Start-up buys Shiva name, products from Intel

Remember Shiva? It’s back. A start-up making an entry into the crowded field of firewall/VPN appliances has bought the name, logo and two models of VPN boxes from Intel, which has owned Shiva since 1998 when it purchased the company for $185 million.

NEWTON, MASS. – Remember Shiva? It’s back.

A start-up making an entry into the crowded field of firewall/VPN appliances has bought the name, logo and two models of VPN boxes from Intel, which has owned Shiva since 1998 when it purchased the company for $185 million.

The new Shiva will sell the two VPN boxes under the names LanRover 3105 and 3125. It also will sell a VPN appliance called LanRover 1010 it acquired by buying another company it would not name. The products will come with Shiva VPN client software for PCs and management software.

Shiva plans to put out its first new product next year, according to Mark Silverman, the company’s COO, but won’t detail its product road map for two months.

Frank Rondinone, owner of Access2Networks, an integrator in Toronto, says he has resold and installed the gear since before Intel bought it. He says the hardware and software are stable and reliable, and that the management platform has “great tools” for configuring the gear.

The initial offerings are the same products Intel has sold to integrators and resellers that put their labels on them.

Even though the Shiva name was well-known in the ’90s, the company has an uphill fight, industry experts say.

“It’s tough to differentiate yourself in this market,” says Deb Mielke, principal with Treillage Network Strategies.

Silverman gives Shiva a short time frame to make an impact. He says he expects that within three years, there will be two or three major VPN appliance vendors.

Shiva will focus on IP Security VPNs, Silverman says, but the company also has bought firewall and Secure Sockets Layer technology with the acquisition of Galea Secured Networks.

The LanRover 3105 sells for $2,000 and supports 100 simultaneous VPN tunnels, while the LanRover 3125 costs $10,000 and supports 10,000 tunnels. By contrast, Avaya’s VSU 100R appliance costs $2,000 and supports 100 tunnels, and Cisco’s VPN 3000 concentrator costs $4,000 and supports up to 10,000 tunnels.

While Intel would not reveal the terms of the purchase, Shiva says Intel Capital is one of the backers of the deal. Intel says it maintains equity in the company.