB signing is enabled by default on Windows 2003 servers when acting as domain controllers and helps prevent "man-in-the-middle" attacks by ensuring that data packets have not been changed between the client and server. Signed SMB traffic creates complex scenarios for optimization, requiring enterprises to increase costs and management burdens by deploying proxy servers at the branch, or IT departments to disable signatures resulting in security compromises. With the introduction of transparent SMB signing, Juniper's WX/WXC platforms can provide "zero touch" optimization and acceleration of signed SMB traffic without compromising the security or integrity of the data as it crosses the WAN.

Comprehensive Portfolio Accelerates End-to-End Performance of Secure Applications

By combining WX/WXC platforms with Juniper's DX data center acceleration platforms, which offload SSL processing tasks from application and web servers, Juniper provides a comprehensive optimization solution for accelerating the end-to-end performance of SSL-encrypted applications. Working in parallel, the WX and DX platforms help to address a full spectrum of WAN and data center application performance bottlenecks that can cripple business productivity. Based on results from testing at SAP's Enterprise Services Community Networking Lab (ENL) in Palo Alto, Calif., Juniper's WX and DX application acceleration platforms provided users up to a 99 percent improvement in network access times for SAP® solution-based transactions and reduced CPU demands on application servers by as much as 50 percent. More information including a detailed paper and case studies can be found at www.juniper.net/sap.

Seamless Upgrade to Next-Generation Windows Desktop Platform

Juniper's WX/WXC platforms with WXOS 5.5 will be able to support application acceleration functionality for PCs running the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Fully qualified with Windows Vista, the Juniper Networks WX/WXC platforms deliver powerful compression, caching, application acceleration and bandwidth management technologies that help enterprises to reliably upgrade to Windows Vista while continuing to optimize their WAN.

Enterprise Content Distribution Simplified

The new WX CMS 5.5 software offers enterprises a powerful, intuitive solution that streamlines the configuration and troubleshooting of multiple WX/WXC platforms; and provides centralized monitoring and reporting of key application acceleration statistics. By integrating content distribution and WAN optimization onto a single platform, Juniper's WX CMS 5.5 software helps reduce the total costs and IT infrastructure required for enterprises to gain electronic content distribution network (ECDN) capabilities. WX CMS 5.5 enables IT administrators to pre-populate WXC platforms with large files such as training videos, anti-virus and software updates and engineering designs. This can eliminate the need to deploy dedicated content servers in branch offices, as well as the ongoing costs required to manage data replication and back up for these branch servers. The new WX CMS 5.5 software also enables policy-based scheduled distribution of enterprise content without the complexity of deploying a full ECDN.

"With the addition of acceleration for both secure application traffic and SMB-signed traffic, Juniper's WX/WXC platforms help preserve an enterprises' WAN security policy by addressing two security-for-performance tradeoffs that have traditionally faced by IT," said Ross Roesner, vice president, WX Business Unit at Juniper Networks. "In contrast to point product vendors, Juniper differentiates itself through the delivery of a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for securing and optimizing networks, enabling high-performance businesses to quickly meet their application performance demands while addressing an evolving branch and data center environment."

Pricing and Availability

Juniper's new WXOS 5.5 and WX CMS 5.5 software are expected to be available in November 2007. The software is available for download free of charge to customers with active maintenance contracts. For more information on Juniper's application acceleration platforms, please visit Juniper's website.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, Inc. is the leader in high-performance networking. Juniper offers a high-performance network infrastructure that creates a responsive and trusted environment for accelerating the deployment of services and applications over a single network. This fuels high-performance businesses. Additional information can be found at www.juniper.net.

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