Wireless security and storage products were among the leading new product releases announced this week by manufacturers.
Check Point Software Technologies announced SecureClient Mobile, a solution for handheld devices running the Windows Mobile operating system that promises security for virtual private network sessions, while Network Appliance announced another member of its midrange FAS storage family.
The FAS 3070, which has a 64-bit architecture, includes support for 4GB FibreChannel and can store up to 252TB of data, fits between the FAS 3050 and the top of the line FAS 6030. For those who want to install their own hard drives, a V3070 version has identical specs.
The price of the FAS 3070, depending on configuration, starts at US$115,000.
“What it does is give the channel partner a new price-performance solution to sell to large enterprise customers or large SMB accounts,” said Jeff Goldstein, NetApp’s Canadian general manager.
The FAS 3070 has broader SAN capabilities, the company said, with its included support for 10G Ethernet iSCSI and certification for more SAN switches, including Brocade’s Silkwork 4900 and 48000, Cisco’s MDS 9513 and QLogic’s 5600 and 5602.
“It’s a great box,” said David Chow, president of Stoneworks Technologies of Ottawa and a NetApp partner.
“Before they were a little challenged in the data centre to go up against EMC and HP. The new performance on this box is tremendous.”
NetApp is pitching the FAS3070 against EMC’s CX3-80 and Hewlett-Packard’s EVA8000.
Chow said the FAS 3070 is positioned as a higher than entry-level storage system, yet one that can be easily migrated to an enterprise SAN.
Goldstein stressed that all members of the FAS family share common architecture and software, making it easy for partners and customers to upgrade. For example, upgrading a 3050 to a 3070 is accomplished by swapping storage processors. Mirroring a 3070 to another FAS unit is done through a software command.
That means no partner training is needed for adding another product in the line, he said. Nor, he added, do partner pitches to clients have to be changed.
NetApp also announced new administration software, including Protection Manager, an automated backup and replication management toold for NetApp disk-to-disk environments. It uses policy-based rules to maximize data protection in data centres, remote offices and disaster recovery sites.
New versions of SnapManager for Oracle, SnapManger for Exchange, Virtual File Manager Enterprise Edition and Virtual File Manager Migration Edition were also announced.
It also revealed a version of Symantec’s CommandCentral Storage, which integrates storage resource management, performance and policy management tools for high-end heterogeneous SAN environments.
Check Point stresses that its SecureClient Mobile is not a point solution but one that integrates with its NGX security platform and gateways. It can be used on Windows Pocket PC 2003/SE and Mobile 5.0 devices.
“As devices become more powerful there is more need not only to protect data on them, but to provide secure connectivity back to the enterprise,” said David Walker, a Check Point product marketing manager.
He said SecureClient Mobile is part of Microsoft’s attack on products from Research In Motion by taking advantage of Microsoft’s “Direct Push” Exchange technology, which pushes data to handhelds as soon as it changes on a server.
“They’re really going after the BlackBerry,” Walker said.
SecureClient Mobile, which takes up only 722Kb of memory on a device, is an SSL-based VPN client that offers several security features.
They include session continuation, which automatically re-establishes a VPN session when devices move from cellular tower to cellular tower; credential caching, which eliminates the necessity for users to re-enter passwords or tokens if a VPN session is disrupted; and security controls forcing all traffic through the corporate gateway so users in a VPN session can’t simultaneously check personal e-mail or surf the Web.
Walker said the product will bring a lot of business to VARs. “Demand for these devices is going to enable greater opportunities for our partners and resellers with professional and managed services,” he said.
To extend the usefulness of SecureClient Mobile, Check Point is also partnering with Utimaco Safeware for data encryption and F-Secure for mobile anti-virus. With these and other partners, VARs can assemble a complete handheld solution, Walker said.
Pricing for SecureClient Mobile starts at US$2,300 for a 25 user perpetual licence.
