Content area
Full text
WEB TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
Radware WSD Application Switch II and SysMaster 5000 differ in approach and scalability, but both are feature-rich
InfoWorld
TEST CENTER
LAST WEEK, WE reviewed F5 Networks' BIG-IP 5000 Application Switch, a high-end load balancer with a rich feature set that earned our highest rating of Deploy (see "Fight server overload" at www.infoworld.com/printlinks3). This week we follow with reviews of the Radware WSD (Web Server Director) Application Switch II and the SysMaster 5000, two more worthy systems with impressive load-balancing capabilities.
As is the F5 system, the Radware unit is switchbased, with plenty of 10/100 and even Gigabit Ethernet ports. The SysMaster system is a routerbased device, with only one 10/100 Ethernet port in and one out. Whereas the F5 and Radware units will handle very heavy loads and support hundreds or thousands of Web sites, the SysMaster is limited to 100Mbps of bandwidth. Nevertheless, the SysMaster is more than sufficient for most companies wanting to scale their Web sites by distributing the traffic loads across their Web server farms.
Each load balancer we tested has pluses and minuses. The F5 BIG-IP is less expensive than the Radware WSD and includes SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) acceleration and on-site installation support - but using it to its limits as an SSL accelerator could compromise performance in other areas. The WSD includes protection against DoS (denial of service) attacks and provides excellent integration with other Radware devices, but it is relatively expensive, especially considering the extra cost of support packages. Finally, the Sysmaster costs less than the F5 or WSD system, and it includes a lot of extra functionality - but has a relatively difficult interface and doesn't have the potential to handle as much bandwidth as the others. For an at-a-glance comparison of features of these three products, see our online chart at www.infoworld.com.
Radware WSD Application Switch 11
The Radware WSD has been around for several generations, and it is stable and refined in its setup and management interface. The switch-based architecture includes 16 10/100 Ethernet ports and five GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter) slots for Gigabit Ethernet.
Setting up the WSD is straightforward, although the difference between the browserbased configuration utility and the stand-alone application is not made overly...