Network Management Strategies for the CIO
A branch office box (BOB) is a server appliance
that has been optimized to provide distributed support for simple utility functions that are
required locally but are difficult to provide over a WAN. When WAN
connections are unreliable, a BOB may be used as part of a local business continuation solution.
When WAN connections are reliable, a BOB may not be a cost-effective alternative to using protocol
wrapping solutions (like MPLS)
to address WAN latency. BOBs are usually optimized for the type of protocol traffic
a business uses in most communication with a central office or data center.
BOBs also are optimized for the type of persistent service that may be needed locally in the event
of a WAN disruption.
BOB deployment is an alternative to providing complex server support locally for necessary utility
applications like:
- printing
- file serving and caching
- DNS
- DHCP
- HTML
- XML
- HTTPS
- encryption and decryption