While packet loss and out of order packets are a nuisance for a network that supports typical data applications like file transfer and email, it is a very serious problem when performing data replication and backup across the WAN.  The former involves thousands of short-lived sessions made up of a small number of packets typically sent over low bandwidth connections; the latter involves continuous sessions with many packets sent over high capacity WAN links.  If packets are lost, replication throughput can be decreased so significantly that the replication process cannot be completed in a reasonable timeframe - if at all.

This analyst paper will discuss why packet loss and ordering is becoming a bigger problem in today’s WANs, and what can be done to overcome these packet delivery challenges.