3Com VPN solutions were originally announced October 1997 as part of a road map for complete VPN systems. These solutions are the foundation for next-generation wide area and remote access networks, enabling businesses to purchase cost-effective, secure public network-based alternatives to today`s conventional and more expensive dedicated leased-line and dial-up networks.
These next-generation solutions allow enterprises to cut monthly costs on remote access long distance or 800 numbers by 50% or more, connect small, remote offices that were previously cost-prohibitive, as well as reduce costs for large branch offices - including international branch offices, explains 3Com SA`s pre sales manager, Paul Ruinaard.
"Enterprise customers have been asking for a central site VPN solution that can handle their performance, security and QoS needs. Traditional routers and firewalls don`t cut the VPN performance mustard," says Ron Sege, senior vice president of 3Com`s Enterprise Systems organization. "The PathBuilder S500 family of tunnel switches was purpose-built to scale VPN networks to handle hundreds or even thousands of users and sites with wire-speed encrypted security. This product is a central element of our enterprise-wide VPN solution, which delivers unmatched functionality and attractive pricing."
"In the PathBuilder S500 family of tunnel switches, 3Com provides both enterprise and ISP customers with a highly scalable combination of router, firewall, and site-to-site VPN capabilities integrated and managed as a single system," says Phil Schacter, senior analyst, The Burton Group. "The PathBuilder family also includes 3Com`s unique tunnel switching architecture which offers enterprise customers the flexibility of having a tunnel terminate anywhere in their network with built-in Network Address Translation (NAT) support circumventing any addressing differences."
PathBuilder S500 Tunnel Switches Marry High Function with High Performance "Unmatched in scalability, the PathBuilder S500 tunnel switches support over 2000 mobile user, site-to-site, and business partner VPN tunnels simultaneously in a single platform," says 3Com`s Ruinaard.
"Additionally the PathBuilder S500 delivers 120 Mbps of wire-speed encrypted bandwidth, 2-3 times more than competitive solutions, meeting ever-increasing performance demands due to the growth in mobile users and sites, and the increase in bandwidth per user enabled by new high-speed access services (e.g. cable modems, xDSL)."
Management functionality for the new family of PathBuilder VPN tunnel switches is provided by Transcend Secure VPN Manager, a new web-based application which monitors tunnel traffic, audits security infractions and reports on quality-of-service.
The PathBuilder S500 tunnel switches raise the bar for VPN solutions by combining industry leading price/performance characteristics (~ $10/tunnel, ~$200/encrypted megabit) with the robust network features required for corporate networks.
Ruinaard points out that beyond sheer performance, the PathBuilder tunnel switches also deliver full multi-protocol routing, handling IP, IPX, SNA and all other major protocols, ensuring support for the legacy needs of users and branch offices unlike competitive solutions which only support IP routing - or don`t offer routing support at all.
The PathBuilder S500 family of tunnel switches also deliver considerable security options in a number of key dimensions, including: an integrated ICSA-certified firewall for per-user access control; dynamic key management; and support for all major security and tunneling standards such as IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) and L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol), as well as de facto standards such as PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) and MPPE (Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption). The PathBuilder S500 family also supports strong authentication including integrated RADIUS and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) clients, and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). It will also support certificate authorities with subsequent software releases.
Tunnel Switching Architecture Unique to 3Com Solutions
The PathBuilder S500 family of tunnel switches implements 3Com`s innovative tunnel switching architecture that further scales VPNs in 3 important areas:
1. Extends secure VPN tunnels into LAN administrative domains for such applications as keeping highly confidential investment banking traffic separate from stockbrokers in the same company.
2. Enables policy-based switching of outbound traffic, which allows the setting of policies for different traffic types and then switching the traffic accordingly.
3. Enables the offloading of encryption from the first tunnel switch to downstream tunnel switches, effectively cascading the overall encryption power well above 100 Mbps.
PathBuilder S500 Fits Within 3Com`s Overall VPN Solution
Ruinaard says the PathBuilder S500 family of tunnel switches fits strategically at the center of 3Com`s enterprise VPN solutions, and is also a core component for carriers and NSPs who offer outsourced managed VPN services to enterprises.
"The PathBuilder S500 high-performance platform for central sites in enterprise environments is complemented by 3Com`s additional VPN enabled products, including 2 platforms designed for branch office VPN connectivity: the OfficeConnect NETBuilder routers for small offices and the SuperStack II NETBuilder SI routers for mid-size branch offices," he says. "3Com also offers support for PPTP, L2TP or IPSec on VPN-enabled platforms for mobile users and telecommuters who dial in remotely to VPN infrastructures. PPTP is especially important since it is integrated in Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT operating systems, making it easy to administer."
The PathBuilder S500 can also establish and terminate tunnels directly with 3Com`s Total Control remote access server, which is already an established VPN solution with over 4 million Total Control ports installed at ISPs and enterprises worldwide. In 1999, 3Com will deliver a policy management application that will allow the setting of security policies enterprise wide, easing the task of network management. This was outlined earlier this year in 3Com`s Policy-Powered Networking announcement.
Pricing and Availability
Pricing for the PathBuilder S500 family of Tunnel Switches ranges from $18,000 - 29,500 and will be offered in four different hardware configurations:
- PathBuilder S500 - featuring 2 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports is available immediately.
- PathBuilder S580 - The PathBuilder S500 plus 8 T1/E1 FlexWAN ports for direct WAN connectivity is available immediately.
- PathBuilder S593 - PathBuilder S500 plus two T3 ports for high-speed WAN connectivity will be available in November 1998.
- PathBuilder S594 - PathBuilder S500 plus two E3 ports for high-speed WAN connectivity will be available in November 1998.
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