Solution Overview
Cisco Intelligent WAN with Akamai Connect
BENEFITS
 Maximize existing WAN investment
through intelligent caching and
optimization
 Provide high-quality experiences on
any device, regardless of where the
application resides
 Deliver innovative employee and guest
services
 Reduce complexity with IT
consolidation and a smaller branch
footprint
 Converge multiple network optimization
functions in a single solution
Users have consistent, LAN-like application
experiences over the WAN regardless of what
device, connectivity, or cloud service they use.
Overview
Cisco® Intelligent WAN with Akamai Connect is a suite of
integrated WAN optimization, application acceleration, and
intelligent caching features in Cisco Integrated Services
Routers running Application Experience (ISR-AX) services.
The features work together to streamline WAN bandwidth
usage and to speed up application response times over the
WAN for users, regardless of what type of device, connection,
or cloud services they might be using.
Users can access bandwidth-intensive applications instantly, over any network, regardless of where the application
is hosted − data center, private cloud, public cloud, or the Internet. The solution extends the Akamai Intelligent
Platform for content delivery across the last mile into the branch office, turbo charging the application-optimization
features of the Cisco Intelligent WAN (IWAN). The solution helps ensure fast, high-quality experiences for
employees and customers while significantly offloading traffic from the WAN for congestion reduction and
bandwidth savings (see Figure 1).
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Figure 1.
Completing the Last Mile
Delivering the Application Performance Users Demand
Organizations are digitizing their businesses with performance-sensitive and data-heavy web, mobile, and
multimedia applications. Retailers, banks, schools, hospitals, and enterprises are creating new ways to further their
business by enabling their employees and customers to better engage with various applications and technologies
(Table 1).
Table 1.
Digitization Trends in Various Vertical Markets
Retail
Education
Enterprises
Banking
Healthcare
Extend online commerce services
into the store and deliver more
personalized digital experiences.
Deliver rich-media curriculum
using new technologies such
as tablets to offer customized
curriculum for every student.
Provide sales and
new-hire video
training broadcasts
live or on-demand.
Build ‘branch of the
future’ to engage
customers and bring
products closer to the
user via guest Wi-Fi.
Improve patient care
with secure, instant
access to medical
images at all clinic
locations.
Yet, 82 percent of chief marketing officers (CMOs)1 feel unprepared for the data explosion that these innovations
bring. These next-generation applications consume substantially more bandwidth, while end users have no
tolerance for poor performance. Sixty-eight percent of organizations expect bandwidth growth, but 75 percent have
no additional WAN budget2. This situation presents a perplexing problem.
Business requirements will continue to change faster than traditional WANs can adapt, and IT must rethink its
network strategy to better manage traffic loads and behavior rather than buying more capacity. Now more than
ever, business leaders and IT must come together to create customer value and capture revenue. This is where
Cisco IWAN with Akamai Connect can make a difference.
How It Works
Cisco IWAN with Akamai Connect combines Cisco’s advanced WAN optimization and application acceleration
capabilities with Akamai caching technology in the all-in-one Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) platform. The
technologies all work together to manage traffic loads and application behavior, speeding content delivery and
optimizing user experiences.
For example, Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) encompasses compression, optimization, and deduplication technologies, while Akamai Connect enables industry-leading intelligent caching. Caching places
frequently accessed content in local devices so users avoid WAN delays and congestion. These techniques
significantly reduce the actual bandwidth loads delivered across the WAN. The traffic-load reductions help
accelerate traffic throughput and user response times. They also help you defer investments in additional
bandwidth as traffic volumes grow.
1
2
2013 IBM C-Suite Study http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/en/c-suite/csuitestudy2013/
2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise-networks/impact_survey.html.
© 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Akamai Connect can improve performance across traditional intranet and data center-located content, as well as
applications accessed over the Internet hosted in public clouds. It builds on the Cisco IWAN solution, giving IT the
ability to serve applications to the branch office:
●
Across the corporate WAN
●
Through the corporate WAN backhauled to the Internet
●
Directly to the Internet from the branch office
The result is a best-in-class application acceleration and optimization solution that allows the following:
●
Businesses achieve in-branch office revenue growth with new and improved connected digital experiences
for customers and employees.
