Abstract

Blue Coat SG800 benchmark (Tolly Group Report #202148, August 2002) evaluated the SG800 proxy/security appliance versus Cisco Content Engine 560, Inktomi Traffic Server Engine, and Network Appliance NetCache C1105. The test methodology required error-free delivery while generating both moderate and maximum web loads. Under peak stress the SG800 processed 1,843 HTTP objects per second—26% more than Cisco, 35% more than NetCache, and over double Inktomi—while keeping client response to 60 ms; Cisco lagged at 178 ms and NetCache at 1,037 ms.

When ICAP virus scanning was added, the SG800 still handled 46 tps at a 50-tps load and answered in 69 ms, whereas NetCache matched the rate but needed 1,037 ms, and it failed above 75 tps while the SG800 stayed error-free up to 700 tps.

Multimedia tests showed the SG800 served 900 Real Media and 2,300 Windows Media streams—54% and 426% more than NetCache, respectively. It also restarted and resumed traffic in ≤91 s, beating rivals that needed 111–227 s. Feature verification confirmed the SG800’s Visual Policy Manager offers the broadest authentication, trigger, and action set among the products examined, enabling fine-grained web and streaming controls from a single interface.

Overall, the SG800 combines the highest HTTP throughput, the lowest latency under security load, leading streaming capacity, rapid restart times, and unmatched policy flexibility, making it the strongest choice for organizations that need high-performance web security and caching at scale.