Cisco Cache Engine reduces Internet usage costs for ISPs and enterpriseswhile accelerating accessibility of Web content for users
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- September 8, 1997 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. todayannounced the Cisco Cache Engine, a carrier-class, dedicated Internetappliance designed to scale the Internet infrastructure by eliminatingrepeated transmission of redundant Web content. The Cisco Cache Enginestores WWW pages locally, enabling Internet service providers (ISPs) andenterprises to reduce wide area network (WAN) usage costs by decreasing thenumber of times they must utilize their WAN connections. At the same time,enterprise network users and ISP customers will experience quicker responseto Web content requests. This capability will allow ISPs to differentiatetheir services.
"Cisco is committed to providing products and solutions that enable itscustomers to maximize their Internet infrastructures," said ChristineHemrick, vice president and general manager of the Internet Appliances andApplications Business Unit at Cisco Systems. "By offering the Cisco CacheEngine, Cisco is providing leading-edge technology that enables customers toimprove overall network performance and scale their existing infrastructureto support additional users."
The Cisco Cache Engine is the industry's first highly scalable cachingproduct that requires no client configuration, making it transparent to theuser. Up to 32 cache engines can be combined to form a cache farm,providing both highly scalable performance and fault tolerance. A fullyconfigured 32-cache engine farm can support up to 500,000 users at a singlepoint of presence and store approximately 25 million Web pages. Cisco CacheEngines can also be deployed in a hierarchical fashion, saving bandwidth atInternet backbone Network Access Points (NAPs), service provider Points ofPresence (POPs), and enterprise central and remote office locations.
Once a Cache Engine is populated by an initial Internet content request,subsequent requests for the same Web page are delivered locally. Caches arealso updated frequently according to the time-sensitivity of their content.The Cisco Web Cache Control Protocol, a new standard feature of Cisco IOSSoftware, redirects traffic to the Cache Engine rather than to theoriginally requested Web server. The new protocol will be initiallysupported on Cisco 7200 and 7500 series routers with 10BaseT or 100BaseTXinterfaces. The Cisco Cache Engine, which incorporates Intel'shigh-performance Pentium. processor technology, is easily configured andmanaged using any standard Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Exploreror Netscape Navigator.
The Cisco Cache Engine is a key addition to solutions Cisco currently offersfor scaling the Internet, including high-speed scalable routing andswitching technologies, and the Cisco LocalDirector and DistributedDirectorfor Internet server and content load balancing.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for theInternet. at http://www.cisco.com.
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