Internet Traffic Management with a Twist

HydraWeb's intelligent gen-2 load-balancing tool improves performance, saves space, allows customer-based server prioritization.

by Wayne Kawamoto [February 7, 2000]

HydraWEB Technologies recently announced its Hydra1500, second product in the company's Mercury Series of load balancing devices. According to the company, the Hydra1500 offers application-aware load balancing with improved performance, and new 2U form factor in a package that's aimed at web hosting and co-location service providers as well as enterprise customers. The Hydra1500 was developed to address the form factor requirements of service providers, which will allow them to reduce the rack space taken up by load balancing devices.

The Hydra1500 continuously monitors both the server and application performance to guarantee the best possible response times, and offers tools for optimizing the performance and reliability of Web, application, and database servers. The HydraAgent measures critical Web, application and database server metrics and integrates this data into the load balancing decision. Meanwhile, the HydraCookie lets e-businesses identify and set priorities for server requests based on the demonstrated value of a customer. Also, Logical Content Clustering works with HydraCookie to provide dynamic server resource allocation that's based on customer priority and user-defined thresholds.

"HydraWEB's products enable e-comm companies to design networks that provide reliability, performance and scalability," says Raj Sharma, president and CEO of HydraWEB Technologies. "The Hydra1500 offers e-commerce customers the benefit of HydraWEB's advanced load balancing technology at a level commensurate with their needs."

Pricing and availability
The Hydra1500 will be available during the first quarter of 2000. List price starts at around $24,000 for a pair of the devices, and includes HydraAgent, HydraCookie, Logical Content Clustering, HydraCommerce, a six-server license, and one year of HydraWEB's Standard Care support.

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