* A long list of partners supporting Microsoft NAP poises the technology for wider use
Partners to Microsoft’s flavor of NAC – network access protection or NAP – have grown to about 100, poising the technology for wider use.
With Microsoft providing a NAP client on its XP service pack 3 and Vista desktops as well as on its Windows Server, customers get the capability and just have to turn it on, making it attractive from the standpoint that it doesn’t have to be deployed on separate gear.
The broad range of partners makes it more likely that customers will already have the peripheral elements they need to turn the essentials that come with Windows into a functioning system.
Desktop security providers such as Kaspersky and McAfee are partners, making it possible for the Microsoft NAP agent to report more information about the state of endpoints to the NAP policy server. This makes for setting tighter restrictions on endpoints if warranted.
Switch vendors including Enterasys, Extreme, Nortel and Procurve are also on the list (no, not Cisco), which means network infrastructure can be used as enforcement points.
The lengthy list of partners also includes wireless access point vendors, WAN acceleration vendors, firewall vendors and other NAC vendors. The bottom line is that customers who look at the list are likely to find makers of equipment they already have in their networks. They won’t necessarily have a full complement of what they need for their NAC deployment, but they may have elements there that they won’t have to supply separately as part of their NAC project.
Given tight budgets and the increasing network threat level, NAP may warrant a closer look as a way to further mitigate security risks in networks without major investment.
