NEW YORK -- Global spending on enterprise network infrastructure is expected to grow 5.1% year-over-year, according to the latest data from Gartner.

The growth rate will slow from 2012, when sales rose 6.6%, the research firm  says.

Sales last year totaled $40.7 billion in 2012, up 6.6% from 2011.

Gartner says market revenue for application acceleration, firewall/VPN and WLAN solutions will grow the strongest through 2017.