DUBLIN, CALIF. - If you have thought of using the remote-access VPN capabilities imbedded in Windows 2000 Server but backed off because they were too complex, ActiveLane's new offering might be for you.
This week, the start-up will introduce a hardware and software package called V3000 VPN Server Appliance designed to streamline the process of setting up Windows-based VPNs.
The V3000 appliance is based on standard Intel server hardware and runs a version of Win 2000 Server with the services not essential to VPN support removed. Also included in the device, which sits between the Internet and Windows servers, is a dedicated processing card to speed VPN encryption.
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Using ActiveLane's software tools, customers can set up the server side of a VPN connection in 15 minutes, about a half-hour faster than it takes to do it with the standard Microsoft server, says V3000 user Micheal Bach, information systems manager at Atoga Systems of Fremont, Calif., which makes optical network gear.
The real timesaver, though, comes on the client side. An ActiveLane installation wizard sets up an executable file that configures Windows PC and handheld software so that client devices can connect to a VPN, Bach says. Rather than configuring the client manually, end users download the file and execute it, and their machine connects to the VPN. "Without [the executable file] we sent users an eight-page document with pictures to set the client up themselves, and they still screwed it up," Bach says.
Once a VPN tunnel is set up, users enter their network identification and password, which is checked against information in Microsoft's Active Directory databases. Compatibility with Active Directory eliminates the need to maintain a separate authorization database for the VPN.
The $12,000 package also features software that can trigger alarms, generate standard and custom reports on current and historical use by individuals.
The appliance is configured via a browser interface and supports 1,000 concurrent connections. Because it relies on Microsoft VPN software, the ActiveLane 3000 supports Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol and Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol/IP Security VPN tunnels.
ActiveLane competes against the likes of Neoteris and Netilla Networks, which make secure, Internet-based remote-access gear that relies on standard Web browser security rather than special client software, says Robert Lonadier, president of consulting firm RCL and Associates.
The company also makes firewall, caching and storage equipment. Founders include Ravi Lingarkar, the former vice president of engineering for McAfee and former director of engineering at Network Associates.
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