Ingrian Networks boosts Web performance and optimizes use of bandwidth with new compression service engine.

Ingrian Networks has announced a new software product for its secure networking platforms, called the Ingrian Compression Service Engine. When installed on Ingrian platforms, the software enables companies to compress and cache both encrypted and unencrypted data in real-time, resulting in Web-based content delivery that is up to six times faster over the same network connection.

Many companies that rely on the Internet to support their extended enterprise business model still serve content to users over outdated dial-up connections or sluggish WAN links. As a result, users that require rich Web content--such as graphic-rich business documents and large attachments found in Web-based e-mail--are forced to endure long download times that can impact user productivity and reduce bandwidth efficiencies.

Sitting in front of Web servers, the Ingrian secure networking platform deployed with the Compression Service Engine offers enterprises, service providers, and eCommerce sites an elegant and cost-effective solution for delivering rich Web content to end users, without requiring increased bandwidth.

The Compression Service Engine makes this solution possible by empowering customers with real-time, policy-based compression control based on data types, image quality, server source, and destination browser--for virtually all static and dynamic Web content, including HTML and XML content, bandwidth-intensive GIFs, and textual application data. In addition, static compressed data can be stored within the Ingrian platform's internal caching system to further enhance overall response times and download performance. Beyond these performance capabilities, the Compression Service Engine delivers optimal image quality.

"Many vendors offering compression products either don't compress images or they force customers to compromise image quality to achieve smaller image file sizes when the final image arrives at the Web browser," said Rod Murchison, VP of product management and corporate development at Ingrian Networks. "Ingrian's patent-pending image compression algorithm causes almost no image quality degradation and still achieves a 30% compression ratio, without any compromise in performance."

The Compression Service Engine works with all major browsers, automatically checking HTTP user agent and content type for compatibility, and needs no special client software or configuration changes to backend Web servers. Once the Compression Service Engine software is installed on the Ingrian platform, all compression functionality is handled automatically, transparently, and securely inside the platform. The result is a comprehensive security solution that improves the delivery of secure Web-based applications and data across the Internet by up to six times.

"By delivering value-added software and services to customers using its security platforms, Ingrian is committed to meeting a wide range of customer needs," said Neil Osipuk, directing analyst from Infonetics Research. "Their Compression Service Engine is an example of how Ingrian is addressing a specific customer problem with a solution that is simple and effective."

The Compression Service Engine is the latest software product resulting from Ingrian's EASE (Extensible Architecture for Service Engines) framework, which provides a simplified way for Ingrian and its SecureNet partners to accelerate the development and deployment of new software functionality onto Ingrian's family of extensible secure networking platforms. The Compression Service Engine software is available immediately and pricing starts at $9,995.