Enterasys, Vernier To Launch NAC Solutions

(Originally posted on CRN.com By Jennifer Hagendorf Follett and Kevin McLaughlin)

Network access control solutions will be in the spotlight at Interop Las Vegas 2006, where Enterasys Networks, Vernier Networks and other vendors are slated to unveil NAC wares.

NAC technology ensures that all devices linked to a network are free of malware and comply with corporate security policies before they're allowed to connect, providing an effective and economical way to protect the corporate network.

To that end, Enterasys is rolling out Sentinel, a new NAC offering designed to prevent infected or unauthorized devices from gaining access to a company's network. The solution, part of the Andover, Mass.-based vendor's Secure Networks portfolio, works without deploying agents on clients, enabling it to screen both corporate and guest devices.

Sentinel includes the Trusted Access Gateway, an appliance that monitors the health of devices trying to get on the network, as well as the Trusted Access Manager, a tool for configuring and monitoring the gateway.Available now, Sentinel is priced at $28,000 to $57,000 for a 500-node network and $76,000 to $122,000 for a 2,000-node network, according to Enterasys.

At Interop, Vernier plans to introduce its EdgeWall 8800, a NAC solution that authenticates and authorizes end-point devices and scans traffic in the network using an intrusion-detection and -prevention engine. When an infected device is discovered, the EdgeWall 8800 quarantines and remediates the device, said Rod Murchison, vice president of marketing for Vernier, Mountain View, Calif.

"The future of NAC is going into this realtime inspection capability," Murchison said.

The EdgeWall 8800's ability to screen and remediate infected devices helps companies sharpen their security policies and demonstrate compliance, according to Dan Riekes, executive vice president at Affidia Systems, an Encino, Calif.-based solution provider and Vernier partner.