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Interest is growing in provider-based SSL VPN services. But until now, thats been an expensive proposition for service providers to fulfill.
Juniper Networks Inc. announced Monday that it hopes to change that with a new platform capable of supporting multiple, customized services on a single box.
Junipers new Secure Access 6000 SP appliance is one of the first to provide end-to-end virtualization so that each customers traffic is segregated and services can be customized for each customer within a single device.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company has virtualized all the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) VPN features at the application layer, access management layer and network layer, including authentication, authorization and policies.
It is the first company to do so, according to Vivian Ganitsky, director of product management for Junipers SSL VPN products in Sunnyvale.
SSL is gaining on IP Security in usage among enterprises, thanks to its clientless deployment and the fact that it does not require changes to LAN infrastructure, require a firewall proxy or impose Network Address Translation traversal issues, she said.
Unlike existing SSL VPN services, the new Secure Access 6000 SP appliance does not require equipment to be installed on the customers premises.
Service providers can delegate user administration functions, including portal administration, customer-specific log and usage monitoring, user access privileges and endpoint policy configurations to individual customers.
“Every customer gets their own instant virtual system. Within that system the enterprise customer can set their own endpoint security and authorization policies, and get their own look and feel as if they had their own box, but it is hosted from a box that can hold hundreds of customers,” Ganitsky said.
In addition to supporting remote and extranet access services, the appliance can be provisioned to provide disaster recovery and Intranet LAN security services.
The appliance supports up to 255 logical or virtual SSL gateways, and each gateway has its own definition for network, security and management policies. One or more virtual LANs can be provisioned with each virtual system, allowing enterprises to segregate traffic for partners and employees.
Juniper has endowed the appliance with a range of high availability features, including dual redundant hot-swappable hard drives with real-time data mirroring, dual hot-swappable power supplies and fans, the ability to dual-home the appliance to two load balancers, and out-of-band management. The appliance is available now, starting at $24,985.