IBM Computer, Laptops and Servers

PBS Uses Redline Networks to Speed Web Access, Save on Bandwidth

Web I/O Processors Help Popular Site Scale To Support 12 Million Page Downloads Per Day -- and Growing

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2004--The Public Broadcasting Service has installed acceleration appliances from Redline Networks to speed access to its Web site, www.pbs.org, for users who download pages from the site at an average rate of 12 million per day -- up 50 percent over the last year.
Two Redline T/X 2600 Web I/O processors, installed on the PBS network in September 2003, have reduced page download times for users, cut bandwidth usage by 20 percent -- saving thousands per month in bandwidth expense -- and enabled the non-profit media organization to postpone purchasing additional Internet connectivity.

Laptop Battery The pbs.org site provides more than 150,000 pages of content, with links to subjects ranging from PBS programs such as Frontline and Great Performances to comprehensive educational material and interactive children's content. User traffic typically peaks in the late afternoon, when children returning from school log into the hugely popular pbskids.org portion of the site.

Thinkpad Ken Walters, senior director for enterprise platforms at PBS Enterprise Technology, said, "pbs.org is one of the Web's most visited 'dot-orgs.' Our user traffic has grown 50 percent in the last year alone. But when traffic increases, response time drops off. It's a constant struggle to stay ahead of demand. We know that when we add more bandwidth, more people come to the site. But connectivity is very expensive, so as a non-profit we want to do everything we can to get more out of our existing capacity."

Shut down Apache and save it, and you're done! Visiting Your Server. When they've installed a server on their computer, many people marvel how they can access the server they just installed as if they were visiting it over the web. just open your web browser, //localhost ( //127.0.0.1). This special address means 'the server on this computer'.

Microsoft In the summer of 2003, with the fall school term approaching, Walters and his staff looked for ways both to keep users happy with faster access and to conserve IT resources. They evaluated open-source compression and caching software, but decided that adding software would unnecessarily burden their already heavily taxed servers. After learning about Redline Networks in a trade publication, they tested the Redline T/X 2600, which offloads I/O and processor-intensive tasks from servers, performing data compression, TCP connection management, load balancing, request buffering and SSL processing. The T/X 2600s now sit on the PBS network between Apache Linux Web servers and Cisco CSS content switches.

Unlimited Bandwidth & 100 MBit Data Transfer Speed In September, 1&1 unveiled its latest generation of dedicated server packages offering an unbeatable 100 MBit data transfer speed with unlimited bandwidth. Users can enjoy the full power of 1&1’s server network connection which is 10 times faster than its nearest competitor. Priced from £ month (excl. VAT), the servers provide the highest spec at the lowest price giving you impressive performance and value.

Laptop Computers "We've seen up to 40 percent reduction in bandwidth use on a per-page basis since the Redline equipment was installed," Walters said. "This has saved us thousands of dollars a month and enabled us to delay additional bandwidth procurement for at least six months. And we know we'll continue to get that 20 percent savings on whatever additional bandwidth we buy down the road. The Redline units have sufficient capacity to see us through a doubling of traffic, and we expect them to easily pay for themselves in less than a year based on bandwidth savings alone."

What is a Network Interface Card (NIC) The most important PC device is the network interface card (NIC). Each computer on the network, including the servers, is required to have one installed. It is the NIC that provides connectivity between the PC and the network's physical medium, optic cable. Most of the new motherboards available today for PCs and servers have the network interface card integrated with the motherboard. Older computers and some newer computers do not provide onboard network interfaces which will equire a NIC to be added.

Laptop Computer "Redline's customer service team was very quick to respond whenever we had a question," Walters added, "and we liked having a local support engineer always available."

In general, we type the request i.e., URL ( the standardized pointer format to access information from the World Wide Web) of the website, in the address bar of the browser and click on the corresponding ‘Go’ button. The request is then transferred from the local computer to web server through the Internet. Web server will then process the given request and display the copy of the requested webpage in our local computer. Processing the request is considered as the primary task of web server.

Desktop Computer About PBS

Notebooks PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 90 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.

Lenovo About Redline Networks

Hard Drive Redline Networks designs and manufactures network appliances that maximize the performance, flexibility and scalability of Web-enabled enterprise data centers. The company's family of E/X enterprise application processors, deployed at corporate data centers, and T/X Web I/O processors, used by Web sites, enable users to control and customize any HTTP-based environment while reducing infrastructure cost and complexity. Redline is a privately-held company based in Campbell, California. For more information on Redline and its products, visit http://www.RedlineNetworks.com.

Travelstar Contacts

Gateway
Redline Networks, Inc.
Greg Ness, 408-369-3831
gness@redlinenetworks.com
or
Ulevich & Orrange, Inc.
Janis Ulevich, 650-329-1590
ulevich@u-o.com

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