Application Delivery Controller (ADC)
An application delivery controller (ADC) is a network device that provides advanced traffic management, security, and optimization for application services. The ADC market was valued at $2.81 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $5.43 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 12.6% during the forecast period (2019–2024).
Application delivery controllers are used to improve the performance of an application by offloading common tasks such as load balancing, compression, and SSL termination from the application servers.
ADCs are deployed in on-premises data centers, hybrid cloud environments, and public clouds.
What is an Application Delivery Controller (ADC)?
An Application Delivery Controller (ADC) is a network component that is designed to manage and optimize client connections to web and application servers. An ADC will help improve the delivery of applications by providing load balancing, SSL offloading, smart caching, and intelligent compression. ADCs also provide firewalls and intrusion detection to protect the servers from DDoS attacks as well as supporting outward-facing applications like SaaS (software-as-a-service). With their ability to improve the performance, security, and resiliency of applications when facing increased load demands; ADCs are becoming increasingly popular options for advanced application delivery requirements.
What are the benefits of using an ADC?
The use of an Application Delivery Controller (ADC) offers many benefits to enterprise applications and networks. An ADC can provide a first line of defense against DDoS attacks, terminate SSL tunneling attacks, disrupt SQL injections, protect access to sensitive data, and improve the performance of applications. ADCs can also optimize the delivery of applications over the internet by providing caching and implementing security measures. Additionally, ADCs are often used to capture data from devices in order to send it back to a centralized location for further monitoring and analysis.
How does an ADC work to control servers and networks?
An Application Delivery Controller (ADC) works to control servers and networks by providing Layer 3, 4, and 7 load balancing; multiplexing TCP sessions and exchanging data in a compressed format; taking the SSL processing load off of servers; accelerating applications; offering virtualization support, Multi-tenancy, and forms of central authentication; protecting from malicious traffic using a variety of techniques; preventing sensitive data from being accessed by unauthorized users; and inspecting data to flag or block it if it violates company policies.
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