A data access request from an application for access to a data resource is received from a first application. The data access request is analyzed to identify application-specific behavior indicating a type of data access for the data resource. The WAN acceleration functionality of a first device is configured for network traffic optimization based on the type of data access for the data resource. The analysis of the data access request may be based on attributes of the data access request, the data resource, and/or an access control restriction. The network traffic optimization may be adapted to optimize network traffic to a first portion of the data resource that is different than a second portion of the data resource associated with the data access request or to a second data resource separate from the data resource associated with the data access request.