Cisco Adds Security to Routers
Cisco last week bolstered its efforts to integrate security functions across its product line with 12 new offerings that address a range of customers. Among the new products are a pair of low-end routers for SOHO (small office/home office) installations that include embedded VPN acceleration. The sub-$350 routers are part of the Cisco 800 Series and SOHO 90 Series secure broadband routers. Cisco also added VPN acceleration modules for its 3700 and 2636 midrange routers. In addition, Cisco announced its SCA 11000 Series Secure Content Accelerator II, a new appliance that offloads SSL processing from back-end Web servers. It can process up to 800 SSL transactions per second. The offerings are available now. —Paula Musich
NetScout Probes Fiber-Optic Networks
NetScout systems this month unveiled two ATM probes that provide visibility into high-speed fiber-optic networks.
Part of the companys nGenius Performance Management System, the probes are the user-configurable ATM OC-3/OC-12 model and a dual-port ATM OC-3 model. As customers migrate to faster OC-12 links, the user-configurable probe can help reduce migration costs by eliminating the requirement to buy a separate OC-12 probe.
The dual-port probe provides a more cost-effective monitoring tool for customers that have redundant OC-3 links to service providers. Data can be aggregated across links for a single view of network traffic. Prices for the probes start at $42,995. —Paula Musich
Great Plains Integrates Preactor
Microsoft Business Solutions last week announced the integration of production scheduling software from Preactor International at Great Plains eEnterprise Manufacturing Summit.
The Preactor 200 Finite Capacity Scheduling software integrated with Great Plains software will provide a constraint-based, graphical scheduling system to help companies more accurately predict and schedule production orders.
The integration is a cooperative effort among the Business Solutions division, which provides software for the small and midsize business market; the divisions reselling partner, Quinn & Associates; and Preactor. The bundle is available now and will be included with the base product in Microsoft Business Solutions Manufacturing-Great Plains 7.5. —Renee Boucher Ferguson