Blue Ridge Networks, which sells VPN appliances as well as VPN services, is adding to its product family to better serve government agencies as well as smaller sites on any network.

By the end of the year, the company plans to announce three new BorderGuard appliances, the largest of which is the BorderGuard 6000. It is tailored for use by the Department of Defense, in particular by supporting a VPN red list. That is a list of users who are denied access even though they have valid digital certificates to authenticate the VPN. This allows the DOD to rapidly cut off users who have been terminated but whose digital certificates have not yet expired, the company says. The same capability could prove useful in corporate networks as well.

One of the strengths of Blue Ridge gear has been its support for the company's own public key infrastructure. PKI and two-factor authentication are hallmarks of its managed VPN service that is based on the BorderGuard appliances. But with the new BorderGuard 6000, the company is offering the option for customers to buy the appliance stripped of its own PKI software, allowing customers to use their existing PKI.

By year-end, the company says it will introduce two other BorderGuard models designed for small offices. Both models are physically small to better fit in offices where equipment-room space is limited. Details on these appliances, including prices, are due later this year.

Businesses looking for appliances that support both site-to-site and remote access VPNs might want to consider Blue Ridge, which does most of its business with the federal government.

Those looking for a VPN service should also keep the company in mind. Blue Ridge guarantees having a VPN up and running within five days of the network being designed. For current customers, it guarantees installing an appliance at a new site within 24 hours and adding it to a VPN as long as the site has an Internet connection with a static IP address.

And support for PKI - which can be a bear to set up and maintain - is also an attraction.

Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.