Citrix Systems has developed new capabilities for its Citrix NetScaler Web application delivery system that the company said can reduce the need for server processing capacity by as much as 90 percent for Web 2.0 applications.
The new software also creates opportunities for Citrix solution providers to develop custom apps that work with the new NetScaler release, said Prakesh Sinha, NetScaler product management director.
While early-generation Web applications served up static Web pages, Web 2.0 applications built using such technologies as Ajax and Comet are much more dynamic, more interactive and offer richer functionality.
But to be so responsive to users, servers must maintain lots of concurrent connections to push data and content out to Web site visitors. Users also are subscribing to more news feeds and other Web sites that push information out without client interaction. All that means businesses must maintain lots of server processing capacity, which means proliferating "server sprawl," Sinha said.
The Citrix NetScaler Web 2.0 software adds publish and subscribe capabilities to NetScaler. That allows NetScaler to off-load the application connections from the servers, making it easier to pool server resources and reduce the number of needed servers, according to Sinha.
Citrix estimates the new technology can reduce server costs for delivering Web 2.0 applications by five to 10 times. One company Sinha declined to name reduced the number of servers running Web 2.0 applications from 1,000 to 200, for example.
NetScaler relies on scripts to understand which clients it is pushing data out to, a process known as "labeling." While Citrix is providing reference scripts for common tasks, Sinha said Citrix resellers have the opportunity to develop custom scripts for their customers. And that provides them with more visibility into their customers' IT systems and IT projects under development, which can create more sales and service opportunities.
Citrix NetScaler Web 2.0 is available now to NetScaler customers with maintenance agreements and it will be built into the upcoming NetScaler 9.0 release slated for availability April 24.
