Mobile Users
A WAN operates along communication lines between fixed points. However, mobile users increasingly need to process company software, access data stored on the network and transmit to it. To do this, they use a variety of mobile devices, often equipped with 3G cards to handle the transmissions.This type of use causes challenges for WAN optimisation since mobile users can be located anywhere and so do not connect through a fixed point where Sangfor devices are installed. The 3G cards are also relatively slow devices and generally incur costs based on data sent and received. Reducing the amount of data transmitted by removing previously sent content and compressing what is left will therefore not only improve performance but will also cause a decrease in usage charges.
Sangfor handles mobile access through the availability of client software that is installed on each device. This deals with the caching and compression of data so that mobile users, wherever they are in the world, achieve similar levels of efficiency to their office-based colleagues.
Mobile client software can also be provided for users who are not mobile but where the requirement does not warrant the cost of installing communications equipment of any kind. Examples include small branch offices where there are very few users or temporary locations that are in use for only a short time. The ability to access the WAN using a mobile device that gives the benefits of WAN optimisation makes remote processing from small and temporary offices a practical proposition.