The company called it phase 2 of its Model for Application Intelligent Networking strategy. Mark Weiner, senior director of strategic marketing, told ComputerWire that phase 3 will involve moving the technology to other parts of the network.
NetScaler announced some rudimentary SSL VPN features in November. This week, the company added the ability to remotely access certain applications, via a downloadable ActiveX control, a feature common to most dedicated SSL VPNs.
Weiner noted that the company is not becoming an SSL VPN player. Rather, the VPN features are among many others in its devices. The 9000 Series boxes also optimize connections, do layer 4-7 switching, cache content, and block certain attacks.
Weiner said the closest thing on the market in terms of overall functionality is from Nortel Networks’ Alteon division. The SSL VPN features appear, however, a little behind the pure-plays like Neoteris Inc and Aventail Corp.
The products will ship in August. Weiner said that the next phase in NetScaler’s product development strategy is to push these features out from the core of the data center to devices targeted at the edge of the service provider or enterprise network.
The company claims to have a simpler licensing menu that other SSL VPN players, with incremental charges based on how many users have the ability to connect remotely. A five-user license is free with each $25,000 box.
Source: Computerwire
