RiOS reduces the hardware footprint in remote locations by virtualizing edge services, accelerating application performance and simplifying remote-location administration. The RiOS OS powers the company's Steelhead WAN acceleration appliances, mobile client and Riverbed Services Platform (RSP).

Among the new features RiOS 5.0 introduced were the RSP data services platform that enables virtualized edge services without deploying additional physical servers. Application acceleration features now eliminate the burdensome storage requirement to support widely used applications, including Web-based apps. And an application-level protocol optimization for Microsoft Exchange 2007 adds to the OS's support for Exchange 2000 and 2003.

One judge remarks that Version 5.0 offers "major improvements for Steelhead customers."

The company claims its Steelhead appliances will improve simple file-sharing operations by a hundredfold, cut disaster recovery windows tenfold or more, and reduce WAN bandwidth utilization by 60% to 95%. The judges give RiOS 5.0 high marks for innovation, performance and functionality.

The Steelhead appliance models range in price from $3,495 to $129,995. Ten mobile client licenses cost $3,499, and can be purchased with the appliances or later. Riverbed estimates that organizations will require a license for every three to five mobile users, with the cost per user approximately $87.