Vendors boost performance, customization of Web, e-comm sites

By April Jacobs
Network World, 08/07/00

In separate announcements, Web-hosting firms Exodus and Digital Island say they will introduce new services designed to let users speed up and more effectively customize their Web and e-commerce sites.

Exodus partnered with CacheFlow to deliver a service that lets users lease cache devices. The devices will sit in front of its Web servers and speed content delivery. For Exodus' hosting customers, the service will provide the benefits of server-side caching without having to spend a lot of money on hardware.

Exodus can also do the work necessary to get the caches running - which means setting up the policy software that decides which content gets placed on the devices. Exodus says it can get a customer's Web or e-commerce site up in three days.

The CacheFlow devices sit within the customers' server farms located on Exodus' hosting sites. The cache works by redirecting inbound traffic from a router or Layer 4 switch to the cache, which then serves site data directly from its main memory to end users.

Cindy Borovick, an analyst at market research firm IDC in Framingham, Mass., says the service is likely to appeal to companies launching e-commerce sites because it will let them get a quick start with little investment, and they won't have to hire new staff to install and maintain the site - Exodus takes care of that.

Exodus plans to offer the service later this month but hasn't set pricing.

Digital Island's new service, called TraceWare 3.0, is based on TraceWare software from Digital Envoy. TraceWare 3.0 will let users personalize content based on where they are asking for it.

Digital Island says it is targeting users with Web and e-commerce sites that have regional or global locations, such as retailers. The service will also let users deliver personalized streaming media depending on a user's location.

Digital Island is keeping mum on exactly how TraceWare software works, but did say its software is being patented. The company says the software can reside on customers' Sun Solaris or Windows NT-based servers hosted at the company's data centers. Digital Island will also put the software on servers it uses to provide customers with streaming services at its various data centers.

Digital Island plans to offer the service beginning in October and hasn't determined pricing.

Digital Island