Check Point adds clustering support

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. - Check Point Software this week will begin delivering failover and load-sharing capabilities in its VPN-1/Firewall-1 software in an attempt to make customers' most important sites less susceptible to crashes.

With new ClusterXL technology, users can link to five VPN gateways so that they back up each other and keep sessions alive if one gateway fails. This would keep access open to Internet-connected data centers and other sites protected by the gateways.

ClusterXL technology also balances traffic among clustered gateways so none is overwhelmed by floods of traffic.

"If you put up an extranet where vendors, clients and partners are coming through these gateways, you want them to be up all the time," says Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with The Yankee Group. "If you are using the Internet to do business, if you are not available, somebody else will be."

These features also let users boost the throughput of VPN traffic at any given site by adding another gateway. Check Point claims five gateways strapped together give 1.2G bit/sec VPN throughput.

ClusterXL, which costs $10,000 per cluster, is part of Check Point's Next Generation version of its firewall-VPN software that runs on off-the-shelf Windows, Linux and Solaris servers and other platforms. This software is also the basis for appliances made by partners including Nokia, Compaq and Siemens.

Until now, users who wanted to enhance Check Point gateways with load-balancing or failover technologies had to rely on software from other vendors such as Rainfinity or Stonesoft.

Contact Senior Editor Tim Greene

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