<s>
Cisco	O
Wide	B-General_Concept
Area	I-General_Concept
Application	I-General_Concept
Services	I-General_Concept
(	O
WAAS	O
)	O
is	O
technology	O
developed	O
by	O
Cisco	O
Systems	O
that	O
optimizes	O
the	O
performance	O
of	O
any	O
TCP-based	O
application	O
operating	O
in	O
a	O
wide	O
area	O
network	O
(	O
WAN	O
)	O
environment	O
while	O
preserving	O
and	O
strengthening	O
branch	O
security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WAAS	O
combines	O
WAN	B-Protocol
optimization	I-Protocol
,	O
acceleration	O
of	O
TCP-based	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
Cisco	O
's	O
Wide	O
Area	O
File	O
Services	O
(	O
WAFS	O
)	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
appliance	O
or	O
blade	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
Cisco	O
's	O
attempt	O
to	O
keep	O
WAN	B-Protocol
optimization	I-Protocol
residing	O
firmly	O
in	O
the	O
router	O
,	O
eliminating	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
deploy	O
acceleration	O
appliances	O
throughout	O
the	O
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technology	O
preserves	O
TCP	O
information	O
within	O
the	O
network	O
while	O
offering	O
the	O
performance	O
benefits	O
that	O
come	O
along	O
with	O
using	O
WAN	B-Protocol
optimization	I-Protocol
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WAN	B-Protocol
optimization	I-Protocol
appliances	O
have	O
traditionally	O
limited	O
IT	O
when	O
it	O
comes	O
to	O
maintaining	O
functions	O
such	O
as	O
security	O
,	O
quality	O
of	O
service	O
,	O
visibility	O
,	O
and	O
monitoring	O
end-to-end	O
transactions	O
because	O
they	O
tend	O
to	O
cause	O
problems	O
for	O
most	O
network	O
monitoring	O
devices	O
and	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
design	O
,	O
WAN	B-Protocol
Optimization	I-Protocol
“	O
confuses	O
”	O
performance	O
monitoring	O
systems	O
by	O
changing	O
packet	O
header	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
