Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity
    • Mobile
    • Networking
    • PC Hardware

    Juniper and Microsoft Hook Up for NAC Work

    By
    Lisa Vaas
    -
    May 21, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Juniper Networks jumped into the NAC lovefest at Interop on May 21, announcing that its working to get its Unified Access Control NAC server to interoperate with Microsofts Network Access Protection standard.

      Junipers Networks Infranet Controller is the policy management server at the center of Junipers UAC technology. Juniper said that by the first half of 2008, the Infranet Controller will be using Microsofts SOH (Statement of Health) client-server protocol, which is provided by Microsofts NAP agent, built into Vista and the upcoming Windows XP SP3 release.

      Its all about opening wired and wireless networks to more users, both inside and outside an enterprise, and doing so securely, without those users dragging their out-of-date anti-virus signatures and infections in with them.

      Juniper describes it as the paradigm of the shifting network perimeter, where some level of network access has to be doled out to outside vendors, clients, guests and contractors, and yet more levels of network access have to be doled out to employees based on letting them in and keeping them out where and when its necessary.

      “Interoperability of NAC infrastructures enables customers to quickly and effectively adapt to changing business and network environments, especially now that companies will be able to leverage Windows Vista and Windows XP as their NAP or UAC clients,” said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft, in Junipers statement.

      “Customers can feel confident in the investments they make today in NAP, Windows and the Juniper Networks UAC solution.”

      Karthik Krishnan, senior product line manager for Juniper, told eWEEK that the announcement is intended to highlight the “clear way enterprises can leverage existing or planned investments in NAC infrastructure as well as in Junipers UAC infrastructure and have them interoperate.”

      Krishnan added that Juniper is enabling enterprises to take advantage of various technologies in each solution and have them talk to each other.

      “Enterprises not only have to provide access to diverse constituents but make sure it fits into access and security and compliance requirements. There have been different sets of standards [to do that] and they havent historically interoperated.”

      /zimages/5/28571.gifClick here to read more about standards and the state of NAC.

      Junipers announcement means that customers can mix and match components or go with a best-of-breed approach and still have it all talk to each other, Krishnan said.

      “[Microsofts] Statement of Health can be accessed through Infranet Controller. The Infranet Controller can interpret the Statement of Health for endpoint integrity, for whether an endpoint is compliant with corporate policy, can leverage that information as part of decision making, and can provision access control rules to 802.1x enforcement points in the form of VLAN assignments, or in the case of Juniper infrastructure, for example firewalls and secure routers or granular access controls, network applications. The Infranet Controller is leveraging the NAC client to determine endpoints compliance to policy and determining access level” based on that compliance, Krishnan said.

      Microsoft announced also on May 21 that the NAP standard is being adopted by the Trustworthy Computing Group and tucked into its TNC (Trusted Network Connect) framework.

      The TCG has adopted and published the Microsoft SOH protocol as a new TNC standard (IF-TNCCS-SOH). The move ushers in interoperability between NAP clients and servers and TNC clients, servers and infrastructure such as Junipers UAC products.

      That move is significant in the NAC world, as it streamlines what had been three major standards—NAP, TNC and Ciscos NAC (Network Admission Control)—down into just Cisco NAC and TNC-NAP.

      /zimages/5/175440.jpg

      Microsofts NPS (Network Policy Server) will bring NAP health agents to the table and will interoperate with Junipers UAC products in heterogeneous network environments. NPS can act either as a policy server or can lend its endpoint information to Junipers Infranet Controller.

      If the above paragraphs have entirely too many TLAs (Three-Letter Acronyms), heres a rough sketch of what the interoperability between Microsofts NAP standard and the Trustworthy Computing Groups TNC framework will be composed of, courtesy of the TCGs FAQ:

      • Endpoint The system that is requesting network access and being checked. This may be a NAP client such as a computer running Windows Vista or another kind of TNC client.
      • Policy Decision Point The system that evaluates the endpoint and decides what access should be granted. This may be a NAP server such as a Microsoft Network Policy Server or another kind of TNC server, like Junipers Infranet Controller.
      • Policy Enforcement Point A network element that denies or limits network access based on instructions from the Policy Decision Point. This may be a switch, router, VPN gateway, or other network element with enforcement capabilities.

      Check out eWEEK.coms Security Center for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEKs Security Watch blog.

      Lisa Vaas
      Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×