Akamai Unveils EdgeSuite for Business Continuity.Business/Technology Editors CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2001 New solution-set of integrated services In computer networking, IntServ or integrated services is an architecture that specifies the elements to guarantee quality of service (QoS) on networks. IntServ can for example be used to allow video and sound to reach the receiver without interruption. enables secure e-business infrastructure for uninterrupted global Web operations Web operations is a domain of expertise within IT systems management that involves the deployment, operation, maintenance, tuning, and repair of web-based applications. With the rise of web technologies since mid-1995, specialists have emerged that understand the complexities of Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is a company that provides a distributed computing platform for global Internet content and application delivery, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. , Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM AKAM Akamai Technologies, Inc. (stock abbreviation) AKAM Automated Key Access Machine ), a leading provider of secure, outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software, today announced the global availability of EdgeSuite(SM) for Business Continuity - a comprehensive, managed service designed to ensure 100 percent availability of Web-based business operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets . Enhancing Akamai's flagship EdgeSuite service with new, advanced features for infrastructure protection, EdgeSuite for Business Continuity enables enterprises to fortify for·ti·fy v. for·ti·fied, for·ti·fy·ing, for·ti·fies v.tr. To make strong, as: a. To strengthen and secure (a position) with fortifications. b. To reinforce by adding material. their Web infrastructure via Akamai's globally distributed network to withstand the most rigorous of e-business demands in the face of planned or unforeseen events. Businesses such as Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run and Victoria's Secret For the Sonata Arctica single, see Victoria's Secret (song) Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of high quality lingerie and beauty products.[2] have already enlisted Akamai to supplement their existing infrastructure to meet their real-time business objectives without interruption. As enterprises continue to move business processes online for cost and time efficiencies, the risks of downtime caused by planned and unplanned maintenance, physical disasters, distributed denial of service A condition in which a system can no longer respond to normal requests. See denial of service attack. (DDoS) attacks, viruses, and unpredictable flash crowds become more critical. To guard against outages, the only alternative for many companies is to over-provision their infrastructure with costly equipment, software, and personnel that will remain idle once the immediate need has passed. EdgeSuite for Business Continuity allows enterprises to cost-effectively outsource their requirements for scalability on-demand, automatic site failover, and DDoS mitigation - enabled by the world's largest distributed computing (1) The use of multiple computers networked throughout a wide geographical area, or the world via the Internet, in order to solve a single problem. See grid computing. (2) The use of multiple computers in an enterprise rather than one centralized system. platform with unmatched capacity and no single point of failure. "The availability of an enterprise's Web operations is vital to building and maintaining its brand equity and customer loyalty, ensuring communications with customers and partners, and ultimately generating revenue," said Michael Ruffolo, executive vice president, Global Sales, Services and Marketing, Akamai. "The inherent nature of Akamai's massively distributed global network provides a shock absorbing effect to protect a company's centralized infrastructure and preserve high availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. . EdgeSuite for Business Continuity leverages Akamai's unique capabilities and distributed computing platform to deliver uninterrupted, global e-business in the face of trying circumstances." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Gartner analyst John Pescatore, "Any credible vulnerability assessment A Department of Defense, command, or unit-level evaluation (assessment) to determine the vulnerability of a terrorist attack against an installation, unit, exercise, port, ship, residence, facility, or other site. will find that two or three Web servers connected to the Internet are vulnerable to simple attacks that can, at the least, result in changing the content of the Web server. While most Web server attacks now stop at this level of vandalism, Gartner believes enterprises will need to drastically increase their level of protection of Web servers to avoid the growth market in hacking with political and criminal intent." (Gartner Research, "Web Server Security Hierarchy," September 28, 2001) Ensuring Non-Stop e-Business "As the public turned to the Internet for travel information and reservations on September 11th, and in the days immediately following, amtrak.com turned to Akamai for help in off-loading demand for content that resulted from a record in Web traffic," said Lenetta McCampbell, director of Internet sales, Amtrak. "Akamai was critical in keeping the site operational. By distributing our content onto its network, Akamai helped Amtrak ease the load on