●
Customers and users get LAN-like performance and world-class experiences on any device when
accessing the widest range of content.
●
IT provides a simple management framework at lowest cost by combining Cisco and Akamai technologies
that allow rich application delivery over existing infrastructure.
“Business requirements will continue to change faster than traditional
WANs can adapt.”
Table 2 specifically describes the Akamai components that join Cisco IWAN software capabilities to accelerate
WAN response times and experiences and how they can be used.
Table 2.
Solution Components and Use Cases
Akamai Component
Description
Use Case Example
Connected Cache for the
Akamai Intelligent Platform
Caches and delivers content within the branch from the
company’s web and mobile properties. Also caches thirdparty content delivered by the Akamai Intelligent Platform,
which typically represents between 15% and 30% of all web
traffic.
Company website and mobile applications.
Transparent Cache
(intranet and Internet
content cache)
Uses Akamai’s high-performance HTTP object cache to
locally cache web applications, video, and software
downloads delivered from the private cloud or public Internet.
Delivery of Internet content, live or on-demand
video, and OS updates such as Apple iOS using
the latest generation of streaming protocols such
as Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Adobe
HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS), and Microsoft
HTTP Smooth Streaming (HSS).
Dynamic URL Cache for
public cloud or Internet
(over-the-top) cache
Caches HTTP content served from dynamically generated
URLs and content marked as noncacheable.
Training videos from YouTube-like product
demonstrations, advertising, and digital signage.
Content pre-positioning
Lets you define policies to proactively fetch content on a
specific schedule and deliver any content with a URL to
branch offices during nonpeak hours.
High-definition product catalogs, and
demonstrations.
Single centralized
management center with
Cisco WAAS Central
Manager
Lets you manage your WAN optimization and HTTP caching
features from a single intuitive, web-based management
console for administering the features, monitoring
performance, and reporting on bandwidth savings.
Simplified management and visibility into usage
patterns.
Table 3 shows comparative WAN performance benchmarks of various apps with and without use of the Akamai
intelligent caching technology in the retail industry.
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Table 3.
Retailer Application Benchmark Results in Seconds (s) and Pixels (p)
Mobile Assisted Selling
Without Akamai Connect
With Akamai Connect First Hit
With Akamai Connect Second Hit
ERP App
57s
18s
2s
Repair App
70s
28s
<1s
Catalog App
28s
13s
<1s
Training/Digital Signage
Without Akamai Connect
With Akamai Connect
Default Quality
144p
720p (HD Automatic)
Time to Load (720p HD)
14s
Instant
Table 4.
Results of Using Akamai Connect in Customer Environments Show Websites Load on Average 50 Percent Faster,
Delivered with Instant Access to High-Definition Content
Omni Channel
Without Akamai Connect
With Akamai Connect
CompanyA.com
5.44s
2.72s
CompanyB.com
4.25s
2p4.719
“Now more than ever, business leaders and IT must come together to
create customer value and capture revenue.”
Why Cisco and Akamai?
Cisco and Akamai integrate complementary platforms and best-in-class technologies with the goal of delivering an
immersive digital experience regardless of device, connectivity, or cloud. Only Cisco and Akamai together can
●
Improve performance for web and rich-media applications and content regardless of where they reside.
●
Dynamically learn rules for how to cache and accelerate seemingly uncacheable content without
administrator intervention from the Akamai Intelligent Platform.
●
Integrate smoothly into existing WAN infrastructure on the all-in-one Cisco ISR-AX platform with no
additional hardware.
●
Take advantage of the power of the Akamai Intelligent Platform with more than 150,000 servers worldwide
across the last mile into the branch office.
●
Provide a single point of management and control for traditional WAN optimization and advanced caching.
As leaders in routing, security, WAN optimization, web acceleration, content delivery, and Internet traffic
engineering, Cisco and Akamai bridge the gap between business leaders and IT to make customers more
successful.
Next Steps
To learn more, please visit cisco.com/go/akamai and cisco.com/go/iwan.
© 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Printed in USA
© 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
C22-733534-00
01/15
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