Enterasys Adds Security to Data Center Solutions

r

Enterasys Adds Security to Data Center Solutions
r

r

r

Rawlson O’Neil King, theWHIR.com
r

r

r

April 7, 2004 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY
r

REVIEW) — The data center and the information within are most critical
r

assets to a Web hosting firm. A data center represents the public
r

Internet presence of all a host’s clients as well as the engine behind
r

its secured customer support operations. As a network scales to
r

accommodate large numbers of dedicated server connections as well
r

high-speed server and backbone ports, bandwidth has to be a top
r

priority, but not the only priority.
r

r

With so much riding on the network, other
r

critical features and technologies must be taken into account,
r

including, among other things, built-in fault tolerance, power and
r

system redundancy, policy-based management, Layer 2-7 switching/routing
r

support, traffic filtering and access control services, rate limiting,
r

multi-frame classification and intrusion detection.
r

r

Enterasys Networks (enterasys.com)
r

provides intelligent infrastructure solutions allowing enterprise
r

customers to ensure that these critical features and technologies are
r

addressed. The company’s value proposition is providing return on
r

investment to enterprises through the deployment of leading technology
r

and architecture. To that end, the company offers a suite of four
r

solutions specifically designed to enhance data center performance.
r

r

Dragon is the company’s host- and
r

network-based intrusion defense system. Enterasys Dragon secures a
r

network by providing high-speed sensors to detect and respond to
r

suspicious activity, forensic data to determine the impact of network
r

attacks, and the scalability to deploy and manage large numbers of
r

sensors without negatively impacting the network’s operation.
r

r

With the combined power of its network
r

sensor, host sensor and enterprise management server, Dragon provides
r

an integrated solution for detecting and stopping misuse and attacks
r

across the entire IT infrastructure. It is one of the only intrusion
r

defense systems to combine events on the network with those on the
r

hosts, firewalls, routers, switches, other intrusion defense systems
r

and applications, providing complete detection for large environments.
r

With comprehensive analysis and real-time monitoring capabilities,
r

Dragon delivers a higher level of defense to business-critical IT
r

infrastructures.
r

r

Enterasys’ Matrix switches expand
r

bandwidth and deliver wire-speed performance to gigabit rates. Matrix
r

also prioritizes business-critical applications such as streaming
r

video, ERP, voice over IP, and e-commerce, using advanced QoS features.
r

The key function of the switch, however, is security. Most networks
r

provide full access and then limit users to specific servers. In a
r

secure network, users are not allowed access until they provide user
r

credentials, typically a name and password. Matrix switches offer
r

features designed to establish safeguards preventing unauthorized
r

network access. User-based security and authentication are provided via
r

standards-based IEEE 802.1X user authentication.
r

r

The firm’s NetSight Atlas is a scalable
r

configuration and management solution designed to provide advanced
r

configuration, monitoring and control of network devices within a data
r

center. NetSight however moves beyond simple device control, through
r

its business and policy management focus. In addition, NetSight
r

provides application-aware bandwidth management with quality of service
r

and prioritization, ensuring that everyone, including corporate users
r

and online customers, gets the bandwidth they need when they need it.
r

r

Finally, Enterasys’ X-Pedition solution
r

provides high-performance routing. The solution supports all critical
r

applications with wire-speed performance, precision control of
r

application services and integrated network management. It assures high
r

availability of internal and external networks, resulting in on-demand
r

access to business-critical Web content, ERP applications,
r

voice/video/data, e-commerce and more. In addition to Layer 2 switching
r

and wire-speed full-function routing, the X-Pedition’s ability to
r

switch Layer 4 application flows extends its functionality well beyond
r

the boundaries of traditional routers. This advanced capability
r

provides pinpoint control of network traffic through extensive
r

security, port-level accounting and comprehensive Quality of Service
r

(QoS), all at the application level, and all without sacrificing
r

wire-speed performance.
r

r

These Enterasys products are notably
r

different from its competitors since they aim to integrate a higher
r

level of intelligence, such as security features, into the physical
r

networking hardware.
r

r

Hosting firms can benefit from these
r

offerings by integrating them into enterprise offerings or rolling
r

their usage into their outsourced managed security services. Enterasys
r

has been attempting to make its offering more appealing by launching a
r

new partner program. The company also recently entered into a strategic
r

alliance with Lucent Technologies (lucent.com) to deliver its secure data center network solutions.
r

r

As part of the alliance, the two
r

companies will offer customers reliable network security assessment and
r

deployment services, and security infrastructure solutions that will
r

enable enterprises to protect their networks from security intrusions
r

and other vulnerabilities. The solutions, which leverage the
r

capabilities of the security practice at Lucent, are designed to help
r

enterprise customers with multi-vendor wireless and wireline networks
r

withstand security threats, while safeguarding productivity and network
r

uptime.
r

r

“Our alliance with Lucent represents a
r

significant opportunity to expand our market reach and provide enhanced
r

Secure Networks solutions to enterprise customers worldwide,” said Mark
r

Aslett, president of Enterasys. “As we announce our new relationship,
r

we’re pleased to work with Lucent Worldwide Services to reach out to
r

new and existing customers to enable them to maintain critical business
r

continuity.”
r