Take Network File System (NFS) or Common Internet File System (CIFS), for example. These file protocols are extremely latency-sensitive and function poorly over a WAN. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is certainly not exempt from these inefficiencies.

WAN optimization expert Henry Svendblad explains it this way:

TCP has blunt flow-management algorithms: If the network or the receiver can’t handle the speed at which the sender is working, as indicated by packet loss, timeouts or an excess of out-of-order packets, the network flow will drop to half that rate. Speeds ramp up again, but more slowly than the first time.

Fortunately, IT professionals can take these steps outlined by Svendblad to thrwart slow speeds over a WAN.

For TCP optimization:

• Get smart about congestion and use a WAN optimizer that can change ramping behaviors to prevent congestion in the first place.
• Think about network priority and shape network traffic to control how bandwidth is consumed.
• Keep TCP out of the way of UDP traffic, like VoIP and video, to ensure priority of these real-time applications.

For file protocol optimization:

• Consider upgrading to current versions of your enterprise applications that use these more efficient Web protocols.
• Consider using WAN optimizers to shape traffic and control how limited bandwidth is used.
• Use a WAN optimizer to speed up file transfers with compression, caching and prefetching techniques.

It looks like political candidates are dealing with the same issues. If you’re in the mood to donate money to your favorite presidential candidate, don’t bother using your smartphone.

Web content optimization vendor Strangeloop looked at the campaign websites for President Barack Obama and each of the candidates vying for the Republican nomination. Of all the sites, only Mitt Romney’s had a site optimized for mobile users, according to Strangeloop CEO Joshua Bixby, who blogged about his review.

Bixby visited all of the sites with an iPhone and an Android device via 3G. He said all the sites were able to load on his iPhone within 10 to 20 seconds, but the load times on his Android device were terrible. Romney’s was the fastest at 21 seconds, but it failed to size properly. Other sites took several minutes to load, Bixby said.

Finally he noted that campaign websites are failing in their most essential mission: to drive revenue. Given that most campaigns haven’t optimized their sites for mobile users, the donate buttons on each site is either lost to mobile visitors or ineffective.