Citrix is making it easier to configure its NetScaler Web accelerator appliance for specific applications with configuration templates and a tool for quickly viewing what policies have been set up for particular applications.

With a software upgrade to its NetScaler appliances, the company is introducing AppExpert Templates and AppExpert Visualizer, both with the idea of speeding up deployment of the devices.

AppExpert Templates help customers define and manage policies for particular applications. For example, the template will define a Web application and all the traffic flows associated with it so customers can draw on the appropriate NetScaler optimization techniques for each component. These include compression, caching and rewriting content.

The company contends it cuts configuration times from days to hours. Citix is releasing templates for SAP, Microsoft SharePoint and Oracle E-Business, and customers can create their own templates that they can share on Citrix's community site.

The NetScaler 9.0 software release adds XML security to the application firewall features of the device, eliminating the need for separate XML security gateways. Another new feature rewrites URLs on the fly so when the backend infrastructure changes, user-facings URLs can remain the same.