Tufin Updates Security Policy Management Software

Tufin Technologies released a new version of its security policy management suite with expanded support for more enterprise firewalls and network infrastructure. It also features a larger library of RESTful APIs to support integration of external systems such as IT service management tools.

The updated Tufin Security Suite -- now called Tufin Orchestration Suite -- includes three modules: SecureTrack for firewall management, SecureChange for network change automation, and SecureApp for application connectivity management.

The company said the product is designed to monitor network connectivity changes across distributed data centers and heterogeneous networks, and provide central management of enterprise firewalls, routers and load balancers. Additional capabilities include impact analysis of network changes, network path simulation and automatic identification of relevant network devices.

The updated version (R13-3) comes four months after Tufin's last release, which added a self-service portal for application access requests, automated server decommissioning and a limited version of SecureApp. The product now provides support for Stonesoft, McAfee Firewall Enterprise and F5 Load balancers, as well as change provisioning and IPv6 support for Juniper firewalls.

Adam Hils, research director for network security at Gartner, said Tufin’s core strength is reducing complexity and streamlining change management, especially for enterprises with thousands of firewall rules and multiple vendors. He described an IT service provider with tens of thousands of firewall rules, some very old, that are reviewed and updated quarterly using spreadsheets. “That illustrates a use case that Tufin and its competitors can address," Hils said.

[Read why security teams should get up to speed on software-defined networking in "Don't Leave Network Virtualization to Server Admins."]

Many enterprises fail to check and maintain firewall configurations over time, according to the InformationWeek Report "Building and Maintaining Effective Firewall Configurations.".

The market for security policy management is not a large one, but it's growing, Hils said. Other vendors in the space include FireMon, AlgoSec, Skybox Security and RedSeal Networks.

NetMotion Offers Cloud-Based Mobile Troubleshooting

NetMotion Wireless’ new Locality Cloud service is designed to help organizations fix connectivity issues on cellular networks used by their mobile workers. It is a hosted, subscription-based version of the company’s Locality software.

Locality Cloud gathers and aggregates data from mobile devices such as tablets, laptops and smartphones, and measures and monitors cellular network performance so organizations can better understand how well their mobile deployments are working on broadband networks they do not own or control. Like NetMotion’s on-site version, the cloud-based Locality provides information on signal quality by carrier, device and technology.

Customers can also keep updated lists of each cellular network adapter, who it's assigned to, how often it's used, and identify and manage under-utilized and outdated devices. The service currently supports devices running iOS, Android and Windows Phone and up to 5,000 users.

Zadara Adds To Cloud Storage Service

Zadara Storage updated its Virtual Private Storage Array (VPSA) service, which provides SAN and NAS cloud storage, with support for low-impact snapshots with read/write clones, SSD read/write cache, and thin provisioning.

Version 2.0 of Zadara’s VPSA Enterprise Suite also includes remote asynchronous replication and mirroring for disaster recovery, and the ability to customize snapshots based on business requirements for data protection.

VSPA was first introduced last year with support for multi-tenancy and encryption of data at rest. It supports business databases and applications from major vendors, including Citrix, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat and VMware.

VPSA is available through Amazon Web Services and Equinix and Dimension Data Cloud data centers. It's also available in an on-premise private cloud model.

Brocade Manages SANs with MAPS

Brocade unveiled new storage area network (SAN) management capabilities that combine hardware and software to speed up deployment and provide policy-based monitoring.

The company’s updated Fabric Vision technology for its Fibre Channel SAN product line includes Monitoring and Alerting Policy Suite (MAPS), which monitors the health and performance of the SAN infrastructure. It can be used to automate day-to-day tasks and customize rules for specific ports. MAPS policies can be configured across an entire fabric or multiple fabrics.

Brocade’s Flow Vision tool can be used with MAPS and Brocade Network Advisor to manage applications, and allows administrators to identify, monitor and analyze specific application and data flows in order to maximize SAN performance and avoid congestion.Brocade’s SAN fabric technology has been tied to the Fibre Channel protocol since its inception. The company’s Gen 5 Fibre Channel network infrastructure includes the Brocade DCX 8510 Backbone and Brocade 6520, 6510, and 6505 switches. It recently announced Gen 5 Fibre Channel SAN Connectivity support for EMC VMAX Mission Critical Storage Systems.

According to the Fibre Channel Industry Association’s 2012 State of the Fibre Channel Industry, more than $100 billion has been invested in Fibre Channel in the past two decades.