The application delivery controller is a key component within enterprise and cloud data centers to improve availability, security and performance of applications. Application delivery controllers (ADCs) provide functions that optimize delivery of enterprise applications across the network. ADCs provide functionality for both user-to-application and application-to-application traffic, and effectively bridge the gap between the application and underlying protocols and traditional packet-based networks. This market evolved from the load-balancing systems that were developed in the latter half of the 1990s to ensure the availability and scalability of websites. Enterprises use ADCs today to improve the availability, scalability, end-user performance, data center resource utilization, security of their applications.
Gartner defines cloud WAAP as a category of security solutions designed to protect web applications irrespective of their hosted locations. Typically delivered as a service, cloud WAAP is offered as a series of security modules that provide protection from a broad range of runtime attacks. It offers protection from the Top 10 web application security risks defined by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and automated threats, provides API security, and can detect and protect against multiple sophisticated Layer 7 attacks targeted at web applications. Cloud WAAP’s core features include web application firewall (WAF), bot management, distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation and API protection.
Gartner defines zero trust network access (ZTNA) as products and services that create an identity and context-based, logical-access boundary that encompasses an enterprise user and an internally hosted application or set of applications. The applications are hidden from discovery, and access is restricted via a trust broker to a collection of named entities, which limits lateral movement within a network.