Security Players Shoot An All-In-One

Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems and 3Com's TippingPoint division are integrating a trifecta of security features into all-in-one appliances that give partners new ways to help cut the cost and complexity of security solutions.

The new wares combine firewall, VPN and intrusion-prevention capabilities in a format that promises proactive, easy-to-manage network protection, the vendors and solution providers said.

This week Juniper is shipping a long-awaited module that adds integrated intrusion detection and prevention (IDP) to its ISG 2000 appliance, delivering up to 2 Gbps of intrusion-prevention throughput and 1 Gbps of VPN/firewall throughput. NetScreen Technologies first launched the integrated security gateway with firewall and VPN features last April, days before the completion of its acquisition by Juniper. At that time, the company said the IDP module would ship by the end of 2004.

"We'll position it from the price/performance standpoint. Having multiple capabilities in the same box gives us a good competitive point against TippingPoint," said Dave Casey, vice president of Westron Communications, a solution provider based in Carrollton, Texas.

Juniper, Sunnyvale, Calif., is also introducing the
ISG 1000, a smaller firewall/VPN appliance. Intrusion-prevention modules for that box are slated to ship in the second half of this year. Six new stand-alone appliances also debut this week to replace existing intrusion-prevention systems that run on servers.