LapLink's New Remote Network Accelerator Speeds File Transfers

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October 29, 2002 (1:42 PM EST)

LapLink's New Remote Network Accelerator Speeds File Transfers

LapLink, a big boy in the file transfer world, announced Tuesday the release of its newest file transfer technology, Remote Network Accelerator (RNA). This server-based accelerator improves network performance by dramatically boosting file transfer speeds.

"We use both disk caching (on the server) and delta file transfer to increase speeds in the 300 to 400 percent range," said Todd Rupley, a LapLink senior vice president in sales and marketing. "Our SpeedSync scans the current document on the server for differences [between it and the file on the destination device] and only transfers those changes."

RNA, a product that goes back 1995 when modem speeds were a dog-slow 28.8 Kbytes/s, was revived, updated, and enhanced because wireless -- which also offers relatively slow throughput -- has become popular.

"With people walking around the office with their laptops," Rupley said, "faster file transfer saves companies money just on the bandwidth."

RNA uses a variety of long-time LapLink technologies, among them sophisticated file compression, two-way acceleration, and predictive read-ahead, to achieve its high speeds. Running on Windows NT, 2000, and XP servers, RNA speeds up file transfers no matter what the connection -- wireless, dial-up, ISDN, or broadband -- and works equally well over network connections ranging from VPN and WAN to RAS and 802.11. The RNA client runs on any Windows platform from 98 on up.

"I was intrigued by the potential performance benefits that RNA would deliver, but now that we've had a chance to use it and implement it in the field, the full impact of its value hits home," said Andrew Hough, director of IT at Baugh Skanska. "It's one thing to see the numbers and read the charts, but when you witness a remote file transfer of a 9.2 Mbyte file that used to take 3:23 via VPN before take only 21 seconds with RNA, the efficiency and versatility is evident."

RNA integrates with a network's current security model, deploys from a single server -- either a dedicated server, or in small shops, from a networked workstation -- and logs all messages to the Windows Event Log, making for easy tracking and trouble-shooting.

Available immediately as either a download from the LapLink Web site, or to enterprises through volume licensing, RNA costs $99 -- both the server and client are included -- for one seat. Licensing costs range from $749 for 10 seats to as low as $35 per seat in higher-volume scenarios.

"It's the speed" that's the key to RNA, Rupley said. "We're not pretending it's anything else. This is basically an acceleration tool."