Many network managers are under pressure to do one or more of the following:

• Improve the performance of applications over WANs
• Make room for new applications
• Make room for more users or more offices

Any of these can trigger a WAN upgrade. If you are about to upgrade your WAN, consider adding Riverbed Steelhead appliances instead. Just as Steelhead appliances can help you get more from your current WAN, they can also help you avoid major and costly WAN upgrades. Steelhead appliances on your WAN links will typically reduce your current WAN traffic by 60% to 75%.

That means that if you currently have an office served by a T1 (1.5 Mbps) you could deliver bandwidth equivalent to between 3 and 30 Mbps just by adding some Steelhead appliances to your WAN link. In many cases, your users will not only have more headroom on your network, they will also experience much better throughput as well. Remember, throughput and bandwidth are not the same thing.