3Com, Cisco bolster VPN gear
|
|||
 | |||
|
In an effort to harness high-bandwidth broadband and ATM access services, Cisco and 3Com last week broadened their virtual private network (VPN) offerings.
Cisco announced that it now offers IP Security and Cisco Secure Integrated Software - formerly known as the Cisco IOS Firewall feature set - with firewall, intrusion-detection and digital certificate support on a suite of router platforms. These platforms include the Cisco 1400 series digital subscriber line (DSL) router, the Cisco uBR924 cable access router and the Cisco 800 series ISDN router.
Cisco's 7100 and 7200 routers, which can function as central-site VPN termination systems, also now support Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) clients and Microsoft point-to-point encryption (MPPE). This support lets remote access users with Windows 95, 98 and NT clients more easily set up VPNs using Cisco gear, Cisco says.
Cisco also rolled out two new models within its Cisco 7100 series of VPN routers - the Cisco 7140-8T and 7140-2FE. The 7140-8T features an integrated eight T-1/E-1 WAN interface; the 7140-2FE is a dual Fast Ethernet box designed for VPN tunnel termination behind the WAN edge, enabling enterprises to deploy VPNs without replacing or adapting their existing WAN edge devices.
Lastly, Cisco ported its NT-based VPN security software - Secure Scanner, formerly known as NetSonar - to Solaris.
All products are available. The Cisco 1400, uBR924 and 800 routers start at $1,495, $899 and $799, respectively. The Cisco 7100 series of routers with PPTP and MPPE support start at $11,900. A single license for the Solaris operating environment version of Cisco Secure Scanner 2.0 is $495.
Meanwhile over at 3Com
3Com announced two additions to its PathBuilder S500 series VPN switches.
The new PathBuilder S574 and S578 switches are central- site devices that support PPP over ATM. This support lets enterprise customers terminate several thousand logical connections from xDSL access devices. The connections may then be transported using standards-based Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol tunnels across public/private IP networks to another PathBuilder S500 or standards-based L2TP tunnel server, 3Com says.
Both switches feature two ATM ports running at DS-3 and OC-3 rates, and frame-to-ATM interworking for ATM access to frame relay networks.
This feature piqued the interest of 3Com customer St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Ala.
"We're leasing T-3s from BellSouth off an OC-3 ring," says Jack Gammon, LAN/WAN analyst at the hospital. "But we're not really doing native OC-3 to the WAN right now. The capability would be a perfect fit for us, as we've got a couple more hospitals that we're going to bring online that are in different parts of the metropolitan area."
For users running mixed Ethernet and ATM networks, the new PathBuilder switches combine ATM emulated LAN routing with Ethernet 802.1q virtual LAN routing in a single platform. The PathBuilder S574 and S578 switches can also extend tunnels into different LAN administrative domains or out over the WAN, a feature that's designed to provide more secure access to corporate applications.
The PathBuilder S574 supports single-mode fiber and costs $18,995. The PathBuilder S578 supports multimode fiber and costs $17,995. Both products are available now.
