I have been reading up on WAN optimization for the last while, mostly out of interest of speeding up my own internet connections, but also to speed up the office internet connection. At home, I have 2 cable modems plugged into a RouterBoard RB750, which load balances the connections. In the office, we have a single connection into a NetGear router.

Most of the WAN Optimization products I have seen, seem to be prohibitively expensive, but also seem to be based on the idea of having multiple branches around the world. What I am looking for, ideally, is as follows:

• software install: I am "guessing" I need to install it in 2 places: one in the office or house, and one in "the cloud".
• any connections going to, say, The US (we are in Europe, but our backup's live in the US currently, which would be something important to speed up) would be "tunnelled" though the Optimizer. If downloading or uploading large files, open multiple connections between both "the cloud" and the optimizer... This is where a lot of speed could be gained.
• finally, for items not compressed, they would be compressed on the cloud side of things, also items that are already on the optimizer could be not sent again. kind of like RSync or Proxy servers...

So, is there something that can be done? Is it available using off the shelf components (some magic script with SSH, Squid, Linux and duct tape) or is it something that needs to be purchased? or even an Open Source Project that does 90% of what i am asking?