NetScaler this week is set to launch two high-end versions of its Web switch/security gateway products that could help Web-based companies accelerate the processing, encryption and filtering of Web-based traffic for sites that receive millions of hits per day.

The NetScaler 9950 and 9900 are Intel-based network appliances that can operate either as Layer 4 to Layer 7 switches, or as security appliances offering services such as denial-of-service (DoS) attack mitigation, traffic compression, Secure Sockets Layer acceleration and SSL VPN connectivity. Different software images - and a $35,000 price difference - distinguishes the box as a switch or gateway.

The new products are an upgrade to the previous NetScaler 9000 series Web switch/gateway. The company says the new switches can maintain more than twice as many concurrent TCP sessions as the previous device, while handling three times as many simultaneous HTTP requests.

With its new box, NetScaler is going after competitors Cisco, F5 Networks and Foundry Networks in the Web switching market. The vendor says its box can outperform competing Layer 4 to Layer 7 switches and security acceleration products by as much as 800%, in terms of encryption throughput, HTTP requests per second and SSL sessions per second.

The devices also can be used to support SSL VPN connections or as a Web caching device.

NetScaler says it can achieve higher throughput on its appliances because of its Intel- and software-based architecture. The company says its competitors generally rely on RISC-based processing power, which typically has slower clock speeds than Intel chips. The NetScaler 9900 series boxes use 3GHz Intel Xeon processors inside. NetScaler boxes implement Layer 4 to Layer 7 switching and security gateway functions in software, which lets the company put more features and provide quicker upgrades than ASIC-based products from competitors, the vendor says.

NetScaler competes with Cisco's CSS 1100 series switches, F5's BigIP appliance, Foundry's ServerIron and Nortel's Alteon Web switch lines. These vendors did not answer a request to comment on NetScaler's throughput performance claims.

NetScaling up NetScaler’s new 9900 series Web switch can act as a security gateway appliance or a Layer 4 to Layer 7 Web switch. Features include: • 370,000 concurrent TCP connections per second. • 245,000 concurrent HTTP requests per second. • 760M bit/sec Triple-DES encryption. • 1.1M bit/sec of DoS/SYN attack protection per second.

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ShopNBC.com, the e-commerce arm of the television network, has deployed the 9000 series of NetScaler switches. The firm uses the boxes to front an e-commerce data center, where users can buy promotional items related to NBC programming. In addition to load-balancing Web servers, the box has been useful in consolidating multiple Web caching and Web switching devices into one box, according to Steven Craig, vice president of interactive technology at the Minneapolis company.