Azul Systems Makes My Job Easier

It�s a rarity for me to find an SEO related product or third party service that helps manage client assets, report on progress or offer anything new in the world of optimization. There are the tried and true tools that most SEO�s (myself included) cling to, and a steady stream of imitators promising improvement on what was perfected long ago. Still, it does happen once in a while. It�s even more rare when a product that has nothing to do with SEO makes my job a lot easier.

Recently, a client of mine with an extremely large product database took the plunge and decided to invest in a java optimized server appliance from Azul Systems to help reduce item load times and streamline the user experience. The excessive load times were something I’d been griping about since day one, as all the traffic building efforts in the world mean little when people have to wait upwards of one minute for product photos to load. The internet has been called so by many other names, but most SEO�s and SEM�s know that �Short Attention Span Theatre� ought to be one of them.

I didn�t know what to expect from the investment and hoped for a sizeable reduction in load times. I�m not a Java guru, so a �compute appliance� was somewhat foreign to my uninitiated ears. Apparently, the client didn�t want to invest in new servers and this would allow them to make the most of the servers they already paid for while taking up less space. That�s all fine and good�but what can this thing do to enhance performance?

Here�s the technical answer, according to what I�ve been able to ascertain: �For Java based developments at the enterprise level, the computational power required to manage high level Java environments often prohibits single server operation and results in less than optimal performance from multiple server configurations. Azul Systems compute appliances solve this issue by performing the computational functions for the server, making quick work of even the most heavily trafficked applications at peak volume.�

�and here�s the real world, practical answer: This thing is fast. When bounce rates fall dramatically while page views increase exponentially, two things become obvious. A) The client needed a solution for their incredibly slow load times, and B) this was the right solution.

So how fast is a �compute appliance�? The �Vega 2 7200�, which is what the client purchased, can house up to 768 processors and 768 GB of memory. If you�re like me and thinking in terms of your home PC, those numbers are incomprehensible. All I can say is that the results produced in terms of my primary areas of concern are nothing short of astounding. Click a product on the site now and it shows up�immediately. That�s all I could ask for, because it makes my efforts in driving traffic substantially more productive (and valuable to the client). So, kudos to Azul Systems for their compute appliance. For being �one of the most cost effective options� (according to my client�s IT manager), it certainly exceeded everyone�s expectations.