For example, a network manager with an e-commerce site could set up policies using these switches, which direct premium subscribers' requests to a bank of servers reserved for their use. By setting aside a bank of servers for these requests, network managers can provide more guarantees that paying users aren't waiting for a response. Devices that intelligently process user requests aren't the only ammunition in network managers' hands. Intel and F5 offer products that fit into this category. The devices are one more way to speed transactions that would take longer on a Web server.
Load balancers are yet another type of Web acceleration device.
This equipment lets customers provision Web server banks for specific uses, such as streaming media or dynamic content creation, and ensure that users are directed to a server that isn't overloaded. Observers say retailers, financial organizations and media sites are obvious beneficiaries of such traffic management because they often need to tailor sites to users within specific geographic regions. For example, a retailer may offer different items to customers in France and India than the U.S. and Great Britain. For example, at NaviSite, an Andover, Mass., application service provider, Web switches and load balancers that distribute workload based on policies set by a network professional are used every day to help users scale their Web and e-commerce sites. They now think that instead of throwing more servers at a site, they can use a content-aware switch to pick up some of that load and to add more capacity.