Citrix adds SQL support to NetScaler appliances

Citrix is looking to expand the reach of its NetScaler appliances with the addition of SQL support.

The company said that the addition of the DataStream platform allows the NetScaler appliance to optimise performance for database platforms.

The improved performance afforded to database systems could help firms better deliver cloud-based computing platforms and services, according to Citrix.

"Enterprises are increasingly prioritising management of data growth and relying on data-driven analytics to support important business decisions," said Sunil Potti, datacentre and cloud vice president for product management and marketing at Citrix.

"With this new breakthrough, NetScaler is the only solution on the market to address the demands of this data explosion by optimising the availability, performance and security of data infrastructure critical to delivering timely and actionable business intelligence."

Joe Skorupa, datacentre transformation research vice president at Gartner Research, suggested that the addition of DataStream could give NetScaler a leg up on competing vendors.

"There really hasn't been much innovation on the back-end tier," he told V3.co.uk. "NetScaler is taking an interesting approach by saying that there is more power to be found in the datacentre."

Skorupa added that, while NetScaler is currently the only appliance of its kind to offer such a platform, competition could come from smaller vendors looking to differentiate. Another possible competitor could come from an acquisition by a larger vendor, such as Oracle.

"Oracle does seem to like to own and control everything," Skorupa noted.