our infrastructure and improve the availability of our booking service for our customers at a critical time." "The Victoria's Secret brand is intrinsically tied to the customer experience, which requires top performance and continual uptime for visitors to VictoriasSecret.com - especially during peak holiday traffic and supporting special events such as the Victoria's Secret fashion show webcast," said Tim Plzak, director, advanced technology group at Limited Technology Services, which provides information technology services and support to The Limited, Inc., and Intimate Brands, Inc., the parent company of Victoria's Secret. "It's widely acknowledged that downtime results in lost business and a diminished online brand, and Akamai EdgeSuite for Business Continuity is an effective means of delivering an unfaltering Web presence." EdgeSuite for Business Continuity: New, Advanced Features As the centerpiece of the Business Continuity offering, Akamai EdgeSuite off-loads all the elements of an enterprise's Web presence for generation and delivery from Akamai's global network. As part of the Business Continuity solution-set, the following new features are immediately available: EdgeSuite Site Shield - Serves as a shield between an enterprise's origin server and the public Internet. The origin server is protected by several Akamai servers that only accept traffic from neighboring Akamai servers. Site Failover - Enables several options for automatic site failover, including EdgeSuite's ability to serve the most recently cached content, a single default page, or a new option for serving an entire backup version of the site that is stored on the Akamai network - off-setting the need for costly site mirroring. Enhanced DNS (Domain Name System) A system for converting host names and domain names into IP addresses on the Internet or on local networks that use the TCP/IP protocol. For example, when a Web site address is given to the DNS either by typing a URL in a browser or behind the - Provides a distributed network of DNS servers to ensure that queries are handled quickly and without fail in the event of unplanned downtime due to server failure, network congestion In data networking and queueing theory, network congestion occurs when a link or node is carrying so much data that its quality of service deteriorates. Typical effects include queueing delay, packet loss or the blocking of new connections. and outages. Secure Content Delivery - An advanced feature that provides highly secure and reliable delivery of all SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) The leading security protocol on the Internet. Developed by Netscape, SSL is widely used to do two things: to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data. content, including transactions, with unmatched performance and scalability, solving issues that are inherent in SSL infrastructures. Benefits of EdgeSuite for Business Continuity Disaster Prevention - Akamai's massively distributed network has several features to mitigate the effects of security threats, such as DDoS attacks, which have increased 60% since 1998(1). EdgeSuite automatically disperses DDoS attacks across Akamai's network so that a site has no centralized point of failure. This approach also ensures that the IP address of the origin infrastructure is not advertised to the public Internet. Cost-Effective Availability - As a managed service, EdgeSuite for Business Continuity ensures uptime without the costly addition of equipment, software, and personnel, or the need for mirrored sites. Infrastructure Protection - With features like Enhanced DNS and EdgeSuite Site Shield, a company's origin infrastructure is cloaked from the public Internet, mitigating the effects of unauthorized intrusions. Unmatched Performance - DDoS attacks affect the performance of the entire Internet by creating congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. and failed routers. EdgeSuite for Business Continuity bypasses bottlenecks to deliver content and applications with greater speed and reliability. About Akamai Akamai is a leading provider of secure, outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software. These services and software enable companies to reduce the complexity and cost of deploying and operating a uniform Web infrastructure while ensuring unmatched performance, reliability, scalability and manageability. Akamai's services give businesses a distinct competitive advantage and provide an unparalleled Internet experience for their customers. Akamai's intelligent edge platform for content, streaming media, and application delivery comprises more than 13,000 servers within over 1,000 networks in 63 countries. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai provides services to hundreds of companies worldwide. For information on Delivering a Better Internet(SM), visit www.akamai.com. (1) (source: Sixth Annual Computer Crime & Security Survey) Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, general economic conditions, the dependence on Akamai's Internet content delivery service and technology products, any unexpected problems in the functioning of EdgeSuite for Business Continuity, lack of widespread customer acceptance of EdgeSuite for Business Continuity, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in the Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. , quarterly reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. , and other documents periodically filed with the SEC. |
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