Once again, it's time to play "How will we watch the border?" Over the past few weeks, we've looked at the possibility that there will be a new version (3.9) of BorderManager. Or maybe not. That there might be a replacement for it called Novell Access Manager (NAM), or maybe not. And that Novell Security Manager Powered by Astaro (NSMPBA) may be the long-term solution, or may be going away.
Ensuring you get pizza with sync tools
07/06/09
Here's the answer to missing files compromising your plans for pizza, beer and TV.
The 10 dumbest mistakes network managers make
07/05/09
When you look at the worst corporate security breaches, it's clear that network managers keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and that many of these mistakes are easy to avoid.
Psystar bails on bankruptcy, promises to 'battle Goliath'
07/05/09
The Mac clone maker embroiled in a legal dispute with Apple asked a federal judge last week to dismiss its bankruptcy case, saying that it had been unable to reach a payment agreement with its law firm.
E-Mail article
|
|
Print article
|
|
Contact author
|
Reprint
|
AIM article
|
del.icio.us |
Reddit
|
Digg
|
Stumble
|
Slashdot It!
|
One thing I have gotten confirmed, though (because it's straight from the horse's mouth) is that Astaro would love you to use the Astaro Security Gateway (ASG) to protect your enterprise. The "horse," in this case, is Alex Neihaus, Astaro's vice president of marketing. He assures me that not only is this the same software that makes up NSMPBA, but anyone who buys Novell Security Manager Powered by Astaro can continue to upgrade and update their installation - even if Novell drops the product - by getting the new versions of ASG.
That means that I "misspoke" in a newsletter about Astaro last year, when I said upgrading NSMPBA was not going to be as easy as simply doing an upgrade to your NSM with the Astaro software. Actually, it really is that easy according to Neihaus. Anytime Astaro puts out a new release, you simply need to apply it to your NSMPBA installation. If I'd known that at the time, I probably could have forestalled the only negative e-mail I've gotten about the Astaro product. Reader Lance Groth wrote:
"I tested [NetWare Security Manager] on the assumption that B/M [BorderManager] was dead and Astaro would soon include most of B/M's functionality. Big disappointment - it didn't have half of what B/M does, had only two standard proxies included, and the documentation was so sketchy I couldn't even figure out how to define a generic proxy." He also didn't think it was very well integrated with eDirectory. But most of those problems were overcome in subsequent releases of Astaro Security Gateway, which (as I said) can be installed as an upgrade to NSMPBA.
In fact, for all of you BorderManager users, Astaro has a cornucopia of aids and help to guide you through a migration to ASG. Just browse to Astaro's resource site, a wiki designed as "a platform to help users migrate from Novell BorderManager to Novell Security Manager or Astaro Security Gateway Appliances." Here you can find out how best to migrate as well as how to perform standard BorderManager functions within ASG (or NSMPBA, if that's the path you prefer).
Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be found at Virtual Quill.
Kearns is the author of two Network World Newsletters: Windows Networking Strategies, and Identity Management. Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these respective addresses: windows@vquill.com, identity@vquill.com .
Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books, manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing, technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail.
| Start a public discussion with other Network World users on this article (scroll up to send this article to a colleague). Log In | Register for an account (Why you should) |
Note: Register to have your user name appear; otherwise your comment will show up as "Anonymous."
*Anonymous comments will only appear once they are approved by the moderator.
Copyright 2008 Network World Inc.
Browse Newsletter categories: Branch Office Best Practices | Convergence | High Speed LANs | Identity Management | IT Careers and Training | IT Leadership | Linux | Messaging | Network Optimization | Network/Systems Management | New Data Center Strategies | Novell NetWare Tips | Optical Networking | Outsourcing | Security Strategies | Servers | Service Provider News Report | Small Business Technology | Storage in the Enterprise | Technology Executive | View from The Edge | Virus and Bug Patch Alert | VORTEX Digest | VPNs | Web Applications | Wide Area Networking | Windows Networking Strategies | Wireless in the Enterprise |
|
Does Verizon's Voyager stack up to the iPhone? |
5 IT skills that won't boost your salary [1,407]
Women 4 times more likely than men to cough up personal info [589]
Japan's 10 funniest tech-related commercials [Videos] [407]
Throwing away a promo CD is "unauthorized distribution"? [1,265]
Adults too quick to dismiss educational video games [682]
Attack of the iPhone clones [Slideshow] [578]
10 things IT needs to know about AJAX [1,258]
This Year's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries [Slideshow] [409]
Network World on Twitter: Get our tweets and stay plugged in to networking news