HP OFFERS SECURITY IN A SINGLE BLADE

By D.E.Levine

Generally, in order to provide adequate security including firewalls, IPS and VPN, network and security managers have to incorporate separate standalone security appliances.

Besides being costly, separate appliances require separate maintenance and while customers frequently purchase appliances from the same vendor, sometimes they purchase them from different vendors and face incompatibility issues.

HP is now offering an alternative. Known as the HP ProCurve Threat Management Services zl module (TMS), it's a single-slot blade that goes into the vendor's ProCurve 5400zl and 8212zl modular switches.

It's highly unusual to see all three security functions in one device and especially in a device so small. Configuration can be done through a Web-based GUI or the command-line interface. The initial virtual LAN setup must be done on the switch, not the TMS. Right now the TMS supports a maximum of 19 VLANs with HP considering increasing the number to 250.

After completion of the switch setup the TMS handles all tasks for traffic including security monitoring and IP routing. Setup is fairly simple through the clearly marked Web GUI. The TMS functions as a true application layer gateway.

More information about the current TMS and HP's plans for improvements and enhancements can be obtained by contacting HP.