A better traffic cop: ArrowPoint trumpets Content Smart switch for Web servers

ArrowPoint Communications, a year-old start-up based in Westford, Mass., is promising to revolutionize Web server access.

The focus of ArrowPoint's efforts is its Content Smart switch, which combines the functionality of a high-speed switch with intelligent load-balancing capability for Web servers. ArrowPoint is developing two models: The CS-100, a 12-port LAN configuration, is scheduled to be available in May, with the carrier-class CS-800 following in June.

The Content Smart switch receives content requests in the form of HTTP addresses. The switch then uses message headers to process those requests according to security issues, content and quality-of-service policies, and network address translation and routing. It then maps the best hardware path for the request and sends it to the appropriate server (see figure).

The switch facilitates a content-smart Web, where users can access any information on any server, said Brian Walck, marketing and business development vice president of ArrowPoint. "You have access to anything that's connected [to the Web], unless you're specifically denied access," he said.

ArrowPoint's switch will allow service and content providers to route content requests within server farms and across distributed server architectures, Walck said.

A group of servers typically can carry full duplicates of Web sites, but 10% of the content on most Web sites accounts for 90% of the hits, Walck said. By duplicating only high-demand content, the servers are more efficient.

ArrowPoint's switch lets service providers offer differentiated services within the Web, said Lisa Allocca, senior consultant with Renaissance Worldwide. "[It] looks at the history of content," she said. "It's trying to move content closer to the user. "

But ArrowPoint's solution is very complex, and producing it may prove challenging, said Ted Julian, a Forrester Research analyst. "What they're trying to do is what customers desire: a fast switch that's content-aware and has content-access features," he said. "I just wonder how deliverable it is."

ArrowPoint isn't the only player to offer load-balancing and content access devices. Cisco Systems is among the hardware-focused solutions providers, and other software-centric solutions are on the market.

One example is Bright Tiger's Cluster CATS solution. Bright Tiger's software resides in servers and performs functions similar to those of ArrowPoint's switch-routing traffic to least-busy servers and among multiple server locations.

Solutions such as ArrowPoint's and Bright Tiger's could be used in a complementary fashion, according to Jim Hourihan, Bright Tiger's marketing vice president.

The only Cluster CATS capability that ArrowPoint's switch won't include is content distribution synchronization, which ensures outdated information is not left accessible on secondary servers. That is an area where a software solution would be a good complement to ArrowPoint's switch, Walck said.

Hardware solutions are considered faster than software solutions, an advantage that ArrowPoint also claims. But recent lab tests have shown that software solutions can be equally fast, Hourihan said.

ArrowPoint is confident that its switch will dominate the market when it's available, though. Walck said that would-be competitors will be hard-pressed to duplicate ArrowPoint's functionality without violating its intellectual property rights. And if that holds true, ArrowPoint is set for monumental growth as a stand-alone company, he said.

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