* Clearpath begins selling VPN appliances
Clearpath Networks, which has been offering VPN services for two years, is making the leap into selling VPN appliances.
Clearpath Networks, which has been offering VPN services for two years, is making the leap into selling VPN appliances.
Starting this week, the company is introducing boxes that support VPNs, firewalls, intrusion detection, virus scanning and content filtering.
The devices, called SnapVPN 1201 and 1401, are designed for small and midsize businesses with up to 100 employees and between three and 10 locations. The 1201 supports 10 VPN tunnels and the 1401 manages 30.
The VPN runs Secure Sockets Layer or Advanced Encryption Standard encrypted traffic over a point-to-point tunneling protocol VPN connection. As part of a managed service, the devices will discover each other over the network.
The devices can be managed through ClearPath’s network operations center using a customer Web portal. Customers can log on to the NOC to view reports on usage, packet loss and latency as well as CPU usage and SNMP data. This eliminates the need for a customer-owned and maintained management platform.
The appliances are based on Intel processors and run a hardened version of Linux as their operating system. The security applications running on the devices are open source, says Cliff Young, the company’s CEO.
Young says the company is trying to sell gear and management at less than the cost of buying appliances and separate management software.
The low-cost appliance, managed VPN combination is offered by OpenReach, but it sells VPN software that customers install on their own PCs rather than selling it installed already on an appliance.
SnapVPN 1201 costs $595 and SnapVPN 1401 costs $895. The managed service costs $63 per location per month.
