Application management gains traction The increased growth and speed of networks has engendered a new wave of products aimed at enhancing the delivery of data across the enterprise.This week Visual Networks will release a new family of Ethernet appliances designed for large, distributed networks. The appliances will offer network- and application-performance management features similar to those found in the company’s application-based offerings. “With these new components, IT managers will have the same in-depth, real-time, and historical information across LANs and WANs,” said Jeff Schmitz, director of marketing at Visual Networks. The products will improve network and application management even at remote and branch offices. The company will introduce a LAN and wireless visibility software module later this year.Similarly, Packeteer has introduced its 1200 Series, designed to manage WAN application traffic at remote and branch offices. The 1200 Series provides network monitoring and app-level control, and it identifies and responds to new applications and suspicious hosts. Technology Industry