This week's newsletters are focused on (one of) my annual treks to Las Vegas to gather more information about the networking industry in a few days than many people (probably not readers of this newsletter) learn in a lifetime. It's my way of letting you in on some of the news at the show, and your way of virtually following me out to Vegas if you were unable to make the trip.

In my previous newsletter, I highlighted what a couple IP address management vendors were showcasing at the conference and this time I am focusing on one of my favorite topics: the meshing of management and security. With some 450 exhibiting vendors at this year's Interop conference, it can be difficult to piece together trends among vendors. But companies such as ArcSight and Q1 Labs are making it easier for me.

To start, Arcsight is updating its Enterprise Security Management (ESM) suite to Version 4.0. In this release, the vendor is extending its security monitoring capabilities to also include integrated identity and role-based correlation capabilities. That means the software can determine not only when and where an event took place, but can also associate the who and why with it, company officials say.

The software, which runs on a server and collects security event data from multiple network devices and security tools, can provide a single view into multiple infrastructure systems and correlate those events to the users that cause them. The upgrade could help companies curb security threats, especially on the inside, and compliance breaches. ArcSight had already added to its software features that could pinpoint suspicious activity of monitored network equipment based on time patterns, insider activity in real time, and historical analysis.

ESM 4.0 starts at around $100,000 (the upgrade is part of existing customers' support packages) and will be available next week.

For its part, Q1 Labs is debuting an appliance that couples network and security management on a form factor that is easy to install and maintain, and affordable for those companies with less then enterprise networks.

The QRadar 2000 includes many feature of an enterprise-scale management system but scaled down for IT managers responsible both for network operations and security, the company says. The appliance can collect, store and correlate data from more than 100 network, security, operating system and application log sources. It also includes 220 predefined reports such as compliance packages for PCI, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and GLBA. The device is capable of processing up to 500 events per second and 25,000 NetFlows per minute, as well.

Denise Dubie is senior editor with Network World.