Word from the CEO
2007 has been a very exciting year at A10 Networks. After three years of development with a team of high-performance experts, we delivered our AX Series Advanced Traffic Manager, which won Best of Interop Las Vegas and Best of Interop Tokyo.

We have been winning key customers recently for AX's superior innovative technologies and have a lot to look forward to in the coming years as applications continue to necessitate high-performance networking platforms and expertise. On behalf of all at A10 Networks, we wish you healthy and happy holidays and a prosperous New Year.

Lee Chen, President and CEO, A10 Networks

Get the AX - Don't Get Stuck in Holiday Traffic
Online holiday shopping causes bursts of network traffic that may affect network performance. During traffic surges, online businesses need reliable, fault-tolerant server load balancers to stay competitive. A10 developed the AX Series next-generation server load balancers to meet this need.

The real strength of the AX Series lies within its Advanced Core Operating System (ACOS), which is tuned for multi-core/multi-CPUs. ACOS can evenly distribute Web traffic for all user configurations and accelerate the work behind traffic distribution for your applications. The benefit to businesses is that applications are always available and performing as desired, eliminating network traffic jams.

The Modes of Server Load Balancing: Which One for Your Network?
The AX Series can be configured in a variety of modes to do load balancing depending on the network in which it is deployed.

1. Routed Mode: Load balancer acts as a Layer 3 switch  (uses IP addresses to forward traffic) All servers are connected to the load balancer (or through a Layer 2 switch) Isolates the subnet from larger network, more secure
2. One-arm Mode: Load balancer is attached to switch with one port Servers can communicate with clients without going back through load balancer Avoids unnecessary traffic, maximizes performance
3. Transparent Mode: Load balancer acts as a Layer 2 switch (uses MAC addresses to forward traffic) All servers are connected to the load balancer (or to a Layer 2 switch ) Less intrusive - requires little change to existing network infrastructure
4. Direct Server Return (DSR): Allows the server to return traffic directly to the client Real servers and load balancers must reside in the same Layer 2 domain Reduces overhead on the load balancer by reducing traffic load

There are many aspects to consider before deploying server load balancers. Contact an A10 Technical Expert today to learn which mode is right for your network. sales@a10networks.com

A10 Your Network: Accelerate, Optimize, Secure
A10 Networks was founded with a mission to provide innovative networking and security solutions. A10 makes high-performance products that help organizations of all sizes accelerate, optimize and secure their applications. A10's portfolio consists of three product families: the AX Series Advanced Traffic Management switches, which are next-generation server load balancers; the EX Series bandwidth management appliances with user identity reporting; and the ID Series network identity management appliances for authentication, access, password management, and instant identity resolution.

A10 Networks is a venture-funded, and privately-held, with offices in the United States, Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. www.a10networks.com