Nortel Networks, for one, has merged dynamic routing and VPN into one customer premises-based device that can be managed either by the enterprise or on an outsourced basis by a service provider to deliver secure IP services.
Scott McFeely, general manager and vice president of IP Services Intelligent Internet at Nortel, says service providers typically have added services to their portfolio and to customers' premises in a one-off fashion. That means with every new service comes a new CPE-based box and thus added capital investment, installation costs and management complexities. Offering multiple functions on a single box means a lower initial investment and lower lifetime costs for service providers, he says.
The company's Contivity Secure IP Services Gateways, which build on the technology Nortel acquired long ago from Bay Networks (and was created by New Oak, an earlier Bay acquisition), also offer on a single box firewalls, bandwidth management, quality of service and other IP services in addition to the IP VPN and dynamic routing functionality.
There are five new Contivity Secure IP Services Gateways. Models 1010, 1050 and 1100 are targeted at branch offices, home offices and small offices with site-to-site or remote access VPN applications or for simple Internet connectivity. Mid-to-large branch office versions are labeled the 1700 and 2700.
Adtran also has added on to its CPE-based VPN NetVanta products by integrating firewall functionality.
Adtran's Eric Lewis says it's not prudent to go too far in adding functionality to existing products in some cases, adding "there's a fine line as to what you want integrated." For example, some vendors are overloading routers by adding security features that weren't intended to run on the systems, so those boxes run out of horsepower, he says.
Adtran's products, however, were purpose-built to act as VPN and firewall boxes, he says. New additions to the existing product line include the 45mbps 2400, which supports up to 1,000 tunnels and will be generally available beginning the end of this month, and the 2mbps 2050, which supports up to five tunnels and ships the week of July 8.
