SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Network Computing, the premier resource helping IT decision makers connect the dots between architectural approach and how technology impacts the network, played host to nearly 700 IT professionals with a timely and highly relevant virtual event on next-generation networks on Thursday, November 12, 2009.

This first ever virtual event from the editors of Network Computing connected industry experts and real-world IT professionals with attendees in a highly interactive environment that supports peer to peer networking, educational tracks and direct access to solution providers.

The virtual event brought attendees up to speed on state of the art networking by discussing the technologies that drive network design and implementations today and in the future. Attendees connected with their peers, gathered information from analysts and vendors about where the technologies are today, and discussed how they can be prepared for a network overhaul.

The key attendee takeaways from the event include:

• Converged networking is coming in the form of iSCSI over Ethernet or Fibre Channel over Ethernet. Both strategies can co-exist negating the need to choose one or the other.
• WAN optimization has kept its promise of lower utilization and better application response, both of which have significant real business benefit.
• Virtual networking in the hypervisor is adequate for most cases, but as datacenters become more automated, a uniform management plane is needed for bridging the physical and virtual network.

"I found the presentations an effective way to listen to the current issues in high-performance networking from some of the industry leaders themselves, and enjoyed interactively asking my questions and making relevant points," said Brian Morey, Architect at EB3 Communications. "I would highly recommend this format to any computing professionals, and look forward to seeing what you have up next time."

"Our panel of experts laid out the benefits of converged networking beyond the hype and showed how different tools can be used without requiring disruptive changes," said Mike Fratto, Editor, Network Computing.

Sponsors of the virtual event included Blue Coat, Citrix, Microsoft, Juniper Networks, Silver Peak, thawte, APC, VMware, Brocade, Infoblox, KACE and nlyte.

Virtual event participation statistics include:

• Over 1,300 registrants
• Approximately 700 attendees
• Average time spent in show: 1 hour, 49 minutes
• Average booth visit time per attendee: 7 minutes

For more information, please visit, http://techweb.com/nwc-virtual. The event will be archived until November 12, 2010.

TechWeb's next virtual event is scheduled for December 9, 2009, hosted by InformationWeek's Dark Reading and Black Hat, titled IT Security: The Next Decade. For more information, please visit http://techweb.com/ITsecurity.

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SOURCE TechWeb