A10 Networks Seeks Identity

Startup A10 Networks is looking to stop IT managers from reaching for the Advil (or the whiskey bottle) with the launch of its first product, a combined storage and network security device. (See A10 Enters IAM Market.)

The new IDSentrie 1000 aims to help users extend security policies to their servers and also shift security data onto backend storage devices. Specifically, the one-rack-unit-high device can be used to provision” users on a range of different devices. It could be used, for example, to update databases with new user passwords and then replicate the data to other parts of the network.

Identity management has become a major headache for IT managers, who are desperate not to see their companies' names plastered across the media due to security breaches. (See ChoicePoint Appoints Independent Exec.) But worryingly, this area has also been identified as something of a technology black hole. At the last Interop event in Las Vegas, for example, lack of effective identity management products was cited as a major problem by CIOs. (See CIOs Face Identity Crisis.)

“Identity management is one of those areas that adds a certain amount of workload to a network administrator’s life,” explains Brad Robinson, network and security administrator at message management specialist Postini, which is testing the IDSentrie. “We have a multitude of databases that we need to take care of from a user perspective.”

According to A10, the device can also offload firewall logs to storage devices. The idea is that, if necessary, users can then drill down into their firewall data for compliance purposes. “Once it goes to the NAS device they can use their tape backup software and archive that for any number of years,” says Phil Kwan, director of product marketing at A10.