Packeteer packs a bandwidth punch

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, March, 2002

Added bandwidth may not be issue for education experts, but colleges still have to deal with crashing systems on a daily basis. One increasingly popular higher ed solution is to turn to software management products that can analyze where the bandwidth is being 'spent', and by whom. Packeteer (Cupertino, CA) is a leading provider of these managed bandwidth services.

Jennifer Geisler, senior manager of product marketing, explains that one of the first things colleges and universities need to do is 'unbundle' the ways that bandwidth is being used. That may sound like a Homer Simpson 'd'oh' moment, but without a system to drill down into usage, it's sometimes hard to see the red flags. For example, Geisler cites one instance in which an incredible 85 percent of a school's available bandwidth was being used on MPEG downloads of the movie Matrix -- by one student.

Once it's clear where the bandwidth is going, administrators can classify protocols and apply usage policies that, in effect, squeeze down the number of 'lanes' available for unsanctioned use of the server. "The Return on Investment model works well in higher education," Geisler notes. "That means colleges can keep existing bandwidth, but control it better."

PacketShaper (r) is the company's application-based management solution. It sits on the network, on the LAN side of the router. It is able to classify literally hundreds of applications on a network, giving IT directors what Geisler calls an 'eye opening' look at usage. PacketShaper then generates a set of reports through a browser interface.

Bandwidth can then be partitioned in a number of ways. A cap can be placed on a particular protocol -- say the now-hot peer-to-peer file sharing site KaZaA. An administrator might decide that the protocol will be blocked entirely, or given only a very small percentage of the available bandwidth, and only at certain times of the day. Schools also have the option of setting 'minimum' bandwidth rates. That means that if a college has a video streaming class on Tuesday mornings, the system can be set to allocate at least enough bandwidth to handle that application during class time.

"From an IT perspective, this is really powerful," Geisler explains. "Now when IT asks for more bandwidth, they have reports to show the legitimate need for more."

Company snapshot:

Company Name: Packeteer (NASDAQ: PKTR)

Headquarters: Cupertino, CA

Employees: 192

Founded: January 1996

President/CEO: Craig Elliott

Primary Business: Application performance infrastructure systems that give comprehensive bandwidth, traffic and content management.

Financial: Initial Public Offering in July 1999, raising $63 million.

Contact: Wilson Craig, 408-873-4445, wcraig@packeteer.com