SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - CacheFlow, a caching pioneer that launched in 1996, is exiting the caching market to focus on appliances used to safeguard networks against Web-based threats.
CacheFlow last week introduced the SG800, its first server designed to handle security processing. It also announced it was changing its name to Blue Coat Systems to finalize its shift into the security market.
CacheFlow follows other companies such as Inktomi and F5 Networks that have ditched caching because of lagging demand. While caching revenue has stagnated, CacheFlow has seen demand for its security products increase with security revenue accounting for 77% of overall product revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2003, which ended July 30. The company posted revenue of $11 million for that quarter, up $1.2 million from the prior quarter, and a net loss of $4.8 million, compared with a net loss of $9.7 million in the prior quarter.
The firm is not scrapping caching altogether. Instead it is using it as a foundation for its security product, which is designed to filter and scan Web traffic for viruses, worms and other illicit content that could move undetected through corporate firewalls.
The appliance sits behind a corporate firewall, enabling it to hand off traffic that enters through Port 80. The SG800 runs a custom-built operating system called Security Gateway, which is optimized for multiple Web security functions, including antivirus detection and content filtering. The company is partnering with antivirus vendors Symantec and Trend Micro, as well as URL and content filtering companies Websense and Secure Computing.
The SG800 also includes a policy-processing engine that gives customers tight control over how content is secured and delivered. For example, the SG800 could be directed to secure content based on browser type, network address or time of day. In addition, the SG800 hooks into existing authentication systems to allow or deny users or groups based on Remote Authentication Dial-In User Services, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and Microsoft's NT LAN Manager.
Salt River Project, a water and power supplier in Phoenix, is integrating Blue Coat's security features into its CacheFlow proxy caches to protect the company's network from viruses that entered via e-mail attachments from sites such as Yahoo and Hotmail.
"We had to close that completely down and block all of those sites because they were bringing viruses in," says James Heyen, principal network analyst at Salt River Project. "With this product, what we'll be able to do is allow that again because everything coming in from the Web servers will be examined for virus content."
The SG800 comes in a variety of models and pricing ranges from $6,000 to $30,000.
RELATED LINKS
Contact Senior Writer Jennifer Mears
Other recent articles by Mears
Blue Coat investor relations page
Listen to the company's most recent earnings call, in which executives discuss the name and focus change.
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Network World, 05/20/02.
