AscenLink is an intelligent WAN load balance managing solution. It congregates different ISP and WAN links of an organization and provides load balancing and WAN fault tolerance for those links so that Internet connectivity, stability of external connection, and reliable transmission quality can be ensured.

AscenLink is an edge server appliance normally located at the boundary of an intranet (LAN) and Internet (WAN). It congregates different ISP and WAN links of an organization and provides load balancing and WAN fault tolerance for those links so that Internet connectivity, stability of external connection, and reliable transmission quality can be ensured.

WAN Link Trunking
AscenLink implements intelligent auto-routing algorithm to dynamically balance outgoing traffic to multiple WAN links. It does not require configuration of complex routing table the way normal routers do, hence minimize the effort of MIS. AscenLink supports different types of WAN connections, such as lease line (e.g. T1, E1), broadband (ADSL and cable modem), ISDN, et cetera. By using AscenLink to replace expensive lease lines with multiple broadband links, corporations can save substantial WAN connection fee while maintaining high reliability at the same time.

WAN Fault Tolerance
AscenLink constantly monitors the status of WAN links. Should a WAN link break down, AscenLink would detect this situation in real time, send email notification to MIS, and redirect subsequent traffic to remaining healthy WAN links. Likewise when a broken link comes back on line, AscenLink can detect its presence instantly and start routing traffic back to it. Everything is automatic. Neither human involvement nor ISP reconfiguration is required.

Multihoming
Stable and highly available Web connectivity has become a basic requirement for many enterprises and organizations whose businesses depend on Internet. In order to realize this requirement, a vital technology called multihoming is necessary. Multihoming is as important to outbound traffic as auto-routing to inbound traffic. AscenLink offers true multihoming that load-balances inbound traffic as well as detects and redirect traffic away from failed links. It does not need complex BGP programming or cooperation from ISP.

Bandwidth Management/QoS
Poorly managed WAN links can create problems similar to WAN link failure. The quality of the services may degrade or even fail due to bandwidth misuse. How to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) becomes an important topic of today's enterprises. Adding more and more bandwidth is not really a solution because it does not guarantee anything. The correct way of solving this problem is to apply bandwidth management. AscenLink has built-in bandwidth management capability. Users can easily set up bandwidth policies based on their network configuration and company's policies. AscenLink will make sure that bandwidth need of anticipated traffic can be met and bandwidth consumption of unexpected traffic is monitored and controlled. Bandwidth policies of AscenLink can be specified based on source, destination (IP or subnet), and applications.
Furthermore, AscenLink tightly integrates WAN link trunking with bandwidth management so that precise bandwidth management on each and every WAN link can be done. This precise bandwidth management is very important for today's network applications, especially in the situation of broken WAN links. This precise bandwidth management cannot be achieved by cascading a trunking device with a bandwidth management device.

Firewall, DMZ, and DoS Protection
AscenLink includes a unique stateful inspection firewall. It protects LAN and any computers and devices on LAN from external attacks, including DoS (Denial of Service) attacks. Its design emphasizes on ease of use and integration with WAN link trunking and bandwidth management. This firewall also supports a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) which can be used to host servers of public IP (vs. servers of internal IP on LAN). Both DMZ and LAN can be protected by the firewall and can have separate firewall policies.

High Performance Cache, Intelligent NAT, and DHCP
AscenLink is a multi-function edge server. It has a few features that make it not only a feature complete gateway but also a performance enhancing device. AscenLink can support an external proxy/caching (such as AscenGate and AscenCache by AscenVision) server by redirecting Web traffic to it. This setup does not require browser reconfiguration or expensive layer-4 switches or WCCP routers. Users can enjoy Web content management and faster web browsing while reducing IT equipment cost.
AscenLink also provides NAT (Network Address Translation) and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). The intelligent NAT in AscenLink supports more than just traditional NAT in regular gateway routers. It also supports features such as multiple WAN links and public IP pass-through.

Management
Since AscenLink is a server appliance, a major goal is to decrease the complexity of configuration and reduce the cost of MIS training and maintenance (hence less Total Cost of Ownership or TOC). For this goal, AscenLink implements a web-based administration tool with a friendly graphical user interface. For MIS personnel it is very simple to set up AscenLink. The statistics, reporting, and logging mechanisms in AscenLink are equally straightforward yet powerful. MIS can monitor traffic, manage bandwidth, control firewall and other policies with ease.

Fail-over Mode
High-end models of AscenLink have an advanced feature-fail-over mode. It allows two AscenLink to work as a team in a master-slave fashion. Normally the master is the active device and the slave is its backup. Should the master go out of service, the slave would become active and take over the role of the master until the master is back on-line again. The fail-over mode offers the ultimate fault tolerance for enterprises that demand the highest availability.

Almost any Internet user can benefit from the improved quality and stability of WAN links brought by AscenLink. In particular, portals, IDC, ISP, enterprises, corporations, small to middle size businesses, schools, colleges, and governments can take advantages of AscenLink to improve their WAN connectivity and e-business.

Typical target customers of AscenLink are:
 

• Companies that want to use multiple WAN links
• Companies that plan to use multiple broadband links to replace expensive lease lines
• Companies whose business depends on stable and highly available Internet connection
• Companies that want to manage their bandwidth and maintain quality of service of their web-based applications
• Companies that want to have an integrated edge server as their gateway to reduce the total cost of ownership

	Model		320		430		680		800		3820
	WAN Links		4		8		15		30		50
	WAN Bandwidth		20 Mbps		40 Mbps		60 Mbps		100 Mbps		400Mbps
	User Define Port		O		O		O		O		O
	Physical Connection Port
	- 10/100 Base-TX		4		5		5		-		3
	- 10/100/1000 Base-TX		-		-		-		8		2
	- 1000/Base-SX		-		-		-		-		2

	Installation Size		AscenLink
	Headquarter , Large Enterprise		AscenLink 3820
	Large Business		AscenLink 800
	Large - Meduim Business		AscenLink 680
	Medium - Small Business		AscenLink 430
	Branch Offices , SOHO		AscenLink 320