iBeam program ensures interoperability of security apps
Crossbeam Systems is introducing a certification program that speeds up the process of guaranteeing the interoperability of security applications running on its multiserver unified threat management devices.
Called iBeam, the program provides software customers with a configurable virtual environment in which to test their applications and verify that a particular application will work in conjunction with other applications on the hardware.
In the past Crossbeam has performed such testing for developers but the process took eight weeks. Using iBeam’s software developers kit and the virtual environment cuts the time to a single day, the company says.
This testing is necessary because individual customers could pick and choose among applications they want to run on the blade servers on the device, says Charles Kolodgy, a research director with IDC. Individual applications might interfere with others, depending on the mix, so it is important to have these pre-tests to ensure that problems don’t arise in actual deployments, he says.
This is a major difference between Crossbeam and a primary competitor Fortinet, Kolodgy says. Fortinet’s universal threat management gear runs applications it has already developed or chosen and tweaked to cooperate with other applications available on its platform.
This contrasts with Crossbeam, whose platform supports applications from a variety of other vendors. “It’s the old single-vendor vs. best-of-breed battle,” Kolodgy says. “The situation with Crossbeam is that since they’re best-of-breed, with independent software vendors, there isn’t as much communication among the components.”
In addition to commercial vendors, iBeam is open to customers that may want to port homegrown applications on a Crossbeam device.
The iBeam environment can also be used to test new versions of software to make sure they still interoperate properly on the platform.
Full access to iBeam is scheduled for July.
Later this year, Crossbeam says it will make available an application programming interface for software developers that will enable better flow management through Crossbeam devices.
For instance, the policy for Web traffic coming into the box today may be subject to a set of security applications — firewall, intrusion prevention and Web application firewall. But if VoIP traffic came in the same port, there might be no need to run it through the Web application firewall. So a policy could be set to eliminate screening of VoIP from the Web application firewall, and those VoIP flows might be directed to a different service in the device, such as a session border controller that manages VoIP flows through firewalls.
This type of selective inspection of traffic flows can accelerate traffic three to five times, the company says, by having traffic be screened by only those application that are necessary.
The API is in development and will be available in the fourth quarter, Crossbeam says.
