
Managing a network is not longer tasked to one network appliance. Network platforms that handle management tasks such as storage, application delivery, and optimization are very different to those appliances that handle network security platforms and require different hardware specifications.
Some of the most popular and useful network management tools are storage and VPN. Network attached Storage is a very simple network management tool that is a must for companies of any size. VPN acceleration is another popular network management tool to secure private communication between offices.

Network Attached Storage
Network attached storage is external hard drives that are attached via Ethernet cables. Most storage devices incorporate RAID to expedite data access as well as provide redundancy.

Application Delivery Controllers
Network application delivery is the idea of moving the bulk of software onto one network platform, rather than individual computers. For large networks with many users this saves both time and money.

WiMAX Access Control
WiMax technology is similar to WiFi, except it uses different transmission modes to achieve up to 10Mbps of bandwidth. This increased bandwidth also generally covers a wider area.

WAN Optimization
Wide Area Networks (WAN) are large than average networks and usually encompass both hard-lined and wireless access. Specific network appliances are used to accelerate Wide Area File Services.