Juniper is adding more feature options to its multifunction security platforms, making them flexible gateways for branch offices
in large corporate deployments.
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Tim Greene is a senior editor at Network World, covering virtual private networking gear, remote access, network admission
control, and aspects of VoIP and security. You can reach him at tgreene@nww.com.
The SSG devices, introduced earlier this year, come standard with firewall and VPN capabilities and can support antivirus and antispam as add-ons at an extra cost (when
the product was introduced Juniper promised the antivirus and antispam support would be provided by year-end).
The antivirus and antispam features are provided through partnerships with Kaspersky for virus screening and Symantec for
spam filtering.
The devices already supported Web filtering software from Surf Control. The firewall, VPN and intrusion detection features
are homegrown Juniper software.
This model of multifunction platforms, also known as unified threat management (UTM) devices, is probably the best option.
Rather than a box with a bunch of features an individual customer may or may not want, this device can be outfitted with just
the capabilities the customer needs. So if the customer already has a spam filter that meets business requirements, there
is no need to pay for spam filter capabilities on the SSG, for example.
Or if customers prefer a particular software vendor other than the one Juniper has chosen for a particular function, then
they can buy a separate platform.
Along with the new security capabilities, the SSG is being updated to support a portal that can redirect users to a server
that can download a software agent to devices attempting to access the network. The agent scans the machine logging on and
makes sure it meets security policies.
The new software also supports policy-based routing so that designated traffic can be routed, for instance, to a low latency
path, as might be the desired choice for VoIP traffic.
SSG appliances are sold with firewall and VPN capabilities for a flat fee, and other security software costs extra via license
fees. For example, the SSG 520 with all options turned on costs $6,500 for the base hardware and software plus $3,780 for
the additional software licenses for one year.
