Blue Coat enhances PacketShaper appliance

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Web security and WAN optimization solutions provider Blue Coat Systems announced new software plug-ins that update the capabilities of its cloud-connected Blue Coat PacketShaper appliance to discover, monitor, assess and control the traffic from the latest versions of Chinese and Asian applications.

The new plug-ins include updated definitions for the latest version of Thunder and PPTV, add PPS (PP Stream) as a new application and provide more granular control of QQ applications through sub-classification that includes QQ-Content Delivery Network, QQ-Instant Messaging, QQ-Games and QQ-Web.

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Thunder or Xunlei is a peer-to-peer (P2P) download and video streaming application in China. QQ is an instant messaging application and the top portal, social media, gaming, video and mobile content site in China. PPS and PPTV are video streaming applications for non-web video in China.

PacketShaper appliances enable enterprises to gain comprehensive understanding and control the bandwidth that applications consume at their Internet gateway points or across the wide area network (WAN) to branch offices, claims the company.

“Companies need to manage and protect the bandwidth they have at Internet gateway points and across the WAN to ensure that critical business processes are not impaired or interrupted,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems. “Even just several employees using video-intensive Web applications, such as Thunder and PPTV while at work can severely impair the operation of the entire corporate network.”

In addition to the hundreds of applications that PacketShaper can specifically identify and control, Blue Coat recently added real-time web intelligence for content and applications. Through integration with the cloud-based Blue Coat WebPulse service, PacketShaper appliances can categorize tens of millions of websites and billions of URLs into 80 logical and manageable categories covering more than 50 languages, which allow organizations to collectively manage and apply policies to similar content.

With the WebPulse service, each URL can be classified in up to four distinct categories, enabling more precise and granular visibility into and management of web applications and content.