Juniper Flatlines RedlineJuniper Flatlines Redline

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) will be discontinuing its DX line of load balancing gear, which the company acquired when it bought Redline Networks as part of a push into the data center.

While Juniper isn't discussing the decision in detail, it appears the DX couldn't stand out against the crowd of traffic managing equipment from companies like Citrix Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS) and F5 Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV).

"Our ability to deliver sustained differentiation is the nexus of the opportunity in front of us and this is what defines us... To this end, Juniper has made the formal decision to end-of-life the DX hardware, software and licenses," the company says in a written statement.

Juniper plans to nudge its customers towards other application acceleration products from its own portfolio, according to the statement. The company isn't commenting further.

It's not like the whole market for application acceleration has gone sour. Just this week, startup A10 Networks Inc. juiced up its AX line of gear with features like SIP load balancing while also announcing some favorable test results out of the Tolly Group . (See A10 Intros AX.)

The extra features might hold a clue to Juniper's docking of the DX. A10 officials note that this space has gotten more complex in recent years as customers have required more features from the equipment. Redline, in fact, started life as a Web optimization play, later adding features such as load balancing.

"Redline came out with their products seven years ago. No one was dealing with peer-to-peer or YouTube Inc. ," says Peter Stokes, A10's vice president of sales for North America. "They have some strengths, but overall, they haven't kept pace with all the performance demands."

Juniper acquired Redline in 2005 for $132 million and announced the deal in conjunction with the $337 million purchase of Peribit Networks. (See Juniper Takes Two: Peribit & Redline.)

Announced customers for the DX line include BuzzCity Pte Ltd. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) (OTC: SGTJY), both in Singapore. (See BuzzCity Deploys Juniper and SingTel Deploys SDX.)

(By the way, we're talking about Redline Networks, not Redline Communications Inc. , the wireless backhaul vendor.)

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading