Secure Computing Firewall for NT
PRODUCT PROFILEInternet firewalls are a required piece of the Internet connectivity puzzle, and more and more Windows NT-based firewalls are emerging. Secure Computing Corp., for instance, devised a simple-to-use, robust firewall product that runs on Windows NT.
As an application gateway firewall, Secure Computing Firewall for NT 3.0 uses proxies to examine and relay data packets, providing a very high level of data security. Application gateways isolate activity between the external and internal network interfaces by shutting off all direct communication between the two interfaces. Network packets are never passed between these two interfaces. Instead, application data is transferred in a sanitized form between the opposite sides of the gateway. As the gateway examines both inbound and outbound packets, internal users do not have the ability to access unauthorized services that might compromise network security. These proxies are invisible to the end user and, therefore, provide a secure environment without intrusive "add on" software that might hamper a network user’s ability to access the firewalled network.
A general misconception of firewalls is that you can only have a robust firewall built on a Unix-based system. "Secure's product is easy to install, configure and maintain because it commits to a native NT solution," says Don Bowman, user of Secure Computing’s Firewall for NT and project leader at PixStream (Waterloo, Ontario, www.pixsci.com), manufacturer of digital video hardware and software.
Secure Computing’s Firewall for NT can operate on an Intel Pentium-based system running at 100-MHz or better, a minimum of 32 MB of RAM and 1 GB of hard disk storage. Better performance can be obtained by using the recommended platform of a higher speed processor, 64 to 128 MB of RAM and a 2-GB hard disk. Each system running Firewall for NT requires two network interface cards.
A nice feature of the Windows NT versions of firewall products is that they are generally less expensive than their Unix counterparts. Secure Computing's firewall, for instance, costs $3,000 for up to 50 simultaneous users, $7,000 for 200 users and $11,000 for an unlimited usage license. This means that for less than $15,000 you can build a complete, robust Internet firewall on Windows NT. "The Secure Computing Firewall for NT delivers a cost effective, highly secure solution for the NT environment," says Bowman.Secure Computing Firewall for NT 3.0
Secure Computing Corp.
San Jose, Calif.
(408) 918-6100
www.securecomputing.com
Price: 50 users, $3,000; 200 users, $7,000; unlimited users, $11,000